Senior offensive lineman Andrew Rehwinkel looked noticeably different as he slinked quietly out of the locker room in McDonough Gymnasium following Tuesday’s practice. An outgrowth of red facial hair was visible on the normally clean-shaven Rehwinkel’s face. Was his beard – grown during the Hoya’s bye week – a symbol of a fresh start, a sign of an older, wiser football team, ready to finish the season strong?
“Actually it’s for Halloween,” Rehwinkel said, stroking his stubble. “I’m going as Mark cGwire.” And Rehwinkel insists that his team’s effort in practice is a more sound representation of the Georgetown’s invigorated attitude following the off week.
“Coach said this was the best bye week of practice he’s ever seen,” Rehwinkel said. “We had a great week off, and the excitement has been high in practice all week.”
The Hoyas (1-6, 0-4 Patriot League) must be sound in their preparations as they prepare to head south to take on the streaking Charleston Southern Buccaneers. Charleston Southern (7-0, 1-0 Big South) last lost a football game last Oct. 8 to Virginia Military Institute. Since then, Head Coach Jay Mills’ team has run off 12-straight victories, winning the school’s first-ever Big South Conference championship last year and placing itself on track to do so again this season.
“We’ve been very blessed along the way,” Mills said of his team’s current streak. “To explain 12 wins in a row is difficult, but we’ve been fortunate enough [that] the balls have bounced in our favor thus far.”
While the Buccaneers seem to have somehow been consecrated by a higher power, the Hoyas have been cursed by a demonic evil spirit: the turnover. Georgetown has turned the ball over 29 times this season, an astronomical tally that has hindered offensive production all season long. Following a disappointing 17-7 loss to Bucknell on Oct. 15, Kelly voted to reevaluate his team in hopes of solving the offenses’ woes.
“We’ve fooled around with some personnel, put some new wrinkles in,” Kelly said. “The thing you don’t want to do is panic.”
Remaining calm will be a top priority for the Hoyas this Halloween weekend, but Kelly has yet to unmask his starting quarterback. Sophomore Ben Hostetler, junior Matt Basseuner and senior Nick Cangelosi all saw playing time against Bucknell, with none of the three able to provide any offensive wizardry.
“We are still evaluating [quarterback possibilities ] at this time,” Kelly said. “The knee-jerk reaction is to make changes, but the main thing you got to do is execute.”
Whoever takes charge of the huddle in Charleston on Sunday will have to use junior receiver Brent Craft, who was named to the Patriot League Honor Roll following his 11-reception performance against the Bison. Craft leads the team with 36 catches and 316 receiving yards and has proven to be a consistent pass-catching threat over the middle.
Craft would be well advised to watch his step for a lurking Jada Ross, the Buccaneers’ junior middle linebacker who leads a defense that has so far held opponents in check. Unfortunately for the Hoyas, nine different members of the Charleston Southern defense have picked off passes this season, led by junior defensive back C.J. Hirschman, who has three.
Rehwinkel says he and his teammates are confident in this week’s new “wrinkles.”
“I don’t want to elaborate too much, but we’ve put in some new stuff,” the Dallas native said. “We’ll give them a different look.”
The Hoya defense doesn’t anticipate any surprises from the Buccaneer offensive game plan, which can be summed up with the following simple phrase: Drafts to Price. Senior quarterback Collin Drafts has become the face of Charleston Southern football during his four years on campus, becoming the school’s all-time leading passer, and junior receiver Maurice Price has been the benefactor of a good number of Drafts’ tight spirals.
Together, the two have guided Mills’ vessel through turbulent tides and into the smooth waters of on-field success. The tandem has connected for nine touchdowns this season, including an 80-yard beauty last week against VMI.
“They are two very talented players,” Mills said. “Collin is about as good of a quarterback as I have ever been around, and Maurice is a truly complete receiver.”
Mills is especially proud of what his third-year wide out does when he doesn’t have the ball, often blocking downfield for Drafts, who is also the team’s leading rusher.
“We’ve noticed them on film,” senior defensive end Alex Buzbee said. “[Drafts] is both a pass and run threat, and [Price] is real impressive. It’s critical that we contain both of them.”
Stopping the Bucs’ offense will be more easily said than done for a defense that continues to start more and more underclassmen. Buzbee, the team’s co-captain, said he has been impressed with the infusion of youth.
“[Freshman] Travis Mack has really stepped up in the secondary, and [freshman] Scott Coffman has come to play at linebacker,” Buzbee said. “I think we can disrupt [Drafts] and force him to make mistakes.”
Many of the Hoyas used their off weekend to spend time away from the Hilltop, but none ventured too far from football. Buzbee headed home to New Jersey to see his brother play for Seton Hall Prep, while junior offensive lineman Robert Browning spent his weekend watching former high school teammates Troy Smith and Ted Ginn Jr. run circles around Indiana for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The rest of the Hoyas stayed in the District, relaxing and looking forward to what they hope will be a sunny trip to the South Carolina beach this weekend.
“We really refocused as a team this week,” Rehwinkel said. “We got back to basics and morale is up.” For Rehwinkel, the real treat will hopefully come long before he dons his Cardinals uniform on Halloween: a Hoya victory on Saturday.