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1999 Football Coverage
From HoyaSaxa.com game recaps. Links to other contemporary coverage may be out of date.Game #2: Siena (September 18) Georgetown's 47-12 win over Siena was not archived. Game #3: St. John's (September 25) Georgetown's 30-7 win over St. John's was not archived. Game #4: Iona (Oct. 2) Senior running back Rob Belli scored two touchdowns and quarterback J.J. Mont added two TD passes as Georgetown pulled past Iona 28-0 at New Rochelle, NY. Media coverage of the game was sparse, but here are links to coverage from this weekend: Game #5: Marist (Oct. 9) Trailing by an astonishing 23 points heading into the fourth quarter, the undefeated Georgetown Hoyas rallied on the road to defeat the Marist Red Foxes 41-40 in overtime. With four touchdowns in the final 14 minutes of play, this may be the biggest comeback of its kind in more than a century of Georgetown football. The game was full of twists and turns. Backup QB Sean Peterson started in place of the ailing J.J. Mont, but was ineffective (4-16-1, 27 yds.) against the well regarded Marist defense. Marist (2-3) took a surprising 14-0 lead at the half, and before J.J. Mont returned to action in the third period to complete his first TD drive, Marist led by a shocking 24-0 over the MAAC's top ranked team. Down 31-8 to start the fourth quarter, Mont needed some big help--and got it in junior WR Gharun Hester. Mont opened the fourth quarter comeback with a dramatic 69 yard TD pass to Hester, then connected on a 48 yard TD to Hester three minutes later. After the Georgetown defense held Marist to a field goal on their next drive, the Hoyas took the ball 80 yards, capped by a Rob Belli TD run narrowing the count to seven, 34-27. The Hoya defense held, and with :54 left, found Hester a third time with a 10 yard TD pass. Hester's 227 yard effort broke a eight year Georgetown record for most yardage by a receiver in a single game. The same GU defense which allowed a record 508 yards to a MAAC opponent in just three quarters, held the Red Foxes to -10 yards total offense in the fourth. In the overtime, the first of its kind for the Hoyas, Mont found RB Aaron Brown with a seven yard pass to take the first lead. Marist answered with a touchdown on its possession, but freshman Zachary Yorke came through the line and blocked the extra point, sealing an astounding victory. Some links to the action: Game #6: Davidson (Oct. 16) A week ago, it was Georgetown fans who marveled over a three touchdown comeback and a one point win at Marist. Just a week later, it was Davidson's turn to marvel. Despite Georgetown dominating its opponent for the first three quarters at Homecoming, a relentless Davidson running attack wore out the Hoya defense and allowed the Wildcats to escape Washington with a 28-27 win. It's the first Davidson win over a Division I-AA team in seven years; to be fair, however, Davidson has played very few I-AA teams over the years due to a lack of opponents in the Carolinas. Georgetown started early with a pair of TD's in the first quarter, though a missed extra point by senior Paul Wiorowski would prove crucial at game's end. The Hoyas increased their lead to 20-7 at halftime and scored on the opening possession of the third when Davidson fumbled the kickoff. Trailing by 20 in the fourth quarter, Davidson (4-3) switched quarterbacks and focused on an option rushing attack. In a fourteen minute stretch, Georgetown had only one offensive play as the Wildcats' ground game wore down--and eventually wore out--the Georgetown defense. The three drives were as follows:
Where was the turning point? It wasn't the missed extra point or the last second field goal. The nationally prominent Georgetown defense was on the field for over 14 minutes in the fourth quarter, and allowed the Cats to march up and down Kehoe Field in the fourth quarter. The finish spoiled fine defensive performances by Adam Krugman (17 tackles)and Paul Miller (14 tackles and a pair of fumble recoveries) and a day which saw J.J. Mont set the all-time record for TD passes in a career. Some links to the action: Game #7: St. Peter's (Oct. 23) While fans might have sought a knockout punch of St. Peter's, the Hoyas settled for a 14-3 unanimous decision before a Friday afternoon crowd of only 750 at Jersey City's Cochrane Stadium. St. Peter's moved the game from Saturday to Friday due to scheduling conflicts at the city-owned facility. Georgetown running backs Aaron Brown and Rob Belli each accounted for touchdowns in the first half, but windy conditions prevented neither team from scoring in the second half. Georgetown's 204 yards on the ground was a welcome sight, even if QB J.J. Mont threw for a rather light 91 yards on 9 for 21 passing. St. Peter's (1-6) could manage only 163 total yards and was picked off three times by the Hoya defense. The Peacocks lost more yards on penalties (75) than they earned on the ground (68). With the win, Georgetown clinches its sixth consecutive winning season for the first time since 1938 through 1946, and the first time in consecutive seasons since the 1916 through 1922 seasons. This year, however, Hoyas fans expect much more than just a winning season, and the next big test comes against Fairfield. Here are links to the game coverage: Game #8: Fairfield (Oct. 30) Georgetown's 21-14 win over Fairfield was not archived. Game #9: Duquesne (Nov. 6) The Georgetown defense had no answer for RB Donte Small, who led the Duquesne Dukes (6-3, 5-1 MAAC) to a 33-21 win at Kehoe Field Saturday. A 42 yard first quarter run by Small gave Duquesne