Towson Football Preview- WVU
Country roads lead Towson into the Mountain state this weekend. 2 wins for the Tigers has them feeling confident heading into their Saturday tilt with a reeling WVU team. WVU comes into the game 0-2 after tough and agonizing losses to Pitt and Kansas. Towson has scored wins over Bucknell and Morgan State and are off to a hard start. They will need to bring the offense if they want to keep up with a potent WVU offense.
The Tigers come into the game with a big win over rival Morgan State 29-21 in the Battle for Greater Baltimore. It was a back and forth affair as the Tigers trailed by 1 at the half. The Tigers went on to outscore the Bears 16-7 in the second half to run their record to 2-0. Quarterback Tyrell Pigrome had a huge day for Towson both passing and rushing. Pigrome went 14-25 for 157 and 3 touchdowns and carried the rock 19 times for 124. Pigrome threw two touchdown to Darran Street and one to Isaiah Perkins. Kicker Keegan Vaugh went 3/3 from distance on field goals and kept the Tigers within striking distance.
The Tiger’s defense made some big plays all day. Mason Woods had his first career sack and INT along with 6 tackles and Ryan Kearney had 7 tackles and a pass break up. Both teams balanced out their offense and were able to get turnovers, but in the end it was Towson who got the better of the Bears. Morgan State’s Carson Baker threw for 152 on 10 completions, but threw an INT and was sacked two times. The only Towson turnover came on a fumble from D’Ago Hunter in the first half. The Tigers have now won 6 of their last 7 home openers. The Tigers will need their defense this weekend to play big to have a chance against WVU.
West Virginia Mountaineers:
For those who have never been able to make the trek to Morgantown, it is an amazing experience. The fans are so passionate and support the team with an enthusiasm not known to many college football teams. They’ve had legendary players, coaches, and have played in huge bowl games and National Championship. A night game there is a must and any time there in town it’s worth the trip there. However, lately the vibe around the program has not been great.
To say that I’m disappointed in my school is an understatement. This WVU season has been a disaster so far and myself and other fans are not happy. This past offseason, WVU lost a ton of guys to the transfer portal and the number of those guys would be huge for them right now. The Mountaineers finally have their guy in Quarterback JT Daniels and he has been phenomenal. He has been everything fans have craved after mediocre QB play for the last few years. Unfortunately, he has thrown 2 very crucial INT’s (1 in each game so far this year). WVU is a bounced pass off the hands of WR Bryce Ford-Wheaton and a win against Big 12 football bottom feeder Kansas from good vibes in Morgantown.
The offense drips with depth at the wideout position with big play guys: Bryce Ford-Wheaton, Kaden Prather and Sam James. All 3 of those guys have the potential to take over the game at any time. WVU’s run game has been solid with Tony Mathis, CJ Donaldson and Justin Johnson all running the rock. The Mountaineers will likely play with a lot of tempo and the Tigers will need to match that to help them get off the field. The Tigers will also need to slow down the run game to make WVU a one-dimesnional team.
The biggest flaw for the Mountaineers is their defense. Through 2 games the Mountaineers have forced just 1 turnover. WVU has a lot of guys who are transfers or have been around but haven’t played much. They were gashed to death by Kansas in a game where they could not get any pressure on Kansas’ QB. Kansas scored touchdowns on 6/7 drives at one point during the game. The defense has been pretty much unwatchable and it is unlike a lot of WVU teams I’ve seen.
Whatever WVU does, I do hope they can find a replacement for Head Coach Neal Brown and get back to relevance. Brown has a losing record in and just one measly bowl win over Army in the Liberty Bowl during his time. He’s already on thin ice after the poor showing against Kansas and just not being able to win the big games. It is unkown who would emerge as a likely candidate to take the job would be. With that being said, I hope it is a good game and WVU wins. Go MOUNTAINEERS. Towson’s next game is
