C M Y K H11 SPECIALSPT 08-29-07 EZ EE H11 CMYK The Washington Post x R Wednesday, August 29, 2007 H11 GeorgetownHoyas By Kathy Orton STONY BROOK LAFAYETTE YALE HOLY CROSS CORNELL PENNSYLVANIA FORDHAM BUCKNELL LEHIGH MARIST COLGATE Sept. 1 Sept. 8 Sept. 15 Sept. 22 Sept. 29 Oct. 6 Oct. 13 Oct. 20 Oct. 27 Nov. 3 Nov. 10 Stony Brook, N.Y. Washington Washington Worcester, Mass. Washington Philadelphia Washington Lewisburg, Pa. Bethlehem, Pa. Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Washington THE BIG GAME vs. Lafayette, Sept. 8 The Hoyas have yet to win a Patriot League game under second-year coach A Different Study Abroad Program Kevin Kelly. They will get their first opportunity to do so when they host Lafayette in their second game of the season. Georgetown, which has not beaten the Leopards since joining the Patriot League in 2001, has been Bassuener’s Journey outscored 153-78 by Lafayette in the teams’ six Patriot League meetings. The Hoyas are 5-33 overall in the Patriot League. To Georgetown Included Year-long Stop in Mexico OFFENSIVE DEPTH CHART Starters are shaded No. Quarterback Yr. Ht. Wt. No. Left Tackle Yr. Ht. Wt. By Kathy Orton 10 Matt Bassuener Sr. 6-2 200 56 Brad White Sr. 6-3 250 Washington Post Staff Writer 5 Robert Lane So. 5-11 205 60 Jon Medina So. 6-4 260 Some people will do anything to play college No. Running Back Yr. Ht. Wt. No. Left Guard Yr. Ht. Wt. football. Georgetown senior Matt Bassuener 23 Charlie Houghton So. 6-0 200 68 George Mosle So. 6-5 255 was willing to leave the country. When no col- 14 Mychal Harrison Fr. 5-8 175 64 Shawn Frederick Sr. 6-3 270 lege coaches were willing to take a chance on No. Wide Receiver Yr. Ht. Wt. No. Center Yr. Ht. Wt. him out of high school or after a year of prep school, Bassuener went to Mexico. 7 Sidney Baker Jr. 6-1 180 62 Daniel Matheny So. 6-2 260 His south-of-the-border odyssey eventually 82 Zachary Barbiasz So. 6-2 195 65 Brooks Caston So. 6-2 240 led the 6-foot-2, 200-pound quarterback to the No. Wide Receiver Yr. Ht. Wt. No. Right Guard Yr. Ht. Wt. District, where he looks to lead a revitalized 83 Brent Craft Sr. 5-11 165 79 Dan Osterhout Sr. 6-3 300 Hoyas offense. 1 Anthony Homsey Jr. 6-2 188 63 Kelvin Moses So. 6-4 280 “It was a pretty long trek for me to get here,” said Bassuener, 23. No. Wide Receiver Yr. Ht. Wt. No. Right Tackle Yr. Ht. Wt. Growing up in a rural paper-mill town in Wis- 3 Emir Davis Sr. 5-10 185 55 Colin Meador Jr. 6-3 245 consin, Bassuener didn’t draw much attention 33 Ian Conyers So. 6-1 190 61 Tom Amaro Jr. 6-6 285 at Port Edwards High School. An Ivy League No. Wide Receiver Yr. Ht. Wt. No. Kicker Yr. Ht. Wt. coach suggested he attend a prep school. But af- ter a year at Western Reserve Academy in Ohio, 25 Kyle Van Fleet Sr. 6-1 220 95 Eric Bjonerud Sr. 6-0 185 the only offers Bassuener had were from a cou- BY PRESTON KERES — THE WASHINGTON POST 17 Dean Duchak Jr. 5-11 205 93 Christopher MacGriff Sr. 6-0 190 ple of Division III schools. Discouraged but not Matt Bassuener led his Mexican college team to a national title. Now he is Georgetown’s quarterback. defeated, he remembered the Aztec Bowl, an all- star game between Division III all-Americans tory of the league there’s been a gringo quarter- came the starter. He threw for 1,359 yards, com- DEFENSIVE DEPTH CHART Starters are shaded and top Mexican players. He began looking into back in the national championship in Mexico,” pleting 68.9 percent of his passes, and finished No. Defensive End Yr. Ht. Wt. No. Defensive Back Yr. Ht. Wt. who comprised the Mexican team, and found Bassuener said. “It kind of gave me a little 15 with 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions. 47 Darren Craft Sr. 5-11 170 that Mexico has a strong football program in its minutes of fame.” “He just kept getting better and better,” Kelly 99 Ataefiok Etukeren Jr. 6-3 235 university system. Bassuener contacted the Shortly after the game, Bassuener found out said. “He ended up starting and doing some 57 Travis Zorrilla Jr. 6-1 230 22 Michael Shotwell Sr. 5-10 214 coaches at Tecnológico de Monterrey and decid- he had been accepted at Georgetown. He had good things for us.” No. Defensive