WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University football team will host Columbia University on Saturday afternoon at Cooper Field. The game is not only GU's Homecoming contest, but is also the fourth installment of the 10-year series with the Lions for the Lou Little Trophy, honoring College Football Hall of Fame Head Coach Lou Little who coached at both Georgetown and Columbia.
Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. Links to live stats and a video stream, on the Patriot League Network, will be available at GUHoyas.com and will also be simulcast on Facebook Watch. Saturday's game, as well as GU's Family Weekend contest against Lehigh on Oct. 20, are both currently sold out. Visit WeAreGeorgetown.com/football closer to game day for updates on whether additional tickets will be made available on Saturday at Cooper Field.
Georgetown (1-2) is coming off a tough road decision at Dartmouth, 41-0, last Saturday in the first of three-consecutive games for the Hoyas against Ivy League opponents.
Blaise Brown (New Orleans, La. / St. Augustine / Loomis Chaffee) led the defense with 10 tackles, while
Wes Bowers (Fort Washington, Md. / Bishop McNamara) added nine and
Owen Kessler (Westfield, N.J. / Westfield) had his second interception in as many games.
Brad Hurst (Helen, Ga. / White County) averaging 47.0 yards on eight punts. He placed three inside Dartmouth's 20-yard line, and had three punts of at least 50 yards, including a season-long 65-yard boot, which is tied for the 10th-longest punt in school history.
Saturday will be the sixth all-time meeting between Georgetown and Columbia, with the Lions hold a 3-2 advantage. The Hoyas won the first two installments of the Lou Little Trophy series, 24-16 in 2015 and 17-14 in 2016, before dropping last year's matchup, 35-14, in New York. In last year's contest,
Michael Dereus (Hyde Park, Mass. / Williston Northampton) had four receptions for 126 yards, his second 100-yard receiving game of the season, including an 83-yard touchdown reception for the third-longest passing play in GU's history and the longest since 1997.
Brandon Williams (Germantown, Md. / Northwest) also hauled in four passes for 78 yards.
The Hoyas are 3-8 against the Ivy League in the last four seasons under Head Coach
Rob Sgarlata, and still have one more contest remaining this season as the Blue & Gray play at Brown on Sept. 29.
Lou Little arrived on the Hilltop in 1924 and helped bring Georgetown football into the modern era. He recorded a 41-12-3 record over six seasons, while also serving as athletics director. His .759 win percentage is still the highest among GU head coaches who have coached more than 20 games on the Hilltop. At Georgetown, Little coached three All-Americans, including Harry Connaughton, Claude Grigsby and Jim Mooney, each of whom were inducted into the Georgetown Athletics Hall of Fame in 1953. Little took over at Columbia in 1930 and continued his Hall of Fame career until 1956. At Columbia, he posted 110 victories. Overall his teams won 149 games, lost 122 and tied 11.
Columbia (1-0) won its season opener last weekend, coming away with a 41-24 victory at Central Connecticut State. The Lions recovered three fumbles and only allowed 45 yards rushing on defense, while using a three-quarterback system to total 324 yards of offense. The win gave Columbia a school-record fifth straight non-conference win. The Lions return 14 of 22 starters (seven on offense and seven on defense) and six All-Ivy League selections from a program that recorded its best season in 21 years, posting an 8-2 record and finishing second in the Ivy League with a 5-2 mark.
Following Saturday's game, the Hoyas will embark on a three-game road swing. The Blue & Gray will close out nonconference play at Brown on Saturday, Sept. 29, with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. in Providence, Rhode Island. Georgetown will then open Patriot League play with games at Fordham (Oct. 6, 1 p.m.) and at Lafayette (Oct. 13, 3:30 p.m.).
