First home game. First game at the Multi-Sport Facility. First Ivy opponent.
This Saturday’s matchup between Georgetown and Brown will be a game of firsts, and it will unquestionably take a first-rate effort to defeat the Brown Bears.
“Nothing will just be given to us,” Georgetown Head Coach Bob Benson said. “We will have to earn everything.”
Indeed, it will be especially important for the Hoyas (1-1, 1-1 Patriot) to earn each and every yard this weekend, as they will face perhaps their toughest opponent yet, the Bears of Brown University.
Saturday’s game will be the first time the two teams meet, and it will be the first game of the season for Brown. But most importantly, it will be Georgetown’s first home game of the season, and the first game ever at the Multi-Sport Facility.
“We’re very excited to come home to play here,” Benson said. “It’s our first Ivy League opponent, and hopefully the guys will come to play.”
When the Bears come to the Hilltop, it will be the Hoyas’ first clash with an Ivy League team since 1893.
“The whole move to the Patriot League was to play the best programs around, our peer institutions,” Benson said. “And the Ivies are our peer institutions. We’re real excited to play Brown.”
Brown promises to be a formidable opponent. With an all-American running back in senior Nick Hartigan and two all-Ivy receivers in senior Jarrett Schreck and junior Lonnie Hill, the Bears present an offensive attack that should rival that of Holy Cross.
“It’s going to be a challenge,” Benson said, noting that Brown and Harvard were picked to win the Ivy League.
“It’s going to take balance and we’ll have to be very smart,” he added. “But always, the key is to first stop the run.”
Benson referenced the first game of the year, a 19-16 win at Bucknell, and highlighted the intensity and focus that earned the Hoyas their first win of the season. It was against Bucknell that the Hoyas came back from a 13-0 halftime deficit to win in overtime.
“We were fighters against Bucknell, and we didn’t do that against Holy Cross,” he said.
Holy Cross handed the Hoyas a one-sided 48-6 defeat just a week ago. Georgetown managed just two passing yards in the first half and was outgained 420 total yards to 286 for the game. Still, the Hoyas are hopeful that they can regain the balance between offense, defense and special teams that served them so well in the second half of the season opener.
Despite the recent loss, Benson said he was upbeat about Saturday’s game. “It’s a game of emotion,” he said. “We have to come to play each and every week. We have to make a positive out of a negative. We’ll be ready.”
Benson said that he is counting on his team to be tough, physical and aggressive from the start.
“It’s real important to set the tempo early,” Benson said. “We didn’t do it against Holy Cross. But then again, we fell behind against Bucknell too and the guys didn’t seem to care.”
As Georgetown returns home and opens its new Multi-Sport Facility, Benson said he hopes that the students turn out for the game and foster a “festival-like atmosphere.”
“We have to get the students out there,” he said. “If we can put a good product out on the field, I think the Georgetown students can appreciate a good product.”
As seen against Bucknell, Georgetown does have many of the pieces necessary to put out a good product. The defense, despite allowing 48 points a week ago, continues to be anchored by potential all-Americans Michael Ononibaku and Alex Buzbee. Both have three tackles for a loss, and Buzbee has already forced two fumbles. If Georgetown is to make it back into the win column, the highly touted defense will need to return to form.
For this to happen, the offense will need to maintain possession of the football for longer than the 23 minutes that they held onto the ball against Holy Cross, and give the defense more of a chance to rest.
Leading the offense is junior quarterback Nick Cangelosi. Cangelosi, a transfer from North Carolina who made his first collegiate start against Bucknell, threw for 168 and 160 yards, respectively, in his first two games as a Hoya. And he was able to scramble for 91 yards in the season opener. The Hoyas will need Cangelosi to exhibit this same fleet of foot to avoid the three sacks he suffered against the Crusaders.
As Benson said to his team over and over again, the Hoyas will have to earn every inch to defeat the Bears.
But if the Bucknell game showed the Georgetown community anything, it is that the Hoyas can be resilient. Saturday at 1 p.m., at the brand new Multi-Sport Facility, they will aim to bounce back yet again.
