With three interceptions and two fumble recoveries, the Hoyas should have been able to put up a fight against the visiting Leopards.

Instead, Georgetown converted those five turnovers into just six points and did not see the end zone at all in a 17-6 loss to Patriot League rival Lafayette on Saturday afternoon at Harbin Field.

While Georgetown had trouble moving the ball in the red zone last week, leading to junior Michael Gillman kicking a single-game record five field goals, in this game the Hoyas found it difficult to even reach the red zone against the Leopards’ defense. Two interceptions in Lafayette territory each yielded a three-pointer, one from 31 yards out and another from 25 yards.

Sophomore quarterback Keith Allan made his debut in blue and gray, but the stagnant offense prevented him from finding a rhythm in his first collegiate start. Allan finished the match 10-of-18 for 71 yards, throwing one interception and getting sacked five times.

“We didn’t finish drives; we didn’t finish the game,” Allan said. “That’s why we came up short.”

Despite Allan’s struggles, Benson said he never considered calling in senior Andrew Crawford, who played all 60 minutes in the Hoyas’ 36-7 season-opening win over St. Francis (Pa.).

“I thought [Allan] did some good things, but no, I don’t think [pulling him] really was ever a thought,” Benson said.

Junior Kim Sarin played the familiar role of workhorse, carrying the ball more than 20 times for the second straight week. He only averaged 2.9 yards per carry and garnered 78 yards on the ground.

His counterpart, senior Joe McCourt, had better success against the Hoya defensive line, breaking the century mark with 104 yards on 24 attempts.

Junior Michael Ononibaku led the Hoyas on defense, with five tackles for loss and three sacks. He was named Patriot League defensive player of the week on Monday for his achievements in Saturday’s competition. Freshman cornerback Mikey Blainefield caught an interception for the second straight week. This time he also recorded a fumble recovery late in the first, the first turnover of the contest by either team.

The Hoyas handed the Leopards a painful loss last year in Easton, Pa., to earn their first victory of the season during the fifth week.

Both teams were scoreless for most of the first half, though the Leopards got on the board with a 48-yard field goal by sophomore Rick Ziska in the closing seconds to take a 3-0 lead into halftime.

On Lafayette’s opening drive of the second half, senior linebacker Jackson Dismukes forced a fumble and the Hoyas took over possession just inside Leopard territory. Georgetown failed to move the ball and Allan was sacked on third down, as the Hoyas again could not make anything of good field position and suffered their fourth three-and-out of the afternoon.

The Leopards managed to put a decent drive together, starting deep in their own territory and marching to the Hoya 40-yard line thanks to missed tackles by Georgetown. But Ononibaku broke through for a sack on third-and-six, forcing a punt.

On his team’s next possession, Leopard sophomore quarterback Brad Maurer was picked off by junior strong safety Sheldon Epps, leading to the Hoyas’ first points of the afternoon and tying the match at three with 17:36 to play in the game.

Lafayette Head Coach Frank Tavani pulled Maurer in favor of junior Pat Davis in the third quarter. Davis’ first pass attempt against the Hoyas was tipped by senior Jim Goranson and picked off by junior strong safety Maurice Banks at the Leopard 23-yard line, enabling the Hoyas to tack on another three points.

Lafayette advanced to the Georgetown 42 before its next drive stalled, but senior Mike Davis made an excellent punt that his coverage team downed at the one-yard line.

Pinned against their own goal-line, the Hoyas tried to get some room to work with.

Not getting anywhere after two plays, Allan kept the ball on third-and-long and rolled left, but was hit as he let go of the pass. Lafayette junior Maurice Bennett tipped the ball to teammate junior Andrew Brown, who ran it in for six points. Ziska added the point after to give the Leopards a 10-6 advantage with 10:24 to play.

Georgetown looked to Sarin for a rally but the drive stalled at midfield. After catching a pass on second-and-nine, Sarin was ruled down by the officials shy of a first down though television replays showed that his knee never hit the turf. Allan’s third-down pass attempt was tipped and fell incomplete, and the Hoyas were forced to give up possession.

Davis found junior wide receiver Joseph Ort in the corner of the end zone with just over two minutes to go, effectively sealing Georgetown’s fate.

With the loss, the Hoyas (1-1, 0-1 Patriot) fell to 3-5 in the all-time series against the Leopards (2-0, 1-0).

During halftime, Georgetown honored the first 10 graduating classes of football players under Benson, including Joe Eacobacci (COL ’96), who was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. Ononibaku currently wears the Eacobacci memorial jersey (No. 35), which was introduced last year.

Georgetown travels to Pittsburgh next weekend for its first away contest of the 2004 campaign against Duquesne (1-1, 0-1 MAAC). The Dukes took down Holy Cross, 31-7, in week one, but suffered defeat at the hands of conference foe Robert Morris on Saturday, 31-14.

Kickoff at Rooney Field is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Saturday.