Tackle Yr. Ht. Wt. No. Defensive Back Yr. Ht. Wt. ed to enroll there as an independent exchange applied to the school as a regular student, not an Bassuener, a culture and politics major in the 46 Anthony DiTomasso Jr. 6-1 250 29 Kevin Cherepski Sr. 5-11 190 student. athlete. Although he had been in contact with School of Foreign Service, will graduate in De- 86 Jared Myers So. 6-4 240 31 Darren Alberti Sr. 5-10 185 “I knew I wanted to play at this level,” Bas- the coaches, he would walk on to the team. That cember. After that, it’s hard to say where his suener said. “I also knew that I have this interest was fine with him. All he wanted was a chance. next adventure will take him. This summer, he No. Defensive Tackle Yr. Ht. Wt. No. Defensive Back Yr. Ht. Wt. in cultures and languages, and I just kind of Still, it was hard to leave Mexico behind. worked in the narcotics division at the Organi- 91 Nnamdi Obiako Sr. 6-0 250 15 Travis Mack So. 6-0 190 stumbled across it.” “I was in love with Mexican football,” Bas- zation of American States. Bassuener, who is 94 Danny Thompson Jr. Fr. 6-2 260 2 Chris Parker Jr. 5-11 190 His Mexican football experience turned out suener said. “I was ready to stay there my whole fluent in Spanish, has provided color com- No. Defensive End Yr. Ht. Wt. No. Defensive Back Yr. Ht. Wt. better than he could have expected. The tow- career. Then I was like, ‘There’s not a lot mentary on the Dallas Cowboys’ Spanish-lan- headed kid from Wisconsin led his team to the more I can accomplish.’ This is the greatest feel- guage broadcasts of their games with the Wash- 39 Nicholas Umar Jr. 6-2 235 30 John Lancaster Sr. 6-0 185 ONEFA Intermedia national championship. Be- ing. In the long run, it’s hard to pass up George- ington Redskins the past two years. While he 66 Chudi Obianwu So. 6-3 240 41 Chris Rau So. 6-0 180 cause each team is limited to three Americans, town. It’s hard to pass up I-AA football.” doesn’t rule out a foreign service or broad- No. Linebacker Yr. Ht. Wt. No. Defensive Back Yr. Ht. Wt. and most of those players usually are of Mexican When he arrived at Georgetown, he had to sit casting career, he would prefer to keep playing 59 Scott Coffman So. 6-2 215 21 Dennis Jackson So. 5-10 190 descent and come from Texas and other states out a year under NCAA transfer rules. Then the football. 50 Joey Tavarez So. 6-0 210 4 Willie Bodrick So. 5-10 185 close to the Mexican border, Bassuener was an coaches switched him to defense. Last season “If I can make loan payments and put shoul- overnight sensation. under new coach Kevin Kelly, Bassuener finally der pads on, then that’s what I want to do,” Bas- No. Linebacker Yr. Ht. Wt. No. Punter Yr. Ht. Wt. “When we went to the title game, all of a sud- got a shot at quarterback, but as a backup to Ben suener said. “With these experiences, I’ve seen 11 Mike Greene Sr. 6-1 215 93 Christopher MacGriff Sr. 6-0 190 den it’s like this is the first time ever in the his- Hostetler. Three games into the season, he be- that there are multiple avenues.” 35 Stephen Smith Sr. 6-1 210 95 Eric Bjonerud Sr. 6-0 185 Games to Watch Bowl Schedule Who says college football doesn’t Date Bowl Location Affiliations Time TV have a playoff? For those teams with national championship aspirations, Dec. 20 Poinsettia Bowl San Diego Mountain West vs. At-large or Navy 9 p.m. ESPN the playoffs begin this week in the form of a 12-game regular season Dec. 21 New Orleans Bowl New Orleans Sun Belt champion vs. Conference USA 8 p.m. ESPN2 that serves as a single-elimination Dec. 22 PapaJohns.com Bowl Birmingham, Ala. Big East or Mid-American vs. Conference USA 1 p.m. ESPN2 (in most cases) tournament. When any slip can turn a contender into a Dec. 22 New Mexico Bowl Albuquerque Mountain West vs. Western Athletic 4:30 p.m. ESPN pretender every game counts, but here are a few that figure to count a Dec. 22 Las Vegas Bowl Las Vegas Mountain West vs. Pacific-10 8 p.m. ESPN little more on the road to the BCS championship game in New Dec. 23 Hawaii Bowl Honolulu Conference USA vs. Western Athletic 8 p.m. ESPN Orleans. BY ROB SCHUMACHER — ASSOCIATED PRESS Dec. 26 Motor City Bowl Detroit Mid-American vs.