Georgetown Hoyas 2026 Season Preview

Even Keel at Georgetown

Rob Sgarlata's Hoyas split the difference in 2025, going 6-6 overall and 3-3 in the Patriot League, a level line that matches a power rating stuck at No. 95 nationally. Nothing in that mix points to a program breaking sharply in either direction for 2026. The floor and ceiling both look like more of the same until the roster or the results say otherwise.

Johnson Takes Over

Georgetown's offense stalled in 2025, ranking 92nd nationally in success rate and 105th in yards per play, and the fix now runs through Jack Johnson, who threw for just 205 yards with one touchdown against one interception in limited action but projects as the starter in 2026. The Hoyas do not need Johnson to be explosive so much as steady, since the defense already forces opponents off schedule at a top-25 clip and just needs points to match. If Johnson can push that third-down rate past its current 39.8% mark, Georgetown's ceiling rises with it.

Jack Johnson takes over an offense that managed just 21.1 points per game and ranked 105th nationally in yards per play, but the bar he clears is low given what Georgetown lost. Dez Thomas II threw for 1,405 yards with 9 interceptions before departing, so Johnson's 1 TD to 1 INT line in limited action last season reads more like modest promise than a step back. Jacob Holtschlag, Aiden Krause and Navy transfer Brady McDonough sit behind him, but this is Johnson's offense to run, and whether Georgetown's passing game climbs out of the bottom third of FBS depends on him finding more explosive plays than the 186 yards per game this group produced in 2025.

Bryce Cox is the closest thing to a proven commodity in this backfield, having turned 133 rushing yards and a touchdown into the top returning workload, with Udechukwu Enyeribe (92 yards) also back to spell carries. Georgetown's ground game was actually a relative bright spot last season, ranking 68th nationally in rushing yards per game even as the offense stalled overall at 92nd in success rate and 105th in yards per play. With Mason Gudger and Savion Hart gone, the room is Cox's to carry, and how much he can push that per-game rushing number up will matter more to this offense than anything Rob Sgarlata does through the air.

Jimmy Kibble's 63 catches for 1,002 yards walk out the door, and nothing on this roster resembles that kind of production. Hassan Mahasin, who caught 32 balls for 295 yards and 2 touchdowns, becomes the clear focal point of the passing game by default, but everyone else back returns single-digit catch totals, led loosely by Coen Sutton's 5 grabs for 35 yards. Georgetown's passing attack already ranked 89th nationally in yards per game a year ago, and replacing Kibble's target share with unproven arms makes it hard to see that number climbing in 2026.

Isaiah Grimes is the one proven target in this group, having turned 23 catches into 200 yards and 3 touchdowns last season, and Georgetown's passing game, stuck at 186 yards per game and 89th nationally, needs more of that from him in 2026. Burke Carroll and Achilles Whitby combined for just 5 catches, so the receiving load beyond Grimes will fall to whichever of them or Jackson Hughes and Will Wood can carve out a role, with Jackson Hughes and Will Wood adding numbers to the room without a catch on file yet. Conor O'Neil and Max McCormick took modest but real production out the door, and with a passing offense already among the more inefficient units in the country, Grimes becoming a bigger factor in the middle of the field is the clearest path to fixing it.

Georgetown's line pushed a middling 4.80 yards per play (105th nationally) and a 36.9% success rate last fall, and now five of last season's departures, Kaysen Mahuka-Kaawa, Mansfield Owsley, Joshua Sauickie, Losini Maka and Trevor Swan, are all gone at once. Tyler Barrett, Kyler Dale, William Evans, Rylan Filipe and Stephen Hamilton headline the group Rob Sgarlata has to piece together up front, alongside Case Pickelman. That's too much turnover to call this a settled group; the 143 rushing yards per game the 2025 line managed (68th) is the floor this rebuilt unit needs to hold if Georgetown's offense is going to move off 90th in total yards.

Georgetown's front kept opponents off schedule at a respectable clip in 2025, holding blocks up enough to rank 25th in stopping opponent plays from staying on schedule even as the line surrendered 147 rushing yards a game. Jordan Atkinson, Ryan Bannon, Ozzy Diallo, Henry Eber, Hilton Hebert and Ryan Hussey all come back to build on that, with none of last year's five departed linemen, including Madux Borrelli and both departed tackles John Caramanico and Natale Frangione, left to replace them by committee. Rob Sgarlata's defense finished 46th in yards allowed per game, and a line this experienced up front gives that number a real chance to climb rather than slide.

Jack Casey, Dallas Hurley, Jordan Johnson, Joel Mireles, Jakob Parker and Cody Pham all return to a front seven that kept opponents off schedule at a 25th-ranked clip, a defense that held up against the run at 147 yards allowed per game. Graham Felgar, Naiteitei Mose, Patrick Turner and GianCarlo Rufo are gone from that group, but Rob Sgarlata is not starting from scratch, six linebackers with game experience are back to keep the disruption rate near the top third of the country. The pass defense at 209 yards per game allowed is the more pressing question, and how this room complements the back end will decide whether Georgetown's defense climbs past 46th in total yards allowed.

Five of Georgetown's six departed defensive backs leave without a single tracked stat, but the churn at cornerback is real: Alpha Barry, Wedner Cadet, Carter Phillips and Quincy Briggs are all gone. Cameron Berry and Michael Bonsu return at corner with Brian Dwyer and Gardner Heitzmann back at safety, and Texas A&M transfer Benjamin Bruce arrives to reinforce a group that helped the Hoyas keep 38.8% of opponent plays on schedule, 25th nationally, even as the pass defense gave up 209 yards per game, 52nd. That schedule-disruption number is the encouraging carryover piece; whether Bruce can hold up on the outside will decide if the back end matches it in 2026.

Thomas Anderson made just 6 of 10 field goals a year ago, but a 49-yard long and 46 points shows the leg is real when the operation clicks, and that inconsistency is the swing factor for Georgetown in 2026. Josh Leff comes back after a workmanlike 60 punts at 39.2 yards, giving Rob Sgarlata a steady leg to pin teams deep even if the coverage units around him need to tighten up. Stephen Mayer's departure barely registers next to Leff's return, so the real story here is whether Anderson can turn a shaky accuracy number into points instead of missed opportunities.

Jack Johnson's Passing Game

Jack Johnson threw for just 205 yards with a 1-to-1 touchdown-interception mark last fall, and Georgetown is handing him the job again with Hassan Mahasin (32 catches, 295 yards) and Isaiah Grimes (23 catches, 200 yards, 3 TD) both back to catch his passes. With 10 players out the door in the portal and only two arrivals, there is little margin for another shaky season under center, so whether Johnson can turn those returning targets into a real vertical threat determines if Georgetown's offense grows up or stalls again.

Sgarlata's Road Dogs Deliver

Georgetown's number is flat at 6-6 against the spread overall, but that hides where the actual value sits. Rob Sgarlata's team covers on the road at a 60% clip and hit 67% as a road underdog, while home favorite spots have been the trap, going just 1-2 against the number. Bet the Hoyas when they travel and get points, and stay away when Georgetown is chalk at home.