WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University football team is two weeks into its preseason camp, working toward the season opener against Marist on September 4 at Cooper Field. As the 2021 season quickly approaches, GUHoyas.com will take an in-depth look at each of the team's position groups, with this edition featuring the linebackers.
"You can't speak of the linebacker group and not mention the graduation of
Wes Bowers, Xavier Reddick and
George Ikott," said Defensive Coordinator
Kevin Doherty. "We graduated an exceptional group, but have plenty of guys ready and waiting to step up.
Owen Kessler and
Justin Fonteneaux have been and will continue to be an integral part of our defense.
Palmer Nix is ready to add more to his all-conference production on special teams and Kingley Umemba is transitioning to a new role. I love their leadership, work ethic and unselfishness for this group."
The Hoyas bring back a strong core of the unit from 2019, led by fifth-year senior
Owen Kessler who has appeared in all 33 games in his career. He has registered 188 tackles over his career with 21 TFL, including a team-high 7.5 in 2019, and 12.0 sacks. He was an All-Patriot League Second Team selection in 2018 after registering 6.5 sacks as a sophomore. He will be joined by seniors
Justin Fonteneaux and
Palmer Nix, who have combined to appear in 42 total games in their first two seasons. Fonteneaux ranked third on the squad in 2019 with 55 tackles and tied for the team lead with two interceptions, while Nix totaled 19 tackles and 2.0 TFL and was an all-conference selection for his play on special teams.
Fifth-year senior
Kingsley Umemba, who has appeared in 29 career games on the defensive line, is transitioning to the linebacker position. He has totaled 42 tackles in his three seasons to go with 4.5 TFL and 3.0 sacks. Senior
David Owens and juniors
Michael Hussey Jonathan Saddler and
Jack Tishman, who is moving to linebacker from safety this season, will add valuable veteran leadership at the position.
The Blue & Gray will have a lot of talented depth within the linebacker corps as seven underclassmen will fight for a spot on the field. Sophomores
Will Kessler, the younger brother of Owen, and
De'Andre Wilborn, as well as freshmen
Jed Henry,
Myles Jones,
Cole Pascucci,
Stephen Sergio and
Ibri Harrell will look to make an impact in their first collegiate season.
"
Jonathan Saddler,
David Owens and
Jack Tishman have been with us for a few years and are developing in the system. The two young classes have big time potential including size and speed. As a collective group, we have to step up and catch up to the other position groups but the truly exciting part is we have never had this kind of competition and talent at one time. The future is bright at the linebacker position."
The Hoyas open the 2021 season on September 4 when the Blue & Gray welcomes Marist to Cooper Field. Georgetown will play five home games this fall, including three Patriot League matchups and a nonconference tilt against Harvard (September 18). The squad will also travel to Columbia on September 25, looking to keep the Lou Little Trophy after an exciting 24-10 victory in 2019.
