They are perhaps the football team’s most heralded unit, but in the first weeks of this season, they were one of the most disappointing. Meet Georgetown’s secondary, which includes some of the team’s best players but hasn’t been able to stop opposing offense from putting up big numbers through the air.

With the Hoyas returning to MultiSport Facility after five straight Saturdays away from the Hilltop, the team has done what few expected in winning five of its first seven games. But the secondary has failed to live up to the hype.

In the first game against Davidson, a blowout victory for Georgetown, the Wildcats managed to put up 364 passing yards. The Hoyas’ defensive backs benefited from a slower pace against Lafayette the next week, holding the Leopards to a respectable 177 yards through the air. Although the special teams units took the brunt of the blame for the loss at Yale, the pass defense also struggled as the Bulldogs accumulated 280 passing yards.

But after disappointing pass coverage contributed to a 35-18 loss at Bucknell, the secondary has tightened up and has had two stellar performances in the team’s last two games, against Wagner and Howard.

“On defense, pass coverage is part of it. We’re addressing that. … Some of it right now is a confidence thing,” Head Coach Kevin Kelly said after his team’s loss to Bucknell. “We’ve moved some people around and taken a good hard look at how we’re playing and how we’re teaching it.”

The changes have worked, and the two road victories over Wagner and Howard seem to have boosted the unit’s confidence.

“We definitely made some progress. At the beginning of the year, we weren’t playing to what we had set for ourselves as expectations,” senior cornerback Jayah Kaisamba said. “The last couple games we’ve really stepped up. We’re playing smarter football. We’ve ran our keys and been able to do what our job is.”

The biggest adjustment for the secondary has been focusing more on defending the ball, rather than a specific receiver. This has also helped the Blue and Gray cut down on an alarming early-season tendency to surrender big plays.

“I think in the beginning of the year we worried too much about our own guys. We played the man rather than the ball. We worked in practice, and we’ve been trying to play the ball more,” senior safety David Quintero said. “In the beginning I think we might have lost focus a little bit, but we’ve picked it up since.”

The coaching staff hasn’t adjusted the lineups too much, but the defensive backs and safeties have been working together to focus on covering the ball.

“We’ve been communicating from day one. We know our assignments, and we’ve just got to stick to it, knowing that you have to play the ball and not the man,” Kaisamba said.

And Georgetown’s rush defense — which is among the best in the Football Championship Subdivision, allowing a mere 91 yards per game on the ground — can only be helped by the improved secondary play.

“These last couple weeks we’ve been able to make plays on balls, it’s helped us out,” Kaisamba said. “It’s helped out our run game, and we’ve been able to shut down some other teams the last couple weeks.”

“Our front seven is really good, that really helps us. It also helps us with pass [defense],” Quintero added.

In a classic strength-against-strength matchup tomorrow, Georgetown’s stingy rush defense will be seeking to contain one of the nation’s best rushing attacks. Colgate’s offense is currently seventh in the FCS in rushing, averaging 249 yards per game on the ground. The Raiders’ offense is steady, if not particularly explosive; the rushing corps averages 4 yards a carry.

That means the secondary likely won’t be taking center stage before the homecoming crowd, but their role will still be critical — Colgate quarterback Gavin McCarney likes to stretch the field on the rare occasions when he does drop back to pass.

“We’re excited, even though it’s kind of a boring game for us as corners,” Kaisamba said. “It’s really important we pay attention to our keys because those are the kinds of games where they may only throw the ball eight times, but half of those might be deep balls.”

Indicative of the growth they have shown since the end of August, the secondary unit also knows they have to focus on the ball and be prepared for the big plays that have the potential to change the game.

“They’ll put you to sleep with the run, and next thing you’ll know, they’ll go play-action on the deep balls,” Kaisamba said. “As long as we play attention to what we’re doing, we’ll be ready for any type of pass or run that comes to us.”

When they line up on Saturday, Georgetown’s secondary will still be one of the team’s most talented units and will look to continue the improvement they’ve shown after their early-season struggles.

Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at MultiSport Facility.

