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Welcome to HoyaSaxa.com. Here's where you will find more news and information than you'll ever need to know about Georgetown University football. If you're looking for the official athletics site instead, link here.

The Hoya gridiron tradition began in 1874. Georgetown is a football-only member of the Patriot League.

If you're new to the program or just curious about the Georgetown experience, visit the Football FAQ page for an introduction to Hoya Football.

One week after releasing the 2009 roster, some additional changes are in store as the revised roster is now online.

Junior Keerome Lawrence has moved from quarterback to a slot-back position, while John O'Leary has been reassigned from quarterback to wide receiver. Eleven players will change jersey numbers from 2008 to 2009, with senior RB Robert Lane wearing #35, the Eacobacci Memorial jersey.

The 2009 roster now contains 27 freshmen, 25 sophomores, 19 juniors, and 21 seniors, with seven starters returning on offense and seven on defense.

Georgetown officials have rescheduled the 70th Homecoming Game, which will now take place Sept. 26 versus Howard.

Due to a series of academic conflicts, Homecoming was originally scheduled late in the season (Nov. 14) against Richmond, which would not only have pitted the Hoyas against the pre-season #1 ranked team in I-AA but would likely involve much colder temperatures and the possibility of a conflict with an early season basketball game. The earlier date, which coincides with Alumni Association events that weekend, should serve to bring more fans to Washington in September, as well as the possibility of a significant turnout from Howard fans across town.

The game should also be considerably more competitive than Richmond. The Bison were 1-10 last season and will play games with Rutgers and Florida A&M on the road before the Sept. 26 game at the Multi-Sport Field. In the first meeting between the schools, Georgetown upset Howard in the 2008 season opener, 12-7.

Former Georgetown defensive end Alex Buzbee (B'07) continues his rehabilitation from an an Achilles tear that cost him the 2008 season with the NFL's Washington Redskins. Buzbee spoke to the Washington Post this week on his efforts to fight for a roster spot in 2009.

"I didn't feel like I was coming off the ball quite as good as I was last year, but even this OTA compared to the last three weeks, the OTA we had three weeks ago, it feels stronger and more explosive," he said. "So I think by training camp in July I should be back to where I was."

The 2009 season finale between Georgetown and Fordham marks the 45th anniversary of the non-scholarship football movement begun by Georgetown, NYU, and Fordham. NYU football is long gone, and by 2010, Fordham will cast non-scholarship football aside, announcing an aggressive plan to move to 60 full scholarships in football beginning with the 2010 season.

"I am very pleased to announce this momentous news for the football Rams. Momentous may be understating it, in fact," said Fordham president Joseph McShane, S.J. "This is a sea change for Fordham athletics: these scholarships will allow more students to participate in Fordham football, and will make the team much more competitive both in Patriot League and non-league games.

Rather than giving Fordham its walking papers, the Patriot League adopted a strategy that will allow Fordham to stay in the non-scholarship league through at least the 2012 season, but the Rams will be ineligible for the title.

"Being able to award scholarships based on athletic ability will greatly increase the pool of student-athletes that we are able to recruit, said Fordham coach Tom Masella, where the Rams finished 5-6 in 2008 with its only PL win being over Georgetown. "We are pleased to be able to maintain our Patriot League schedule and at the same time, look to enhance our schedule with the addition of some [I-A] schools along with top [I-AA] schools. In the end this will aid us in achieving our ultimate goal, a chance to compete for an NCAA [Division I] championship."

Lehigh officials took the unusual step of commenting on Fordham's move on its web site.

"At this time, I view Fordham's move to scholarship football as a positive move," said Lehigh coach Andy Coen. "I am excited that the League Presidents are committed to discussions on awarding athletic merit aid for all league members. I am certainly a proponent of scholarship football in our league. I have no doubt that scholarships would enhance Patriot League football on the national level, which I believe would help every member institution."

Other PL schools, including Georgetown, did not offer comment. Fordham will be able to offer scholarships to PL recruits beginning with this upcoming fall's recruiting class.

Georgetown has not taken a public position on PL scholarships--while it offers athletic grants in 23 of 29 sports, Georgetown has not offered football scholarships since the fall of 1950.

A majority of PL schools may favor scholarships in some form, but the current economic recession makes it a tough sell within their board of directors and trustees. Various web sites contend Colgate and Lehigh as most supportive of scholarships, with Lafayette and Bucknell likely to follow the majority in either scenario, with Holy Cross on record as opposing scholarships.

"This has to prompt the league to go to scholarships across the board in football, something that has been advocated by every football coach I've talked to for several years, including Lehigh's Andy Coen and Lafayette's Frank Tavani," said veteran PL writer Keith Groller in the Allentown Morning Call. "The league can't afford to lose another member. It needs to add, not lose teams if it wants to keep its automatic bid in the NCAA tournament. This gives the Patriot League the push it needs to make the change."

Fordham will convert its existing grants in aid to merit-based scholarships after the 2009 season. The current Fordham football budget is $4.4 million, the second largest in the East, and could approach $5 million with additional upgrades to the program.

Georgetown is traditionally among the later I-AA schools to announce its annual recruiting class, and did so this week with a listing of its 28 man recruiting class for the class of 2013.

"This is a very diverse class and we're excited to have these young men join our program," said Coach Kevin Kelly in this link to GUHoyas.com.

This site would like to take this opportunity for our readers to strongly consider joining the Georgetown Gridiron Club, the official support organization of Georgetown Football.

A growth in support is essential for Georgetown to even hope to compete with schools with budgets and facilities that far exceed that which exists on the Hilltop today. Your tax-deductible gift is important not only for Georgetown football, but class fund totals, parents fund totals and overall Annual Fund giving.

Today's support is a vital part of tomorrow's Georgetown Football.

This is an unofficial site for Georgetown Football. If you are interested in playing football at Georgetown, please do not contact us. Write to the Department of Athletics, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057. General information for prospective student athletes and their parents can be found at this NCAA link.

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N.B.: This not-for-profit site is supportive of, but neither directly affiliated with nor under the supervision of Georgetown University or the Patriot League. Cover photo courtesy GU Football Pics.com . See the Fine Print page for more details.

AMDG