WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2010 College football preview
Hoyas, Parrish aim high despite recent struggles
After an 0-11 season, Georgetown still hoping for run at Patriot League title
BY KATHY ORTON Nick Parrish clearly doesn’t believe
in modest goals. The Georgetown se- nior linebacker stated candidly his ambitions this season included the Hoyas winning the Patriot League title and him becoming one of the best players at his position in the country. Achieving the secondmight be easi-
er than the first. Parrish, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound four-year starter and two- time captain for Georgetown, is on track to become the Hoyas’ career leading tackler. Last season, he led the Patriot League in tackles with 110. His strong play has earned him preseason accolades, including an honorable mention on the FCS Senior Scout Bowl All-America team. Although Parrish has achieved indi-
TONI L. SANDYS/THE WASHINGTON POST Aggressive linebackerKeith Pough (left) was ineligible in 2008 and suffered a knee injury late last season forHoward. Trying to make history of his own
Bison linebacker Pough hoping to make an impact — and last a full season — as a sophomore BY KATHY ORTON
TOP STORY LINES FOR THIS SEASON
For many football players, the history
of the game stretches only as far back as whenthey first started playing.Not so for Howard linebacker Keith Pough. Pough studies playerswhonevermade
a “SportsCenter” highlight, such as Jim Brown, or ones whose careers ended while he was still a toddler, such as Lawrence Taylor. “I can’t say I’ma historian of the game,
but I love thegameso,”Poughsaid. “I love to watch those that came before me and who have put in so much work. I feel like I’m doing them an injustice playing the game and not being atmy full potential.” Nevertheless, circumstances have pre-
vented Pough from realizing the full extent of his talents atHoward. Entering his third season, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound redshirt sophomore has yet to play an entire season. Pough would have started as a fresh-
man had he not been declared academi- cally ineligible. Howard’s compliance of- fice waited until after preseason practic- es had begun before informing him his high school grade-point average was less than one-tenth of a percentage point below where it needed to be. He tried to appeal the ruling and thought he was successful by the second game of the season. He was on the field during pre- game warmups when he learned that a mistake had been made and he wasn’t cleared to play. Forced to spend the entire season on
the sidelines, Pough made the most of it. He watched intently, absorbing as much information as he could about plays, schemes and coverages. “Everything happens for a reason, so
they always say,” Pough said. “It’s all about perspective. I can’t really put the blameonanyoneelse butmyself. I caused itmyself. I took it in stride.” After waiting a year to play, Pough
finally took the field for the Bison last season and quicklymadeupfor lost time. In10 games, hemade46tackles, 12.5 for a loss, and one interception. “He’s an extremely talented kid who
utilizes every ounce of his ability by having a complete understanding of the mental side of the game,” Coach Carey Bailey said. “The thing thatmakeshimso special: He’s strong, he’s tall and he understands leverage. The tall, long ones who can understand leverage are usually the guys who end up being pretty good.” Pough appeared on his way to Mid-
TONI L. SANDYS/THE WASHINGTON POST
Howard’sKeith Pough had 46 tackles (12.5 for loss) as a redshirt freshman.
“He’s probably more susceptible to having those type of things happen because he literally plays reckless.”
—Howard Coach Carey Bailey, on the injury linebacker Keith Pough suffered last year.
Eastern Athletic Conference rookie of the year honors when, during the 10th game of the seasononaplayawayfromthe ball, a South Carolina State player wrapped his legs around Pough’s, bringing him to the ground. “I just kind of laid there for a second
because in football your legs mean every- thing to you,” he said. “When you get a knee injury, it can be the end of your career or slow you down. I was just trying to make sure it wasn’t the end of my career.” Pough later learned he had a partially
torn medial collateral ligament that would sideline him for the final two games of the season. But at the time, all he wanted to do was get back on the field. The coaches, fearing he might try to
sneak out there, hid his helmet and shoulder pads. “It was one of those injuries, in terms
of how it happened, it was like, ‘Okay, I don’t know why this kid didn’t break his leg,’ ” Bailey said. “He probably more susceptible – knockonwood,God forgive me for saying this – he’s probably more susceptible to having those type of things happen because he literally plays reck- less.” Rather than be defeated by the eligibil-
ity issues and the injury, Pough has used them as motivation. This summer, he arose at 5 a.m. for one of the three daily workouts. Bailey said outside of the quarterbacks no player spends more time in the coaches’ offices than Pough. “It has made me hungry,” Pough said.