an early 7-0 lead, matched quickly by the Hoyas with a 15 yard pass from J.J. Mont to Gharun Hester. The Hoyas took the lead with under two minutes to play with a 34 yard pass from Mont to Hester, then gave up an unnecessary touchdown in the final minute of the half when a desperation heave toward the end zone was unexpectedly pulled in at the one yard line, leading to the tying score. The late TD was a harbinger of trouble to come for the defense, who could not contain the balanced Duquesne offense. The key play came late in the third, when Duquesne reserve QB Jerry Troop came in for the briefly sidelined Tony Zimmerman. For a team needing a boost, Troop delivered--he opened with a 50 yard pass play that set up the go-ahead TD. The kick was blocked, giving DU a six point lead, but was soon extended to 12 on a TD early in the fourth quarter (with a missed two-point conversion). The Hoyas still had some fight in them, though and Mont narrowed the count to 26-21 with about 10 minutes left, capped by a 15 yard pass to RB Rob Belli. The Hoyas held the Dukes and drove to midfield with 5:00 to play, but opted to punt instead of going for it on 4th down. On the ensuing drive, Duquesne drove down the field, led by Donte Small's rushing, while Zimmerman completed a 17 yard TD pass to close out the game. Each team had a costly turnover inside their opponent's 20 yard line but the Dukes maintained the ball control in the fourth quarter that has hurt the Hoya defense late this season. The key stat may have come from pass defense--the Hoyas gave up an average of 18 yards per reception. Game #10: Canisius (Nov. 13) A balanced offense and a stifling rush defense powered Georgetown past Canisius College, 49-6, before a crowd of "friends and family" Saturday at Canisius' Demske Sports Complex. The Hoyas opened the scoring late in the first quarter on a 1 yard run, then followed up with two more touchdowns in the second period to build a 21-0 lead. A Canisius turnover on the next possession allowed QB J.J. Mont to pass for the first of two TD's, this one to RB Aaron Brown. Mont found Gharun Hester with a 17 yard TD pass with :10 in the half for a 35-0 score at intermission. Georgetown's defense had Canisius in check, allowing the Hoyas to give some time to next year's starters in the second half. J.J. Mont earned some well deserved rest for the game, allowing sophomore Sean Peterson to play in the second half. Peterson was 5-6 for 99 yards and threw for one TD. A pair of running backs for the future, freshmen Jamarr Staples and David Greer, combined for 50 yards on 13 carries while sophomore Aaron Brown led all rushers with 11 carries, 73 yards, and two TD's. A pair of Hoya touchdowns increased the lead to 49-0 at the end of the third quarter, and the shutout was broken midway in the fourth quarter on a 27 yard TD pass for the Griffs. The statistics in the game underscored the rout, with the Hoyas earning 31 first downs to Canisius' 11, and the Hoyas outrushed the Griffs 229-16. Gharun Hester led all receivers with a four catches for 104 yards and two TD's. One statistic which has bedeviled the Hoyas much of this year has been time of possession, but this was no such demon today -- Georgetown held the ball for 39:37 compared with only 20:23 for the homestanding Griffins. The Hoya fans making the trip to Buffalo may have comprised a significant part of the entire crowd -- the announced attendance at the game was a Division I low of only 325. Here's some stats from the box score:
Geo Can
First downs 31 11
Rushing 55-229 12-16
Passing 291 178
Comp-Att-Int 18-31-1 20-40-2
Return Yards 36 0
Punts-Avg. 2-34.5 8-27.6
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0-0
Penalties-Yards 7-45 2-25
Time of Possession 39:37 20:23
Game #11: LaSalle (Nov. 20) Georgetown's 52-7 win over LaSalle was not archived. |
Georgetown's defense came up big in the season opener, forcing six turnovers in a convincing 34-16 upset of Holy Cross at Worcester, Massachusetts.
Georgetown's offense struggled early, settling for four punts in its first four possessions and seven by halftime. But with HC already leading 6-0 and driving to the Georgetown 34, cornerback Jim Gallagher picked off a Ryan Collar pass and raced 66 yards to put the Hoyas on the board, 7-6.
The game may have turned in the second quarter. Trailing 10-9, the Crusaders drove 78 yards to the Georgetown 23, and after HC's Collar failed to connect with WR Michael Coleman alone in the end zone, Collar's next pass was picked off by Mike Turmanian at the 17. From there, the Hoyas mounted a 12 play, 77 yard drive to pull ahead at the half, 16-9.
Holy Cross tied the score early in the third, but Georgetown answered with a 37 yard TD pass from J.J. Mont to George Sumner to put the Hoyas ahead to stay. Two bad snaps on punts led the Crusaders to give up safeties, increasing the lead to 27-16. A few minutes later, Mont found TE Reid Wakefield on a 57 yard TD pass to complete the scoring in the game.
J.J. Mont finished with 302 yards, but looked rusty throughout most of the game (16-45, 1 INT). The running game also struggled (37 carries, 100 yards), but the GU defense came up big time after time, cutting off key drives that could have let HC back into the game. Senior Adam Krugman led the charge with nine tackles, junior Ryan O'Donoghue followed with seven, and six tackles from grad student Brian Dwyer, the latter playing hurt much of the game.
The Hoyas head home for a game with Siena (0-1), who lost to Sacred Heart (CT) 9-7 this past weekend. A preview will follow on Friday.
Here are links to the Holy Cross game: