Georgetown Hoyas football The Georgetown Hoyas football team represents Georgetown University in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision level of college football . Like other sports teams from Georgetown , the team is named the Hoyas , which derives from the chant , " Hoya Saxa " . They play their home games at Multi - Sport Field on the Georgetown University campus in Washington , D . C . History . The first football team at Georgetown was formed on November 1 , 1874 , with the earliest recorded intercollegiate games dating to 1887 . By the 1940s , Georgetown played in the Orange Bowl , where they lost 14 – 7 to Mississippi State . As the college game became more expensive after World War II , Georgetown ' s program began to lose money rapidly . The Hoyas ' last successful season was 1949 , when they lost in the Sun Bowl against Texas Western . After a 2 – 7 season in 1950 , Georgetown attempted to salvage its program by softening its schedule , replacing major opponents such as Penn State , Miami , and Tulsa with Richmond , Bucknell , and Lehigh . The program was losing too much money , however , and on March 22 , 1951 the University ' s president canceled the football program . In 1962 , Georgetown allowed its students to start a football program as an exhibition - only club sport . New games began in 1964 , with their first match drawing 8 , 000 spectators to see the Hoyas host another university with an unofficial program , New York University ( NYU ) . Varsity football resumed in 1970 at what later became known as the Division III level . In 1976 , Georgetown began an annual rivalry game with the Catholic University Cardinals for the Steven Dean Memorial Trophy . The competition ended in 1993 , when Georgetown moved into the Division I Football Championship Subdivision because of NCAA legislation forbidding Division I or II schools from playing football in lower divisions . In 1993 , the team joined the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference , a mostly Catholic conference on the East Coast . With eight wins , The team won the conference championship outright in 1997 , and were co - champions in 1998 with nine wins . In 1999 the team joined the Patriot League , a conference that currently prohibits its members from awarding football scholarships . As a non - scholarship FCS program , many of Georgetown ' s non - conference games are against Ivy League schools , which do not award scholarships for any sport . Without the ability to add scholarships , Georgetown ' s program fell on hard times in the 2000s . Georgetown has by far the lowest football budget in the Patriot League , at less than half that of the next highest program . Georgetown also has the lowest number of Patriot League FSE ' s ( funded scholarship equivalences ) which measures the financial aid given out to its Varsity football players . During its first decade in the Patriot League , the team managed to not have a winning campaign , with the 2009 season yielding no wins . However , the Hoyas ' 2011 Football team finished with a strong 8 - 3 record and second place in the Patriot League , becoming the first Hoya squad to produce a winning record in twelve seasons , and head coach Kevin Kelly was named the conference Coach of the Year . Stadiums . Georgetown has played football at various on - campus intermural fields . From 1891 until 1893 , the stadium known as Boundary Field played host to Georgetown football . Then From 1921 until 1950 , Griffith Stadium played host to Georgetown football . Currently , the Hoyas play at Multi - Sport Field , which was upgraded from Harbin Field in 2003 . The MSF has been awaiting further construction since 2005 , when work was halted on completing permanent bleachers and other facilities . As a result , it remains the smallest stadium in Division I football and has only temporary bleachers as a part of the current set - up . The construction plans remain on hold indefinitely until the administration can properly fund the completion of the project . D . C . Cup Rivalry Game . The Hoyas have a new cross - town rivalry with Howard University ( which also plays at the FCS level , but awards football scholarships ) , for a championship known as the DC Cup ( awarded by the mayor of Washington ) . Three DC Cups have been held ( 2008 , 2009 and 2011 ) . The series has Georgetown leading 2 - 1 - 0 following their 2011 victory . Conference Championships . Georgetown has won two conference championships . Bowl Games . While in the Major College Division of the NCAA ( what is now the FBS ) , Georgetown competed in two major bowl games ( including a New Year ' s Day bowl game ) , one of which is today a BCS Bowl Game . Polling . Georgetown was ranked in the AP Poll while a member of the Major College Division . Alumni . Perhaps the football team ' s most accomplished athlete was Al Blozis , who would play for the NFL ' s New York Giants before being killed in action in World War II . Blozis ' s great athletic accomplishments , however , came in shotput and discus . He set the world indoor record for the shotput , throwing it 56 feet 4 . 5 inches in 1941 . He was the national indoor and outdoor shotput champion in both 1942 and 1943 . " Big Jim " Ricca , an NFL defensive end and offensive lineman , graduated in 1949 and was the last Hoya to play in an NFL game . Jim Schwartz , head coach of the NFL ' s Detroit Lions , was a four - year letterman at linebacker . He received Distinguished Economics Graduate honors and earned numerous honors in 1988 , including Division III CoSIDA / GTE Academic All - America , All - America , and team captain . In 2007 , the Washington Redskins made Alex Buzbee a reserve player , becoming the first Georgetown player on an NFL team since Ricca retired in 1956 . In 2010 , Buzbee joined the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League .