“It has made me work harder because it made me realize how much I wanted, how much I needed the game. . . . I’ve been around football since I was born. I love the game. There’s nothing I’d rather do than be around football.” Pough’s almost fanatical devotion to
the sport stems from tagging along with his father, Samuel Pough Jr., a former high school football coach. The coach’s son has big plans for his remaining time at Howard. He wants to restore the program to its glory days. “I’m trying to get it back to the old
Bison,” he said, “back in the ’80s, like ’86, ’87.”
ortonk@washpost.com PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL NFLNOTEBOOK Anderson will start ahead of Leinart in Cardinals’ final preseason contest ASSOCIATED PRESS Derek Anderson will start at quarter-
back again for Arizona when the Cardi- nals playWashington on Thursday night intheir final preseasongame. CoachKenWhisenhunt sayshewilluse
the same playing order as he did in last Saturday’s win at Chicago. That means Matt Leinart will come in to replace An- dersonat some point. l GIANTS: Rhett Bomar is New York’s
backup quarterback, at least fornow. Bomar took over theNo. 2 spot behind
EliManning when the Giants placed vet- eran Jim Sorgi on injured reserve with a tornmuscle inhis right shoulder. l RAVENS: Ravens Coach John Har-
baugh says Baltimore rookie Terrence Cody had surgery on his left his left knee
andwill be sidelined for twoweeks. The procedure, performed lastweek to
repair a torn lateral meniscus, leaves the nose guard questionable for the Ravens’ season opener against the New York Jets onSept. 13. l PACKERS:GreenBayhasplacedcor-
nerback Al Harris and safety Atari Bigby on the reserve/physically unable to per- form list, meaning neither player will be eligible toplay for the first sixweeksof the season. Bigby had surgery on his left ankle at
the beginning of training camp. There had been some hope Harris’s surgically repaired left knee would heal in time for the Packers’ Sept. 12 opener at Philadel- phia. l BUCCANEERS: Running back Der-
rick Ward was released when the team trimmed the roster to 75 players.
Ward signed a four-year, $17 million
contract as an unrestricted free agent in 2009, moving to Tampa Bay after five seasonswith theGiants. . . . Cornerback Aqib Talib will miss the
Buccaneers’ regular season opener after being suspended one game without pay for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. The third-year pro also was fined one
additional game check stemming from Talib punching a cab driver in August 2009. l VIKINGS:Wide receiver Sidney Rice
will be ineligible to play in the first six games of the regular season. Rice was placed on the reserve/physi-
cally unable to performlist. Rice had hip surgery last week and is
expected to need at least two months of recovery, so themovewasnot a surprise.
l BRONCOS: Running back Know-
shon Moreno is practicing for the first time since hurting his right hamstring on the first day of training campAug. 1. l TITANS: Defensive tackle Tony
Brown has been removed fromthe physi- cally unable to performlist and practiced with theTitans onTuesday. Brown had surgery in the offseason on
his right knee, aninjury that kepthimout of theseasonfinale.TheTitanshadsigned thefive-yearveterantoathree-yearexten- sion worth $17 million in April but kept him on the PUP list throughout training camp to ensure hewas fully recovered. l LIONS: Detroit traded tackle Tyler
Polumbus to Seattle for an undisclosed draft choice, just six days after claiming him from Denver on waivers. They also placed cornerback Jack Williams on the physically unable to performlist.
l JETS: New York waived Kevin
O’Connell, clearing the way for Kellen Clemens to make the team as the No. 3 quarterback. Clemens signed a new deal Tuesday
morning, restructuring his $1.1 million tenderandtakingapaycutwhilesecuring his spot onthe roster. l SEAHAWKS:LinebackerLeroyHill is
taking amajor pay cut to play for Seattle. Hill, who is facing a one-game suspen-
sion for off-the-field issues, will have a base salary of $2.125 million for this sea- sonaccording to theNFLPlayersAssocia- tionWeb site. . . . The Seahawks traded starting corner-
back Josh Wilson to the Ravens in ex- change for a conditional 2011 draft pick. l PATRIOTS: New England placed
Leigh Bodden, their best cornerback, on injured reserve.
TONI L. SANDYS/THE WASHINGTON POST
Georgetown senior linebacker Nick Parrish led the Patriot League with 110 tackles last season and is on track to become the school leader in the category.
