Charles Nailen/The Hoya Freshman running back Marcus Slayton and the Hoyas broke a two-game skid Saturday.
Heading into last weekend’s game against Davidson, Georgetown Head Coach Bob Benson saw the match-up as an opportunity for the Hoyas to begin turning around their season. Georgetown certainly took a step in that direction, defeating Davison 25-21 courtesy of a dominant 12-point rally in the fourth quarter.
“It was great to win,” Benson said. “Especially the way we played in the fourth, controlling the ball for 11 minutes, and especially after some of the adversity of the third quarter.”
Making his first start at quarterback since Nov. 18, 2000 senior David Paulus spurred the Hoya offense, completing 15 of 20 passes for 237 yards and three touchdowns. Saturday’s game marks just the second time this season that a Georgetown starting quarterback has completed more than half of his passes. Sophomore Andrew Crawford completed eight of 14 before getting pulled against Fordham last weekend.
“Paulus made a very positive contribution,” Benson said. “He made some big plays, three touchdowns and zero interceptions.”
Sophomore running back Johns Sims also helped the cause, returning from a shoulder injury to rush for 87 yards on 26 carries.
Georgetown (2-4, 0-3 Patriot League) jumped out in the lead after Paulus touchdown passes to junior receiver Luke McArdle and junior fullback William Huisking. A failed extra-point attempt left the score at 13-0 when the Hoyas again marched down the Davidson 12-yard line.
Just as Georgetown threatened to pull away, a holding call against the Hoyas reversed their fortunes forcing them to punt. Davidson (3-3) capitalized on the mistake, going 95 yards on 12 plays to make the score 13-7 with less than a minute until halftime.
“Disaster,” Benson said. “And that’s after [the officials] called back a 75-yard return by Luke [McArdle] for an illegal block to the back.”
The Davidson score would be the first of three consecutive touchdowns for the Wildcats, largely because of good starting field position, pushing their lead to 21-13 heading into the fourth quarter.
“We had a little bit of a gut check,” Benson said.
That was when sophomore defensive back Tim Banks picked off his pass of the season and returned it 36 yards for the touchdown. Georgetown failed to convert a two-point attempt that would have knotted the score at 21, but the defense forced the Wildcats to punt after just four plays on their next possession.
Paulus drove Georgetown 60 yards in six plays, including a 29-yard pass to McArdle, which brought the Hoyas to the Davidson 3-yard line. Two plays later, Paulus connected with Huisking for the touchdown, putting Georgetown up 25-21 with 7:20 remaining. The Hoya defense held firm on the ensuing two Davidson possessions, and Georgetown held on for its second victory of the season.
“Football teams are made in October,” Benson said.
With their second win under their belts, the Hoyas now set their sights on Lafayette in the first of two games against conference opponents.
The Leopards enter the contest with an even record of 3-3, coming off a come-from-behind 28-21 victory over Columbia last weekend.
Lafayette features a balanced attack offensively, primarily consisting of quarterback junior quarterback Marco Glavic and sophomore running back Joe McCourt, the 2001 Patriot League Rookie of the year. Last year Glavic passed for 208 yards and two touchdowns to bolster McCourt’s 184 yard, two touchdown rushing day.
“They’re balanced offensively and any time you have a team that’s balanced it presents a problem for a team that’s inexperienced in the secondary,” Benson said earlier this week in a press conference.
One area the Hoya secondary may be able to exploit, however, is Glavic’s sub-par decision-making. He has already thrown for 10 interceptions this season. Lafayette has the worst turnover ratio in the league at -.83, while Georgetown is tied for second with eight interceptions.
Paulus, expected to start again despite battling a case of turf-toe, could also take advantage of a Lafayette defense that is allowing an average of 27.7 points per game.
The game this Saturday kicks off at 1:30 p.m. on Fisher Field in Easton, Penn.
