The road stretch of their Patriot League schedule has yet again bested the Georgetown football team. After crushing Marist last weekend with a historic offensive performance, the Hoyas fell 35-18 on the road to Bucknell. The team failed to put up much of a fight early on, falling into a 28-0 hole by halftime.
The Hoyas battled back, scoring 18 unanswered points, but the rally came too late in the game to change the outcome.
Head coach Kevin Kelly hopes to move on quickly with a battle against Wagner coming up this weekend.
“First series, we fumbled the football. From that point on, we gave up some big plays on defense,” he said. “We did do a good job of coming back.”
Kelly’s view on his team’s rushing game may be an understatement, as the Hoyas produced -3 rushing yards on the day, a stark contrast to their consistent ground output this season.
Despite the great experience of the secondary, the defense made numerous errors to help unleash the Bucknell passing game, with quarterback Brandon Wesley to throw for three touchdowns against the Hoyas.
The defense still made some stops, despite its tendency of giving up big plays. The team has relied on junior outside linebackers Jeremy Grasso and Rob McCabe, but Kelly shifted them to the inside for the game, saying he was looking for players that could run and had a nose for the football.
McCabe, in particular, has been the Hoyas’ most consistent defensive player, as he currently leads the Patriot League in tackles with 54.
After turning the page from the Bucknell defeat, the Hoyas are focused on facing Wagner, who handed the team perhaps its most difficult defeat of the 2010 season. The Hoyas lost 22-16 in double overtime on an 80-yard interception. Kelly knows last season’s heartbreaker still leaves a sour taste with the Hoyas.
“That’s in the back of our minds,” he said. “I guess you could call it at payback game.”
Despite the loss, the Hoyas remain at 3-2 with the bulk of their conference games still ahead of them. A win this week followed by a win against Howard would set them up nicely for their return to campus for the Homecoming game against Colgate.
“We’ve had, overall, our best week of practice,” Kelly said. “I’m happy with the way the guys have handled the loss. I told them that we can still obtain all of our goals–have a winning season and still win the Patriot League. We can’t stub our toe again, but we have the opportunity.”
Players from the team could not be reached for comment.
