Typically, it never works out. Football teams, whether at the professional or collegiate level, almost always name one quarterback––a single voice and leader––to orchestrate their offense. The Georgetown football team, however, has successfully bucked this trend thus far this season, having been propelled to a 3-1 record on the backs of quarterbacks Isaiah Kempf and Scott Darby.
Since last season, head coach Kevin Kelly and his staff often hesitated to name a starting quarterback, perhaps demonstrating a lack of faith in either Kempf or Darby. Any time one would struggle, the other would replace him, resulting in a stagnant offense toward the end of the season. Kempf’s phenomenal performances early this season suggested he may finally be ready to offer the team some consistency, and the Hoyas believed they had their 2011 quarterback.
The junior certainly responded in the first week of the season, leading the Hoyas’ 40-point outburst in their opener against Davidson. After a gritty defensive battle against Lafayette a week later, the two quarterbacks split time against Yale when Kempf fell to an injury. This past week, whether Kempf was healthy or not, Darby stepped in and never looked back, passing for four touchdowns and rushing for one on his way to Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week award.
It was the kind of performance Kelly knew Darby was capable of producing.
“Scott had an excellent football game, ” Kelly said. “He is an excellent quarterback and I was really happy for him, especially after preseason when he was not named the starter. He handled it with class.”
Looking at the Patriot League as a whole, Kempf and Darby’s numbers do not appear too impressive, especially compared the play of Lehigh quarterback Chris Lum. But the Kempf-Darby combination has elevated Georgetown to second in scoring offense in the league, right behind Lehigh. Likewise, their offense as a whole has been both efficient and productive, averaging 382.5 yards per game through the air and on the ground.
These two premium interchangeable parts are a rare luxury for any sports team and even hold true for the Georgetown defense. If one took Andrew Schaetzke off the defensive line or removed Jeremy Moore from the secondary, the defense would certainly take time to adjust.
Instead, the defense as a whole leads the Patriot League in rushing defense, holding opponents to just 70 yards per game on the ground. Linebacker Rob McCabe leads the league in tackles, while Schaetzke and junior linebacker Jeremy Grasso have combined for an impressive eight sacks. Kelly is an avid fan of the work defensive coordinator Rob Sgarlata has done featuring these players, especially Schaetzke.
“We have some good schemes Coach Sgarlata has come up with, and of course we have Andrew,” Kelly said. “He can rush the quarterback and a lot of guys have to scheme [for] him … We have a lot more speed than we have in past years.”
But it was the offense that shined this past weekend. Their 52-28 beatdown of Marist was easily the greatest offensive display of Kelly’s tenure at Georgetown and a great reflection of the unit’s progress under second-year offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude.
Numbers aside, the Hoyas are just hoping for a continuation of their excellent play this weekend when they face the upstart Bucknell Bisons. Bucknell is off to a 3-1 start despite having modest expectations coming into the season. Consequently, the Hoyas are not approaching the game lightly.
“Bucknell presents a lot of problems schematically,” Kelly said. “They run the ball very well and [quarterback] Brandon Wesley is an excellent athlete. He’s very slippery and makes some plays, so we have a lot of challenges ahead of us in defending Bucknell.”
A Georgetown victory will go a long way to securing the school’s first Patriot League title, Kelly’s stated goal since his start at Georgetown. Kelly shouldn’t stress too much, though. Both quarterbacks will be ready to step in and lead the offense with fervor at a moment’s notice.
