Georgetown Hoyas (1-1, 0-1 Patriot League) at Monmouth Hawks (0-2, 0-1 CAA)
Saturday, September 17, 2022; 1 p.m.
Kessler Stadium, West Long Branch, N.J.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
FloSports, NBC Sports Philadelphia, SNY (Tape Delay – Sunday 1 PM)
Eddy Occhipinti (Play-by-Play); Brandon London (Color Analyst)

DIRECTIONS TO KESSLER STADIUM
Directions to Monmouth University and Kessler Stadium can be found here

TICKET INFORMATION
For tickets call 732-263-5735 or visit MonmouthHawks.com/Tickets for online sales. Day of game tickets can be purchased at the Austin Family Box Office.

GAMEDAY PROMOTIONS
Youth Football & Spirit Day: Join us for our annual game celebrating our local youth football and spirit teams! All teams will receive a special ticket discount and fan experience when tickets are purchased at least 48 hours prior to kick off! To reserve your spot, please call 732-263-5403! 

A LOOK AT THE GAME
Monmouth looks for its first victory of the 2022 season after a pair of tough losses to open the year. The Hawks have held fourth-quarter leads in each of their first two games, but have come out on the wrong end of both decisions, falling to New Hampshire and Fordham. Georgetown enters Kessler Stadium following a 21-19 Patriot League loss to Lehigh where it had a late two-point conversion attempt stopped short of the goal line. 
 
Monmouth, coming off a 7-4 season in 2021 as a member of the Big South Conference, was selected to finish 10th in the CAA Preseason Poll. Georgetown was selected to finish sixth in the seven-team Patriot League after finishing with a 2-8 overall and 1-5 Patriot League record in 2021.
 
A win would give Monmouth its third victory in three all-time meetings against Georgetown. The Hawks are in search of their first win of the 2022 season and would improve to 23-4 at home since opening Kessler Stadium in 2017.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Monmouth leads 2-0
Last Meeting: 10/23/04 W, 27-19 at Monmouth
at Monmouth: Monmouth leads 1-0
Streak: W2
First Meeting: 9/20/03 W, 12-10 at Georgetown

OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
Monmouth's game against Fordham was the definition of a shootout. The two teams combined for 101 total points, the most combined points in a Monmouth game since a 54-47 win over Wagner in 2018. Monmouth totaled 13 explosive plays (page 16) in the game, including seven in the passing game, five on the ground and one on special teams. On the other side, Fordham also had 13 explosive plays, including seven passing plays of 20 or more yards. As a team, Monmouth ran for 390 yards and racked up 713 yards of total offense, both totals rank as the second most in program history. The Hawks ran for 417 yards against La Salle in 1997 and had 790 yards of total offense opposite Gardner-Webb in 2018.
 
SHIRDEN ON THE LOOSE
Jaden Shirden was named the CAA Football Co-Offensive Player of the Week after his scintillating effort on the ground against Fordham. The sophomore back set a program record with 299 rushing yards on 12 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns on runs of 80 and 95 yards, respectively. His 299 yards are the most rushing yards in an FCS game this season, they eclipsed the previous single-game record of 247 set by David Sinisi in 2008 and the 200+ yard performance was the most since Pete Guerriero ran for 220 against Holy Cross in 2019. Shirden averaged 24.9 yards per carry in the game, setting the program record for per game average with a minimum of 10 carries. Shirden had four explosive runs in the game, with carries of 35, 37, 80 and 95 yards. As a rookie in 2021, Shirden had a pair of 75-yard touchdown runs against Holy Cross and Robert Morris and four of his five career touchdown runs have been at least 75 yards in length. In addition, 691 of Shirden's 811 career rushing yards have come at Kessler Stadium.
 
OWEN WRIGHT: TD MACHINE
Running back Owen Wright has been a touchdown machine through the first two games of 2022 with a CAA-best five rushing touchdowns. Wright scored twice at New Hampshire and followed that performance up with three rushing touchdowns against Fordham. His three touchdowns are the most for a Monmouth player in a single game since Juwon Farri scored three times on the ground at Charleston Southern on September 18, 2021. Wright has seven career rushing touchdowns at Monmouth after running for two in 2021. 
 
