Archive For The “Jo’el Kimpela” Category
We break down the Georgetown game – and we give our fearless prediction below the flip.
Head coach Rob Sgarlata should be a trendy pick for coach of the year in the Patriot League.
In a year when Georgetown was picked last in the preseason poll, Georgetown instead is playing meaningful football games at Halloween, and have a golden opportunity to finish above .500.
And they have to be looking at the game versus Lehigh as a critical one to achieve that goal.
First, there’s the matter of Fordham. While beating the preseason favorite Rams are high on the list of all Patriot League fans, the odds of them beating the other teams on their schedule, Holy Cross and Lehigh, are much greater.
There’s also that tiny matter that Georgetown hasn’t beaten Lehigh since 1925.
Lehigh also happens to hold the second-longest active winning streak of consecutive wins against the same opponent (14). The longest current streak is Penn over Columbia (18). It’s no wonder that the Georgetown faithful might think that, with Lehigh having a down season last year, that this is the year that the streak is broken.
We break down the Georgetown game – and we give our fearless prediction below the flip.
Head coach Rob Sgarlata should be a trendy pick for coach of the year in the Patriot League.
In a year when Georgetown was picked last in the preseason poll, Georgetown instead is playing meaningful football games at Halloween, and have a golden opportunity to finish above .500.
And they have to be looking at the game versus Lehigh as a critical one to achieve that goal.
First, there’s the matter of Fordham. While beating the preseason favorite Rams are high on the list of all Patriot League fans, the odds of them beating the other teams on their schedule, Holy Cross and Lehigh, are much greater.
There’s also that tiny matter that Georgetown hasn’t beaten Lehigh since 1925.
Lehigh also happens to hold the second-longest active winning streak of consecutive wins against the same opponent (14). The longest current streak is Penn over Columbia (18). It’s no wonder that the Georgetown faithful might think that, with Lehigh having a down season last year, that this is the year that the streak is broken.
No teams can beat Georgetown in one area: timezones.
While head coach Rob Sgarlata might prefer you focus on how many games where Georgetown had a chance going into the 4th quarter, or how they have a sneaky good defense, the truth is nobody can touch Georgetown when it comes to getting players all over the world.
Take senior DB Ettian Scott, whose hometown is listed as Okinawa, Japan. Or senior RB Jo’el Kimpala, who hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Or sophomore WR Luke Morris, who comes from Honolulu, Hawai’i.
If Georgetown’s policy of not offering football scholarships might be seen as a hindrance in some circles, it’s clearly not much of a setback when it comes to getting players that hail from, well, all over the world.
In Year 2 of the Sgarlata era, the Hoyas are hoping to make the jump from 3-8 squad to an over .500 team, and challenging for the Patriot League title. Impossible? Some might think so. At media day, the Hoyas were picked 7th out of 7 teams.
Yet senior LB Matthew Satchell said at Patriot League Media day that this Georgetown team would be a “down and dirty fighting team,” showing that this squad may be a tougher out than people imagine, especially with their tough defense.
We break down the Georgetown game – and we give our fearless prediction below the flip.
Whenever I need to get caught up on Georgetown, I always check the Hoya game notes and athletic site, of course, but I also, always, check out DFW Hoya’s site on Georgetown football for his in-depth analysis and breakdown of the Hoyas.
His site was one of the few sites talking about FCS football at all when I started doing this Lehigh Football Nation thing at the very beginning, and his site has always been an inspiration – and I don’t toss that word around lightly – to what I’ve wanted LFN to become. As a fellow website-master, I know how much work it takes to do previews and games, and I appreciate it.
In his preview could be the stat of the season for Lehigh. As a Hoya fan, he looks at this season as Georgetown’s best chance to beat Lehigh since the Hoyas joined the Patriot League. He also said this, which is true:
“The Engineers are a woeful 4-22 in two PL games converting on third down. Lehigh should do somewhat better in this one, but their gains on second down figure to be just as, if not more, important, when short yardage options become more plentiful. Defensively, Lehigh allows 55% of third downs, something Georgetown must take advantage of.”
