By Jack Mcloone 

The Rams were without both graduate student quarterback Kevin Anderson and senior running back Chase Edmonds – along with missing others to a flu bug – but were able to scrape out their first Patriot League win of the season. The Rams squeaked by the Georgetown Hoyas 17-9, thanks in large part to an overwhelming defensive effort. They are now 2-6 overall and 1-2 in the Patriot League.

“I don’t know if there’s a word I could use to really do justice to how proud and impressed I am with the players, of course, with the coaching staff,” head coach Andrew Breiner told WFUV. “That number of injuries and illnesses are a lot to overcome in a conference game and my full credit goes to our players, to our coaching staff.”

After being forced to punt on their opening drive, the Rams were able to get in the red zone on the next two drives. However, the offense stalled out both times, resulting in just field goals.

On the first scoring drive, a pass from senior quarterback Luke Medlock to junior wide receiver Austin Longi for 16 yards gave the Rams first and 10 on the Hoya 12-yard line. By the time they lined up for the field goal, it was from the 13. Freshman kicker Andrew Mevis hit the 30-yard field goal.

On the next scoring drive, the Fordham offense stalled out not once but twice. Facing fourth and 13 on their own 32-yard line, the Rams were bailed out by a running into the punter penalty, which gave them 15 yards and the first down. The drive sustained to the Hoya 14, but three straight overthrown balls from Medlock brought Mevis back on for a 31-yarder, which he also hit. That 20-play, 77-yard drive put Fordham up 6-0 with 11:05 left in the half.

Fordham managed to turn a Georgetown touchdown into a lead for itself later in the half. That drive was actually extended in the same exact way as Fordham’s previous scoring drive, with a running into the punter penalty. Immediately after, the Hoyas went for a home run and Gunther Johnson completed a 57-yard pass to put the Hoyas on the Fordham 10. Two plays later, they were in the end zone.

But on the ensuing extra point, graduate student defensive lineman Manny Adeyeye burst through the line and blocked the kick and sophomore defensive back Jesse Bramble – who had been beat for the 57-yard completion – scooped it up and took it to the house for two points. Despite giving up a touchdown, Fordham had an 8-6 lead, which they took to the half.

The Hoyas opened the half with a long field goal drive, burning a little under six minutes with an 11-play, 67-yard drive. There was nothing particularly flashy about the drive, with a few intermediate plays, but overall Georgetown picked and popped its way downfield. It seemed like a classic case of a defense coming out of the half a little flat.

However, a holding penalty in the red zone killed the Hoyas’ momentum, so they settled for a field goal, taking a 9-8 lead.

The lead did not last long. Behind a 21-yard rush from freshman running back Zach Davis and a 41-yard completion to Longi, the Rams were quickly on the Georgetown 10. Longi then found an empty spot in the end zone and Medlock hit him for Fordham’s lone touchdown. The Rams attempted a trick play for a two-point conversion, but the end-around handoff from Medlock to newly-eligible transfer quarterback Austin King was bobbled and the toss towards the end zone was too high, leaving it a 14-9 lead with 7:16 left in the third.

The Rams added three more points on a 31-yard Mevis field goal early in the fourth quarter to reach the 17-9 final.

The defensive effort of Fordham, which continued to dominate after a strong showing last week despite the loss, was described by Breiner as “the story” of the game. They limited Gunther Johnson and the Hoyas to just 246 yards of total offense, and repeatedly stepped up late in drives. Johnson, who just a week earlier had five total touchdowns – three on the ground – was held to just 196 yards passing and -5 yards rushing. He was sacked three times, including senior linebacker Niko Thorpe’s first sack of the season.

In the fourth quarter, Georgetown ran just 14 plays for -1 yards.

“I knew for us to win the football game, that was going to be the kind of game it had to be,” said Breiner. “It was going to have to be a defensive-centric game. It was going to be a field-position game. If we could continue to improve our starting field position with each drive – and at the same time forcing Georgetown to drive further and further and further, I was confident that we could get points on the board, enough points to win.”

Mevis won the field-position portion of that battle. Alongside his three field goals, his punts were the main problem for the Hoyas. His eight punts traveled a total of 324 yards, an average of 40.5 yards per punt. Only one resulted in a touchback, while three pinned the Hoyas inside their own 20 – two of those inside their five. He was named Patriot League Special Teams Player of the Week.

“[The punts] contributed to the defense being able to pin their ears back, play aggressive, play physical, keep Georgetown on their half of the field in the fourth quarter,” said Breiner.

Even without Anderson and Edmonds – and missing junior receivers Corey Caddle and Andrew Prince as well – the Rams offense still put up over 400 yards of total offense. Medlock finished 25 of 45 for 258 yards and the one touchdown. Longi was the biggest beneficiary of the lack of established receiving threats, reeling in a career-high 13 receptions for 150 yards, also a career high.

The rushing game was obviously limited, especially after Davis left in the fourth quarter. Davis finished with 69 yards in 17 carries, while sophomore D’Angelo Palladino finished with 70 on 17.

It is funny how quickly a win can change the mood. The general feelings on this season, especially among the Fordham fans, were incredibly pessimistic. But with one win without major contributors -and better health hopefully on the horizon, the 2-6 Rams are not done yet. They will need some help, but the Patriot League is still pretty wide open.

Fordham will look to make it two in a row when they finally return home, the Rams will play their final three games at Jack Coffey Field.

They start the final home-stand against Lehigh at 1 p.m. on Oct. 28.