Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Football | 2nd Ivy League Test Looms for Hoyas

FILE PHOTO: Julia Hennrikus/The hoya Junior runningback Jo’el Kimpela has 251 yards on 62 attempts this season. He also has 37 yards receiving in five games played.
FILE PHOTO: Julia Hennrikus/The hoya
Junior runningback Jo’el Kimpela has 251 yards on 62 attempts this season. He also has 37 yards receiving in five games played.

After getting shut out in its opening Patriot League game at Colgate University, the Georgetown (2-3, 0-1 Patriot League) football team looks to rebound in a nonconference game Saturday, hosting perennial Ivy League power Harvard University (2-0, 1-0 Ivy League) at 12 p.m. at MultiSport Facility.

The Hoyas look to regain their momentum after seeing their two-game win streak abruptly end last weekend, losing 19-0 to Colgate while being outgained in offensive yardage 349-163. Junior cornerback Ettian Scott describes the mood of the team going into the Harvard game.

“We always have high morale. We have this theory called ‘You win or you learn.’ We feel like we’re going to come out here and take it to Harvard,” said Scott, who leads the team in interceptions with three.

The Hoyas are looking past Colgate after learning from their mistakes and focusing on Harvard with a determined attitude. Junior running back Jo’el Kimpela built off of Scott’s comments.

“We’re going to improve, get better each and every day, learn from the mistakes we did and improve on them,” Kimpela said.

Under the direction of Head Coach Tim Murphy, the Crimson have worked to fill the void after 35 seniors graduated from last year’s 9-1 Ivy League co-champion squad. They have gotten off to a good start this season, defeating Holy Cross 41-18 and notching a come-from-behind victory against conference rival Brown University 22-14. Georgetown also defeated Brown two weeks ago 17-3. However, the Hoyas head into Saturday’s game as clear underdogs.

The Crimson return an experienced offensive line and defensive line that are considered the strengths of the team. The defensive line is anchored by senior defensive end Zach Hodges and senior defensive tackle Obum Obukwelu. Hodges is considered the bigger threat after being named to the 2014 Preseason All-FCS First Team.

“Harvard’s defensive line is excellent,” Head Coach Rob Sgarlata said. “They have Zach Hodges, who is one of the best players in I-AA.”

In Harvard’s victory against Holy Cross, Hodges tied the school career sack record at 20.5. Along with the defensive line, Harvard has an experienced group of linebackers that are excellent tacklers and were key in their defeat of Holy Cross in the season opener. Between the combination of skill and experience, this makes for an explosive Harvard defense that leads the Ivy League in points per game allowed (16.0), yards per game (332.0) and total sacks (5).

The Hoyas’ offensive line will have to work hard to keep junior quarterback Kyle Nolan away from pressure if Georgetown hopes to improve on its poor performance against Colgate, against which it passed for a lackluster 128 yards and did not enter the red zone the entire game.

FILE PHOTO: JULIA HENNRIKUS/THE HOYA Junior quarterback Kyle Nolan managed 128 yards passing against Colgate last week. He has 863 yards and three passing touchdowns this season.
FILE PHOTO: JULIA HENNRIKUS/THE HOYA
Junior quarterback Kyle Nolan managed 128 yards passing against Colgate last week. He has 863 yards and three passing touchdowns this season.

Sgarlata described how the Hoyas have worked on protecting Nolan better in practice.

“You analyze the tape and look at scheme and look at the QB reads, look at the offensive line; and we’ve worked on all three phases of that, so I think we’ll have a better day on Saturday,” Sgarlata said.

If there is one weakness on the Harvard defense, it is the secondary unit, which lost three of their four starters from last year’s unit.

“We’re going to take whatever the defense gives us. We have enough talent to run the ball with Jo’el [Kimpela] and [senior running back] Danny [Wright] and our offensive line. We think we have enough weapons whether it’s running the ball or throwing the ball,” Sgarlata said.

On offense for Harvard, junior quarterback Scott Hosch has taken the reins under center after senior quarterback Connor Hempel injured his back in the game against Holy Cross. Currently, Hosch ranks third in FCS in completion percentage at 69.6 percent. The Blue & Gray secondary, led by Scott, will look to limit this potent passing attack. Scott stressed the importance of teamwork in keeping the passing attack of the Crimson locked down.

“It’s all teamwork. I’m going to play their top wide receiver [junior Andrew Fischer] to the best of my ability and also use the help from my other guys, so it’s always a team [effort].”

As the Hoyas go into Saturday’s game, they will need to play more balanced on offense, and sides of the ball will have to produce in order to emerge victorious. Sgarlata pointed to better offensive output as a key to the game.

“We need to be more consistent on offense. The games we’ve been more consistent, we’ve been able to move the ball and put points up, so we need to eliminate some of the unforced errors, and we need to continue to play good defense,” Sgarlata said.

After getting two punts blocked against Colgate, the Blue and Gray will also need to execute better on special teams.

Come Saturday, it will be up to the coaching staff and the players to bring together all they have worked on in practice in order to emerge victorious against the Crimson.

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