Georgetown’s matchup against Marist to close the 2010 football season hardly gave then-freshman tailback Nick Campanella cause for celebration. Despite their 14-7 win over the Red Foxes, the Hoyas had just wrapped up a dismal slide that saw them finish 4-7 overall, while Campanella failed to see any action in the game outside of special teams.
More importantly, however, the game marked the last in blue and gray for senior Philip Oladeji, who had served as an invaluable mentor to Georgetown’s young core of running backs. Now in the midst of his sophomore season, Campanella has been the featured tailback for the Hoyas, admirably filling Oladeji’s role. He attributes his early success to the lessons gained under Oladeji’s tutelage.
“Even as a freshman, Phil made me feel like an integral part of the team,” Campanella said. “I learned from him that the game is much more physical and fast paced at the college level. Patience and focus are keys.”
Campanella’s 13 carries for 66 yards were not enough this past weekend, as the Hoyas surrendered 37 points to Yale. But head coach Kevin Kelly claims the loss was not merely a result of offensive and defensive deficiencies.
“The difference was the field position game,” Kelly said. “We did a poor job on our cover teams, and that was the difference.”
This weekend, the Hoyas will face a radically different scheme from anything they have faced thus far. The Red Foxes play a stacked 3-3-5 defense, blitzing gaps and presenting wrinkles for an offense whose quarterback’s health is still in question after junior Isaiah Kempf left the contest against Yale with an unspecified injury.
Kelly has listed Kempf as “probable” for this Saturday, noting that he would have to undergo standard protocol to clear him for play. If he is unable to go, senior Scott Darby, who led the Hoyas for the remainder of last weekend’s game, will start.
Regardless of who starts at quarterback, the Hoyas need to improve their pass coverage, playing mistake-free football with a low margin of error.
“Every game is going to be close,” Kelly said. “It’s going to come down to five or six plays and we have to be on the plus side of the plays.”
With so much uncertainty around him, Campanella will have to continue his consistently solid output this weekend, using what Kelly called a “rare combination of power and elusiveness” to open up the passing game for either Kempf or Darby.
Campanella said the team is not lingering on the Yale defeat, but is determined to not fall to .500 on the season in Poughkeepsie this Saturday as the Red Foxes look to exact revenge on the Hoyas from last season.
“We are focused with intensity and determination to execute our game plan,” Campanella said. “Marist is a solid team, but so are we.”
