Andreas Jeninga/The Hoya Senior quarterback Drew Crawford pitches the ball during practice. He started 11 games for the Hoyas last year and will continue to take snaps this year after being named the starter yesterday.

The Hoyas’ quarterback controversy came to an end at least temporarily Thursday afternoon when Head Coach Bob Benson announced senior Drew Crawford would start Georgetown ‘s season opener against St. Francis ( Pa. ) this Saturday.

“This is my offense now,” Crawford said. “This whole year is a golden opportunity . but I’m just worried about this week.”

Despite the announcement, Benson warned of rotation at quarterback during the contest, with sophomore Nick Cangelosi, a transfer from North Carolina who redshirted his freshman year, most likely stepping in to take some snaps.

Benson said he had expected to name sophomore Keith Allan the team’s starter before the team’s inter-squad scrimmage last Saturday, but an earlier hip injury, compounded with a sprained ankle sustained during practice last Friday, prevented Allan from fully participating in team training this week. Allan will suit up for this weekend’s match but is not expected to play.

“They’re both excellent athletes, with good leadership abilities,” Crawford said of Allan and Cangelosi. “They play like I would have liked to at that age. That’s why this decision came down to the last minute.”

Crawford, who started 11 of the Hoyas’ 12 games last season, threw for 1,967 yards and 16 touchdowns, despite tallying 13 interceptions. He split time with then-freshman Alondzo Turner, a mobile passer who often ran the ball. Turner, however, was suspended for the 2004 season for violating team rules. A spokesman for the athletic department declined to comment further on Turner’s infraction.

New offensive coordinator Elliot Uzelac, a former Navy head coach, joined the coaching squad in April and brought a new philosophy to the Hoya attack. Crawford described one of Uzelac’s rituals – having his players wrap around tape around their ankles before practice and keeping his quarterbacks’ shoulders iced afterward. He said Uzelac’s new style was an adjustment the team made back in the spring.

“We spent the whole summer working on it, so by now we’re pretty used to it,” Crawford explained.

Uzelac may rely more heavily on the running game early in the season – putting junior Kim Sarin and sophomore Marcus Slayton to work instead of a less experienced receiving corps that lost Luke McArdle (COL ’04) and Walter Bowser (MSB ’04) in the offseason. This should ease the load on Hoya wideouts and open up routes downfield while simultaneously permitting more screen passes and option plays.

Sarin and Slayton will be supported by freshman Emir Davis (The Hun School, Trenton , N.J. ). Senior John Sims, who set a Georgetown single-game rushing record with 268 yards against Davidson last November, stepped down from the team during the summer, citing personal reasons.

Uzelac will also have the benefit of experienced linemen, including senior captains Frank Terrazzino and Ryan Goethals, who have the ability to bolster Georgetown ‘s rushing attack.

With Uzelac at the offensive helm, Benson has shifted his focus to the defense, a luxury he has not been afforded during his team’s first three seasons of Patriot League play. The Hoya defensive backfield is headed by senior cornerback Adam Banks and junior free safety Sheldon Epps, though both will split time with younger teammates during this weekend’s season opener. On the defensive front, junior Michael Ononibaku, who will don the Joe Eacobacci (COL ’96) memorial jersey for the 2004 and 2005 seasons, and sophomore Alex Buzbee, who received conference Rookie of the Week honors last November for his efforts against Towson, are solid replacements for graduates Andrew Clarke (MSB ’04) and William Skultety (MSB ’04).

While last season Georgetown faced an Ivy League opponent for the first time in 66 years, this season’s schedule boasts no such opponents. Nonetheless, conference foes including No. 5 Colgate, who lost to Delaware in the NCAA championship game last December, and No. 22 Lehigh will present formidable obstacles during Georgetown ‘s 2004 campaign.

Regardless of how the team performs this year, it will be rewarded this winter with the beginning of construction on the multi-sport athletic facility. According to the athletic department Web site, the facility will be built in a two-phase sequence to minimize the effect on game schedules, to allow for greater integration among facility projects and to allow more time to continue the fundraising efforts.

The athletic department expects Phase 1A, which consists of the construction of the eastern stands and the assembly of the artificial turf field, to begin shortly after the end of the football season.