Tigers Look to Get Back on Track in Week 5
It has been a rough start to the season for Towson football. At first glance, you would be forgiven for thinking that they are headed for a terrible year at 1-3. However, when we take a deeper look, we see that they have not played poorly and have played outstanding competition. Two weeks ago North Dakota State beat up on Towson, but we all need to remember that North Dakota State has been one of, if not, the best FCS football programs over the last 15 years. Another one of their losses was to San Diego St, who is an FBS school. Last week against the Aztecs, the Tigers put up 21 points and the secondary was able to force turnovers and keep the Aztecs under 200 yards passing. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they were not able to run the ball and keep a balanced attack. Removing those two games, the Tigers truly are 1-1 heading into the rest of their schedule with a realistic chance to win between 5 and 7 games.
Starting Quarterback and Graduate student Chris Ferguson has played well so far. He has completed nearly 60% of his passes for almost 700 yards. The negative though? 4 interceptions to only 5 touchdowns and the lack of a run game. Through 4 games, Jerry Howard Jr. only has 206 yards on 55 carries. While the lack of a run game is due to Towson playing from behind against better opponents, it goes to show a lack of a balanced attack on offense. The offensive line is a veteran group and needs to step up if the Tigers want to turn their season around.
Today, they take on the Stony Brook Seawolves and the Tigers are favored by 6.5. The Tigers secondary should have a field day against quarterback Tyquell Fields who has thrown 7 interceptions already. This will also be a tune up for the defensive line. They allowed the Aztecs to run for 281 yards last week and Ty'son Lawton is having a great start to his junior year averaging over 5 yards per carry and 4 touchdowns so far. This is a great chance for this senior led Tiger team to get back on track and decide what type of season they want to have. Do they want to let the losses snowball, or do they want to meet the challenge head on and make a push to make the playoffs this year. I believe we will see the Tigers choose the latter and make a statement today. Look for the Tigers to put a big number on the Seawolves today.
Notes: The Tigers are showing that they are a talented program on and off the field: Graduate Student and offensive lineman Aaron Grzymkowski was named a semi-finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which is awarded to the nation's best football scholar-athlete, at all NCAA levels, for performance on the field, leadership, and academic performance. The finalists will be announced next week.
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