They are perhaps the football team’s most heralded unit, but in the first weeks of this season, they were one of the most disappointing. Meet Georgetown’s secondary, which includes some of the team’s best players but hasn’t been able to stop opposing offense from putting up big numbers through the air.

With the Hoyas returning to MultiSport Facility after five straight Saturdays away from the Hilltop, the team has done what few expected in winning five of its first seven games. But the secondary has failed to live up to the hype.

In the first game against Davidson, a blowout victory for Georgetown, the Wildcats managed to put up 364 passing yards. The Hoyas’ defensive backs benefited from a slower pace against Lafayette the next week, holding the Leopards to a respectable 177 yards through the air. Although the special teams units took the brunt of the blame for the loss at Yale, the pass defense also struggled as the Bulldogs accumulated 280 passing yards.

But after disappointing pass coverage contributed to a 35-18 loss at Bucknell, the secondary has tightened up and has had two stellar performances in the team’s last two games, against Wagner and Howard.

“On defense, pass coverage is part of it. We’re addressing that. … Some of it right now is a confidence thing,” Head Coach Kevin Kelly said after his team’s loss to Bucknell. “We’ve moved some people around and taken a good hard look at how we’re playing and how we’re teaching it.”

The changes have worked, and the two road victories over Wagner and Howard seem to have boosted the unit’s confidence.

“We definitely made some progress. At the beginning of the year, we weren’t playing to what we had set for ourselves as expectations,” senior cornerback Jayah Kaisamba said. “The last couple games we’ve really stepped up. We’re playing smarter football. We’ve ran our keys and been able to do what our job is.”

The biggest adjustment for the secondary has been focusing more on defending the ball, rather than a specific receiver. This has also helped the Blue and Gray cut down on an alarming early-season tendency to surrender big plays.

“I think in the beginning of the year we worried too much about our own guys. We played the man rather than the ball. We worked in practice, and we’ve been trying to play the ball more,” senior safety David Quintero said. “In the beginning I think we might have lost focus a little bit, but we’ve picked it up since.”

The coaching staff hasn’t adjusted the lineups too much, but the defensive backs and safeties have been working together to focus on covering the ball.

“We’ve been communicating from day one. We know our assignments, and we’ve just got to stick to it, knowing that you have to play the ball and not the man,” Kaisamba said.

And Georgetown’s rush defense — which is among the best in the Football Championship Subdivision, allowing a mere 91 yards per game on the ground — can only be helped by the improved secondary play.

“These last couple weeks we’ve been able to make plays on balls, it’s helped us out,” Kaisamba said. “It’s helped out our run game, and we’ve been able to shut down some other teams the last couple weeks.”

“Our front seven is really good, that really helps us. It also helps us with pass [defense],” Quintero added.

In a classic strength-against-strength matchup tomorrow, Georgetown’s stingy rush defense will be seeking to contain one of the nation’s best rushing attacks. Colgate’s offense is currently seventh in the FCS in rushing, averaging 249 yards per game on the ground. The Raiders’ offense is steady, if not particularly explosive; the rushing corps averages 4 yards a carry.

That means the secondary likely won’t be taking center stage before the homecoming crowd, but their role will still be critical — Colgate quarterback Gavin McCarney likes to stretch the field on the rare occasions when he does drop back to pass.

“We’re excited, even though it’s kind of a boring game for us as corners,” Kaisamba said. “It’s really important we pay attention to our keys because those are the kinds of games where they may only throw the ball eight times, but half of those might be deep balls.”

Indicative of the growth they have shown since the end of August, the secondary unit also knows they have to focus on the ball and be prepared for the big plays that have the potential to change the game.

“They’ll put you to sleep with the run, and next thing you’ll know, they’ll go play-action on the deep balls,” Kaisamba said. “As long as we play attention to what we’re doing, we’ll be ready for any type of pass or run that comes to us.”

When they line up on Saturday, Georgetown’s secondary will still be one of the team’s most talented units and will look to continue the improvement they’ve shown after their early-season struggles.

Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at MultiSport Facility.