CHANGES ON OFFENSE Howard brought in a new offensive coordinator, Brad Bernard, and revamped its offense to take better advantage of talented wide receiverWillie Carter, a preseason all- Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference selection. BETTER DEFENSE Opponents averaged nearly 30 points a game against the Bison last season, and four times Howard allowed its opponents to score more than 40 points in a game. The Bison need to do a better job keeping their opponents away from the end zone. WHO’S UNDER CENTER? Sophomore Jarad Dorsey threw six passes all of last season before getting hurt. The other three candidates for starting quarterback— sophomore Terry Bradden, junior Casey Council (a converted cornerback) and freshman Randy Liggins Jr.—are even less experienced.
—Kathy Orton
vidual success at Georgetown, team success has proved elusive. The Hoyas havewon a total of three games during Parrish’s career. Georgetown, which went winless last season, hasn’t won a game since Nov. 8, 2008, against Marist. The Hoyas haven’t won a Patriot League game since Oct. 20, 2007, against Bucknell. Georgetown’s dismal record hasn’t
dissuaded Parrish fromhis bold inten- tion. “This season specifically, more than
anything, it’s team goals first so win- ning the league is definitely the first priority forme,” he said. “It’s the first year that we’ve come
out as players amongst ourselves and said we don’t just want to come out and win games, come out and play hard. We’re saying we’re not going to be satisfied this year unless we’re contending for the league champion- ship deep into the season. I think we have an opportunity to do that.” SoonafterGeorgetown’s 0-11 season,
Parrish and fellow captain Dan Semler called a team meeting to discuss what needed to happen to ensure the up- coming season wouldn’t be a repeat of the last. Parrish, Semler and the other 12 players who would be seniors then met with Coach Kevin Kelly. “We knew some things had to be
changed,” Parrish said. “We wanted some questions answered as far as whatwewere going to be able to expect from the coaching staff.We also want- ed himto tell us, as the new leaders of the team, what he wanted fromus.” Kelly was pleased and impressed
with the offseason role the players took. He listened to their concerns as theymet several times before the start of spring practice. “The biggest question, I think, that
came out of the thing was, ‘Coach, what are you going to do to regain our confidence?’ I thought thatwas a great question because obviously what we had been doing in theirminds was not working,” Kelly said. Kelly promised changes and has made some significant ones, including
TOP STORY LINES FOR THIS SEASON
HOWWILL THEHOYASPUTPOINTS ONTHESCOREBOARD? Georgetown brought in a newoffensive coordinator,Dave Patenaude, after averaging less than 10points per game last season. Jump-starting the rushing game might be oneway to boost theHoyas’ scoring average.Georgetown averaged less than57 rushing yards per game and ameasly2.2 yards per carry last season. TheHoyas scored just three rushing touchdowns the entire season. WHOWILLBEUNDERCENTER? Two quarterbacks split time last season and might again this year. Sophomore Isaiah Kempf spent themost time on the field, appearing in nine games.He had the highest completion percentage (50.4), but also threwnine interceptions. Junior ScottDarby played in six games, throwing for four touchdowns. WHENWILL THEHOYASGET THEIR NEXTWIN? Georgetown has lost 12in a row, a losing streak that dates back toNovember2008. TheHoyas’ best chance for a victory early on might be their first game of the season at Davidson. TheWildcatswent3-7 last season andwere picked to finish seventh in the 10- teamPioneer League.
—KathyOrton
hiring a newoffensive coordinator and several new offensive coaches and switching defenses from a 4-3 to a 3-4 to better take advantage of George- town’s personnel. It remains to be seen whether the
changes will affect Georgetown’s per- formance on the field. TheHoyas were once again picked to finish last in the Patriot League. But three days before their season opener at Davidson, the Hoyas appear confident they are onthe right path. “I think what came out of [the
meetings], if someone knows what you’re expecting from them, they’re able to perform their job better,” Par- rish said. “In the past, I think some guys were unsure as to what they needed to be doing. I think now the team, the coaches and the players, communicate much better so there’s a free flow of information.” “I think it’s a trust factor,”Kelly said.
“They really didn’t trust what we were doing so I need their input. They’re the reason why we are here. If they don’t trustme . . . then I’mnot doingmy job.” Parrish believes despite George-
town’s recent record the Hoyas aren’t far off frombeing successful. “You can point to a ton” of reasons
why Georgetown hasn’t been success- ful, he said. “We could have a week- long summit on what’s been wrong. When it comes down to it on Saturday, we haven’t done a good enough job of executing. . . . If you were to look back and break downthe film,we’renot that far off. It’s a play here, a play there. You fall behind early in the game, and then it’s a landslide from there. If you look, we have the athletes, we have the schemes in place, it’s just little things adding up into bigger things.”
ortonk@washpost.com
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