TOWSON, Md. - Let's go back to a few important plays from Saturday night's dramatic 31-28 win over Richmond and it really starts with sophomore quarterback Grant Enders and his ability to execute a two-minute drive. Unfortunately, at the end of the first half, with the Tigers up by 14-10, they were unable to put points on the board.
 
After Richmond scored on a six-yard run from Kendall Gaskins, the Tigers were only up by four and with 1:02 left, they could have decided to run the clock out considering the fact that they were getting the ball back in the second half.

However, Coach Rob Ambrose has not been the conservative-type this season, so he let Enders move the team from the Towson 30-yard line all the way to the Richmond 22-yard line in three plays. The key play came on 1st-and-10 at the Towson 47-yard line as Enders hit junior wide receiver Alex Blake over the middle for a 31-yard pass.
 
After a spike of the ball to stop the clock, Enders hit junior wideout Tom Ryan for eight yards to the Richmond 14. On 3rd-and-two, the Tigers took a timeout with 11 seconds left.

With one timeout left, Towson decided to run the football, handing it off to junior Dominique Booker, who was bottled up at the line of scrimmage and decided to take it to the outside. Unfortunately for the Tigers, just as Booker got out of bounds to stop the clock at the Richmond eight-yard line for the first down, time ran out in the first half.
 
Not the greatest clock management in the world but this wasn't exactly the way it was supposed to go.
 
"There were 11 seconds left and the average play is six seconds," said Ambrose after the game. "We had (a timeout) to burn. We ran the toss play to put the ball in the middle of the field. If we got the first down, we told the kids we would kill it, take a shot at the end zone and then kick it. We didn't get the first down and it was like that movie 'The Replacements.'

"I just wanted somebody to tackle Booker so we could kick the field goal," he added. "We ran 11 seconds off the clock, which is great if you want to kill it, but not great if you want to kick the field goal. If I had a crystal ball, would I have done it? The crystal ball would have said we would have won anyhow and I had a tremendous teaching moment for an entire football team."
 
Enders and the offense had another chance to capitalize on the "two-minute" offense and this time, they executed to perfect. After the Spiders tied the game at 28-28 on an Aaron Corp pass to Stephen Barnette, the Tigers would have one more shot to win the game.
 
This was one of those classic "last team with the ball" matchups where neither defense could stop their opponent. In fact, Corp, who completed an FCS record 31 of 34 passes, was so good that Richmond never needed to punt the football.
 
But, while Corp had the records, Enders had the ball with a chance to win at the Towson 36-yard line with 2:27 left. Freshman Terrance West got the Tigers off to a great start on the drive with a 15-yard run to the Richmond 49-yard line. After a West three-yard run, an incomplete pass and 5-yard delay of game penalty, Towson was put in an 3rd-and-12 situation. If the Tigers don't make the first down, they may have to give the ball back to Corp either deep in Richmond territory or at midfield if the Tigers decided to go for it on fourth down.
 
Thanks to Enders, the Tigers didn't have to worry about fourth down. When Enders couldn't find a receiver open, he rolled right and threw across his body to hit sophomore Leon Kinnard at the Richmond 30-yard line for a Towson first down. The Tigers were back in business and close to field goal range with 1:00 left.
 
"I tried to buy a little time and he did a great job finding a window," said Enders referring to Kinnard. "It's not the smartest pass throwing across your body, but it worked out."

That's when West took over as he ran for 11 yards, four yards and five yards in consecutive plays to take it down to the Richmond 10-yard line. This time, the Tigers were able to take a timeout with four seconds left.

Sophomore D.J. Soven was able to attempt a 27-yard field goal and after two timeouts by Richmond, he nailed it. There was no time left and that's the way you execute the perfect last-second drive.
 
For Richmond, that drive must have felt eerily similar to the one Sean Schaefer completed on Oct. 6, 2007. Schaefer led the team on a remarkable 67-yard, four-play drive in the final 22 seconds that earned the Tigers a 23-21 win over #14 Richmond. Ironically, they came into this game with the same ranking.

Demetrius Harrison caught Schaefer's 14-yard TD pass in the right corner of the end zone with no time left. Just like Saturday night, that touchdown set off a jubilant celebration.