After opening the season 0-7, the bye week could not have come at a better time for the Hoyas. The extra rest was a time to move forward, refocus and, most importantly, rest their weary legs.

Even so, the beat went on.

On Saturday, Georgetown traveled to Old Dominion in hopes of attaining its first victory of the season. Instead, the Hoyas were unable to get out of their own way, as they were thoroughly dominated by the Monarchs in a 31-10 defeat. The loss is the Blue and Gray’s eighth consecutive this year.

Early on, the Monarchs truly looked like kings, capitalizing on sluggish Georgetown play to jump out to a 17-0 lead after one quarter of play. After the Hoyas finally retaliated with a Jose Pablo Buerba field goal to start the second period, Old Dominion tacked on two more touchdowns to extend its lead to 28 points by halftime.

“We stunk up the place in the first half,” fourth-year Head Coach Kevin Kelly said.

Old Dominion wasted no time whatsoever on the offensive front, as the Monarchs marched 86 yards down the field in just under four minutes to start the game. The nine-play drive concluded with a 15-yard touchdown run to give Old Dominion the early edge.

Georgetown’s first offensive series yielded no success. Matters quickly turned from bad to worse as the Monarchs were able to block the Hoyas’ punt, enabling them to take over at the Georgetown 5-yard line.

The situation seemingly spelled absolute disaster for the Hoyas, but the defense proved staunch and was able to limit Old Dominion to just a field goal. After a few more unsuccessful offensive endeavors from the Blue and Gray, the Hoya defense eventually cracked, yielding another Thomas DeMarco touchdown run to extend the lead to 17. DeMarco, the Old Dominion quarterback, torched the defense all game, as the versatile signal caller proved to be an enormous dual threat. Not only did the Monarch leader throw for a score, but he also rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns.

After an atrocious first half, Kelly decided to switch things up offensively, replacing freshman quarterback Isaiah Kempf with sophomore Scott Darby to try and ignite some sort of fire in the Georgetown offense.

“We just weren’t productive [in the first half],” Kelly said. “I was looking for a way to jump start the offense. Scott had been doing well in practice so we figured, let’s give him a shot.”

By the time Darby entered the contest, the game was out of reach – but he did provide a spark to the previously lifeless Hoya attack. In only one half of play, Darby completed 14 passes for 147 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown strike to freshman receiver Brandon Floyd in the fourth quarter.

Despite the forgettable first two periods, the second half was one of Georgetown’s better efforts this season. In addition to the increased offensive production with Darby at the helm, the defense buckled down and proceeded to shut out the Monarchs for the last two quarters.

“In the second half we played much better,” Kelly said. “There were two different types of halves.”

Despite the unsuccessful outing, two Georgetown players seemed to be in the Halloween spirit, as they treated their teammates to some pleasant surprises. On the offensive side of the ball, senior tailback Charlie Houghton finally busted out of his season-long slump. The former Patriot League rookie of the year rushed 19 times for 112 yards. The effort was Georgetown’s first 100+ yard rushing performance of the year.

“If you could run the football, that helps you in the other areas,” Kelly said, clearly hoping that the team’s ground success will continue in the coming weeks. “Charlie played probably his best game this year.”

On the other side of the ball, senior defensive back Chris Rau played in his first game of the year after going down with a knee injury late in the preseason. The co-captain made his presence felt immediately, finishing the game with a team-high seven tackles.

“I thought Chris had a solid game,” Kelly said. “Coming back from knee surgery, he did a heck of a job.”

Next weekend, the Hoyas will remain outside Patriot League play, as they will travel up to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to face Marist. The Blue and Gray will look to repeat last year’s outcome, as they were able to defeat the Red Foxes in dramatic fashion. With only three games remaining, this may be the team’s best chance to avoid a winless season.

“It’s a team that we match up physically with,” Kelly said. “Right now they are 5-3, and they have a four-game winning streak. We have a lot of work to do between now and Saturday. Every time we play Marist, they give us a battle, so we [need to] be ready to play.”

In terms of his expectations for the remainder of the season, Kelly stressed resiliency and dedication.

“We’ve just got to keep on plugging away.” he said. “