By Nicholas Thomas
Homecoming is always a special time on any college campus. Alumni from all over the United States and beyond return to their old stomping grounds to reunite with their former peers.
This year’s installment is sure to be extra special.
William & Mary is celebrating its 100th anniversary of Homecoming from October 22-25. And what’s a homecoming celebration without a little bit of football?
On Saturday, October 24, at 3:30 p.m. ET, the William & Mary Tribe will host the 2-4 Georgetown Hoyas, who hail from our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.
The Past
Despite this season being W&M’s first in the Patriot League, this is not the first time they will be playing Georgetown. If you blow the dust off the record books and turn to 1911, you’ll find the first matchup between the two teams: a 66-0 trouncing with the Hoyas victorious.
However, a couple decades later in 1933, they faced off again with William & Mary scoring the win 12-6. Around the same time the next year in 1934, they shared the field one last time. It was another Georgetown shutout victory, but the Tribe defense held it to a 3-0 score.
Since then, a lot has happened: World War II, The Space Race, and the invention of the laptop I’m currently using to write this preview. Both programs have had magical seasons and seasons to forget since their meetings in the early 20th century. Now, after 92 years, these two teams meet again.
The Present
Currently, Georgetown is 5th in the Patriot League standings, performing well above their projected placement in the Patriot League preseason poll, where they landed in a tie for 8th.
Furthermore, they only had one player picked for the Preseason All-Patriot League Team: defensive lineman Chigozie Oge-Evans. However, he has been a leader of that defense, leading the team in tackles for loss, sacks, QB hits, and forced fumbles. He is the definition of a game-wrecker who will make his presence known to quarterback Winston Watkins and his offensive line all afternoon.
William & Mary sits 9th in the Patriot League heading into the weekend, but playoff hopes aren’t out of reach quite yet. The roadmap to the playoffs does include a lot of winning, however, and it all starts with an emphatic win at home this Saturday after last week’s bye.
The Future
So how will W&M beat the Hoyas this week? I have some ideas.
The first order of business is putting together sustainable drives. Through seven games this season, the Tribe hasn’t had more total offensive yards than their opponent in a single one. Granted, the team has found a way to win despite this in three of those games, but counting on explosive plays or short fields created by the defense and special teams won’t always cut it. If the Tribe can get rolling on offense throughout the game, we could see a comfortable home win.
That will likely be a difficult task given Georgetown’s defense. I mentioned standout defensive lineman Chigozie Oge-Evans above, but he’s certainly not some one-man show. Georgetown only allows 25.8 points per game, the fourth-lowest mark in the Patriot League and the second-lowest the Tribe has faced in conference play.
Although many William & Mary games this season have seen high point totals, we cannot rule out the possibility of a slow, grind-it-out game akin to the team’s last win against NC Central.
Georgetown’s offense is tougher to get a read on. They’ve trotted out a couple of quarterbacks this season, but signs point to freshman Gavin Beard on Saturday, as he has started the last two games for the Hoyas. He got his first snaps of the season in the second half of their game against Cornell and his first start came against Bucknell the following week.
In these games, he showed some growing pains, as is typical for a quarterback new to college football, but last week, he had his breakout game. He led Georgetown with 175 passing yards, three touchdown passes and only one interception. Alongside him, running backs Clay Ash and Jayden Sumpter combined for 177 yards on the ground. This effort culminated in a shocking 27-17 upset on the road against #22/19 Colgate.
Georgetown is peaking at the right time, but the blueprint to shut them down is there. If you look at the Villanova and Delaware State games early in the season, the Tribe won by minimizing mistakes while capitalizing on those made by the opponent. If we can get loud in Zable and make a freshman quarterback feel some pressure, that might just be what the defense needs to force some turnovers.
Have fun, get loud, and Go Tribe!
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