TOWSON, Md. - In this week's edition of Monday Morning Quarterback, we'll focus on one of the more underrated stats - third-down and fourth-down conversions.
Towson is 6-1 heading into Saturday's home game against Delaware. We can talk about the offensive production all day, but a big part of that production is the Tigers' performances on third down and fourth down.
On Saturday in Williamsburg, Towson converted just three of nine third-down conversions, but the Tigers made all three of their fourth-down coversions in a 38-27 win over William & Mary.
The first conversion took place on the first drive. On fourth-and-one at the Tigers' own 45-yard line, freshman Terrance West ran for two yards to the Towson 47-yard line to keep the drive alive. Eventually, the Tigers scored on another two-yard run by West.
Leading by 28-17 in the second half, Towson had the ball at the Tribe 46-yard line. On fourth-and-seven with freshman R.J. Peppers in the game to punt, freshman long snapper Kelly Linden snapped the ball to senior fullback Tyler Wharton, who ran for eight yards to the William & Mary 38-yard line for a Tiger first down. Six plays later, sophomore quarterback Grant Enders hit a wide open Wharton in the right flat for an easy three-yard TD.
Towson went 88 yards in 14 plays on a drive that took nearly eight minutes, but thanks to the fake punt, the drive was kept alive and the Tigers were up, 35-17. In fact, that score was enough to win the game.
The last fourth-down conversion was the most important. With 3:21 left and the Tigers up by a 35-27 margin, Towson called a timeout on fourth-and-one at the William & Mary three-yard line. A field goal would probably win the game but there was a lot of time left for the Tribe to go down and score. Coach Rob Ambrose had a decision to make and he decided to go for it.
"You want to score, kill the clock and control the game," said Ambrose after the game. "William & Mary's offense is great. (Running back Jonathan) Grimes is amazing. We were just trying to keep the ball out of their hands. We wanted to score a TD. But, we were at a quandary.
"When you get inside the three-yard line, the angles for the kick tend to change a little," Ambrose added. "They are much more difficult. I wanted to kick but the angle was bad. We felt good about our front against their (defensive front)."
Instead of handing it to West, Towson went with the quarterback sneak to Enders, who rushed for two yards to the one-yard line. While Towson was unable to score the touchdown, the Tigers were able to waste 1:17 off the clock and force the Tribe to call its last two timeouts. More importantly, sophomore D.J. Soven connected on a 19-yard field goal to give the Tigers the insurance points they need to win the game by 11.
For the season, Towson leads the CAA in third-down efficiency, converting 53.2 percent of its chances. The Tigers are also first in fourth-down conversions, converting 10 of 16 opportunities (62.5%). Interestingly enough, Delaware is first in third-down conversion defense, allowing just 27 of 106 (25.5%) chances.
Around the CAA
Now that Towson is 4-0 in the CAA, fans can really do some scoreboard watching. There were four other games played other than the Tigers' win at William & Mary.
Delaware was in Kingston, R.I. to face the Rams and fell, 38-34. This was a wild game that featured four Rhode Island turnovers, 484 yards of total offense for the Rams and three Delaware turnovers. The Rams used sophomore Robert Bentsen at quarterback and he answered the call with 278 yards passing and three TDs. Delaware fell to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the CAA while URI improved to 2-5 and 1-3 in the league.
In other action, Old Dominion (6-2, 3-2 CAA) beat Villanova (1-7, 0-5) on the road, 37-14; New Hampshire (5-2, 3-1) held on to defeat UMass at Gillette Stadium, 27-21, and Maine (6-1, 4-0) rallied to edge Richmond (3-4, 0-4), 23-22. With the win, the Black Bears are tied with the Tigers for first place in the CAA.
