TOWSON, Md. - Hoping to get back on the winning track, Coach Rob Ambrose and the Towson University football team will travel to Northeastern University on Saturday, October 24 to face the Huskies at Parsons Field at 1:00 p.m.
Now 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association, the Tigers will be seeking their second straight road victory when they face the Huskies. Two weeks ago, the Tigers earned their first road victory of the season with a 36-28 win at Rhode Island. The Tigers, who will be facing Northeastern for the tenth time, are seeking their first-ever win at Parsons Field. Towson is 0-4 on the Huskies' home field.
The Towson-Northeastern game will be broadcast back to the Baltimore area on WNST-Radio (1570 AM) with Spiro Morekas and Tom Judd calling the action.
Northeastern, which had a bye last week, is seeking its first win of the season. The Huskies are 0-6 on the season.
"I don't care about their record," says Coach Ambrose. "This is a CAA game and there are no easy games in the CAA. The CAA is so tough that every team is probably better than their record shows. We need to just keep fighting as hard as we can every week."
The Tigers, who dropped a 49-21 decision to Delaware on Homecoming, have seen their injuries mount on a weekly basis.
Although the Tigers lost to the Blue Hens, Coach Ambrose was proud of his team's performance in the fourth quarter.
"To score 21 points in the fourth quarter, as beat-up as we are, says a lot about this team," he said. "It was cold, it was raining and most of the crowd was gone. But we didn't let up. We forced some turnovers and we scored three touchdowns. No matter how we matched up, we didn't quit and we kept on fighting. We have talked about belief, pride and laying it on the line every play and we did that against Delaware."
The Tigers played most of their Homecoming Game without quarterback Peter Athens, a first-year freshman. The Tigers' starting quarterback in the first six games of the season, Athens suffered a knee injury after a 13-yard run on the Tigers' second offensive series of the game. He was forced to leave the game and his availability for the Northeastern game will not be determined until later this week.
In the Tigers' first six games, Athens completed 59 of 112 passes for 691 yards and six touchdowns. He also ran for 132 yards on 31 carries and scored a touchdown.
"What hurts about Pete's injury is the fact that he was playing so well," added Ambrose. "He had a very good game at Rhode Island and he was moving the offense well against Delaware."
When Athens left the game with his injury, the Tigers used three quarterbacks the rest of the way. Sophomore Blair Peterson guided the Tiger offense until midway through the second quarter. Brian Potts, a "red shirt" freshman, played the rest of the first half.
In the second half, Tommy Chroniger, another first-year freshman, came off the bench to play quarterback. He rushed for 97 yards on 11 carries and scored the first touchdown of his college career. He also passed for 25 yards in the sloppy conditions.
Chroniger's 97 rushing yards on 11 carries are the most rushing yards in a single game by a Tiger quarterback. Athens broke the record by rushing for 74 yards on 13 carries at Rhode Island two weeks ago.
Prior to this season, former All-American quarterback Dan Dullea owned the record with 60 yards on five carries at Federal City in 1974.
Against Delaware, Chroniger broke loose for a 71-yard run. It was the second-longest run by a Towson quarterback, second only to Dullea's 81-yard run at Federal City in 1974.
Athens and Chroniger have both contributed to the Tigers' vastly improved running game. In the loss to Delaware, the Tigers ran for a season high 231 yards on 40 attempts. It was Towson's best single game rushing total since the Tigers ran for 321 yards in a 70-0 victory over Lock Haven on September 10, 2005.
With their 231 rushing yards against the Blue Hens, the Tigers increased their season total to 859 yards on 231 carries, an average of 143.2 yards per game. Towson ranks seventh in the CAA in rushing yardage per game. Towson has also topped last year's seasonal total of 666 rushing yards, a mark that was accomplished in 12 games. The Tigers' current average of 143.2 rushing yards per game is their best average since the 2002 season when they averaged 159.5 yards per game.
A pair of "red shirt" freshmen, Tremayne Dameron and Dominique Booker, leads the Tigers' running game. The seventh-leading rusher in the CAA, Dameron has rushed for 366 yards on 103 carries with a team-leading five touchdowns. Dameron is averaging 61.0 yards per game. Booker has rushed for 197 yards on 38 carries with one touchdown. He is averaging a team high 5.2 yards per carry. He ran for a career best 66 yards on 10 attempts against Delaware and scored the first touchdown of his career. Athens is third on the team with 132 rushing yards while Chroniger has rushed for 123 yards.
Linebackers Danzel White and Alex Butt lead the Tiger defense which ranks ninth in the CAA, allowing 330 yards per game. Although Towson has allowed 210 points in six games, that figure is misleading. Of the 210 points allowed, 41 points were not scored against the defense. Towson has given up three interception returns for touchdowns, two kickoff returns for touchdowns, two safeties and one defensive extra point.
In reality, there have only been 169 points scored against the Tiger defense in six games.
After making eight tackles against Delaware, White ranks fourth in the CAA with 57 tackles in six games, a 9.5 average. Butt has made 41 tackles in seven games, a 6.8 average that ties him for 20th in the CAA.
Junior cornerback Jeremy Gardner has made 37 tackles in six games. He is ranked fifth among CAA defensive backs with 6.2 tackles per game.
Junior defensive tackle Yaky Ibia has made 30 tackles in five games and ranks fourth among the defensive linemen in the CAA. Senior defensive end Brady Smith has 32 tackles in six games, eighth among the CAA's defensive linemen.
After their trip to Northeastern, the Tigers return to Johnny Unitas® Stadium on Saturday, October 31 to host defending national champion Richmond at 1:00 p.m.
TIGER TIDBITS: When the Tigers visit Parsons Field, they will be visiting one of four CAA stadiums where they haven't won a game ... Towson is 0-4 at Parsons Field and has an 0-3 record at Zable Stadium on the campus of William & Mary ... The Tigers are also 0-3 at Cowell Stadium, home of the University of New Hampshire ... Towson has lost its only visit to McGuirk Stadium at the University of Massachusetts.
While Northeastern has lost its first six games of the season, the Huskies have a two-year losing streak of 13 games ... The Huskies' last win was a 35-17 victory over Towson at Johnny Unitas® Stadium on October 4. 2008.