AK GOES OVER 100
Wide receiver Assanti Kearney turned one of his best individual performances against Fordham. Kearney set new career highs with five catches for 121 yards, including three explosive plays. Kearney had receptions of 35, 28 and 25 yards against Fordham, all of which are the top three longest receptions of his career.
 
DO YOUR DANCE
Alex Bryant has made the most of his opportunities this season. Bryant had a career-high eight catches for 67 yards and registered his first-career touchdown reception in the season opener at UNH. Bryant led Monmouth in every receiving category with 13 targets on the night. The junior followed that performance with a career-long 60-yard touchdown reception against Fordham.
 
MUSKETT TOUCHDOWN PASSES STREAK
Tony Muskett has thrown at least one touchdown pass in every game of his career dating back to the Spring 2021 season. He has at least two touchdown passes in 11 of his 17 career games and has 37 career touchdown passes to go along with just 12 career interceptions. Muskett ranks fifth among active FCS players in career passing efficiency (145.26) and fifth in total offense per game (248.2 yards).

MUSKETT CLIMBING THE MONMOUTH RANKS
Tony Muskett, who has started 17 consecutive contests for the Blue & White will continue his assault  on the Monmouth record books this season. The junior is sixth all-time in passing yards, seventh in completions and seventh in total offense. His 37 touchdowns and 12 interceptions already ranks him top in passing efficiency and his 63.7 percent completion percentage is second all-time behind former Hawk Brett Burke (2005-08).
 
MORALES MAKES AN IMPACT
Monmouth's standout corner Eddie Morales III made an immediate impact on the 2022 season with his first quarter interception at New Hampshire. Morales III followed that effort up with another interception, a spectacular one-handed grab against Fordham. 
 
FROM THE JUMP
Only two players in the country have started at quarterback in every game of their careers and thrown at least 35 touchdowns. Monmouth's junior QB Tony Muskett has thrown 37 career touchdown passes in 17 starts over his three seasons. Jackson St. sophomore Shedeur Sanders started all 13 games as a freshman in 2021 and tossed 30 touchdown passes en route to winning the Stats Perform Jerry Rice Award as the nation's top freshman. Sanders has 36 TDs in 16 career games.
 
PUNTING WITH A PURPOSE
Ryan Kost needs three punts to reach 100 for his career. When Kost reaches 100 punts, he will qualify for consideration for Monmouth's all-time punt average record. Currently, Kost is averaging 42.6 yards per punt across 97 punts in his career, which would place him first in program history. As of right now, Darrell Nick is Monmouth's career leader in this category at 40.7 yards per punt.
 
VINES OWNS THE HAWKS' LONGEST GAMES PLAYED STREAK
Senior long snapper Kent Vines has played in the last 42 games for the Hawks, the longest streak on the team. Vines served as the primary long snapper for every game since the 2018 season, earning All-Big South honors three consecutive seasons. 
 
FARRI AND THE CENTURY MARK
Juwon Farri's success in reaching the 100-yard rushing mark is tied to Monmouth's success as a team. The Hawks' standout back had three 100-yard games in 2021, all in Monmouth victories. During Farri's career, Monmouth is 11-1 when he eclipses the 100-yard mark and the Hawks have won eleven straight games when he accomplishes the feat. His collegiate debut was the lone Monmouth loss, when he ran for 111 yards on 13 carries at Eastern Michigan in 2018. 
 
MONMOUTH AGAINST THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
Monmouth has three Patriot League opponents on its 2022 schedule. The Hawks dropped a shootout with Fordham, 52-49, in their home opener and are 3-2 all-time against the Rams. Monmouth has won both meetings against Georgetown, in 2003 and 2004, and the hawks are 3-5 all-time against Lehigh. In total, Monmouth owns a 17-13 record against the conference.

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