omniland

I'm surprised at Ferguson. I remember him at Maine and I really thought, being a grad player with all that experience, he would be much more accurate and make good decisions with the ball. I know you guys are advocating a dual threat QB, but someone who has a good arm, accuracy and most important makes good decisions, could have made this game really competitive. Our running game was good and that was with UNH knowing we couldn't throw. Just think about how it would have opened up if they were the least bit worried about the passing game. The 4 downs near the goal line in the 4th quarter was perplexing. Even the fade route to Jabari is a low percentage pass. There has to be some type of play to Epps and Rutkowski over the middle of the end zone that could have been attempted. I thought Rutkowski should start. Give him touches because he is willing to get separation and make a difficult catch. The lack of accuracy from our QB's for even the simplest of throws is hard to understand. Even Miller has been with the program for a long time. I can't believe there isn't an all Met MD High school QB like Schaefer and Athens, that maybe couldn't get a big time offer that can't throw better than what we have. There is just not one guy, that maybe is only 6 feet, maybe 6-1 that isn't being recruited heavily by FBS? Losing Collins on D was a disappointment. Perhaps Matt can find out more as to what happened. I was watching him and all of sudden I couldn't find him. I have to assume he may have made a play on a pass here and there, which may have made a difference. I'm not sure what to think about the D. I think they will make a few changes this week on the D, get guys to set the edge and see if a few guys step up as leaders. They need leaders out there on D. The played ok at times, but the CAA, to be in the top tier, is all about offense. I read all the talk about all the transfers and this guy and that guy, however if we had a clicking passing game, our run game could have been even better and momentum changes. We needed to outscore NHU with a great offense. We have a very bad passing offense. It is going to kill this team.

QB is just tough to replace whether you are replacing Flacco or any starter. Getting someone to extend plays like Flacco is sort of impossible. I actually believe this team looks pretty good on paper for next year but for QB and running back. Of course if Shane Simpson stays healthy all year there is no issue with RB but that is just unrealistic going into next season hoping for that. I lean towards Stover starting his senior year and being able to run the ball. We haven't really seen much of him since his freshman year and it showed a lot to be a starter as a freshman at that position. I sort of feel this is a little like the Athens senior year. Stover can run and you cannot just find just anyone who is a legit dual threat. Being able to run puts a lot of stress on a defense. The one guy that wasn't mentioned is Epps. Somehow regardless of some of the plays he made, we never really designed very much or emphasized throws to him throughout the year. It looks like he has nice hands and produces yards after the catch rather than just a slow 5 yard curl and drop type of tight end. looking at the playoff scores of yesterday, I'm not sure a few of the teams were not stretches to be put in the playoffs (Furman, North Dakota ...). Yes we didn't show up last year but that rain storm was just a once in a lifetime storm. It was so much rain I'm not sure the game shouldn't have been moved to the arena downtown or played the next day. I mean no one went to that game it was so bad. Do we win if there was better weather? Certainly we would have played better. Duquesne had the perfect player to win that game. Regardless of our loss to Elon, we maybe should have squeaked in because the only thing that should matter is who else are they putting in. I think the CAA is at least the 2nd best conference and the selection committee just seems to always give us the short end of the stick. It would be nice for us to get that last invitation and someone else mentioned on the selection show as the one being shafted.

Yeedee is a nice complementary back that gives it 100% every game. Sometimes he runs a little too hard and stays up when the play is over and gives the defender a chance to strip the ball but overall he is a quality player. However, despite his 2nd team all conference and despite the last two games, for most of the year we did not run very well. We have stated this fact before on this board that you cannot go into the season with just Shane Simpson as your only dynamic runner. If we got lucky, like in 2018 and Shane somehow stays healthy then no problem. That is just not realistic. We needed a fast 215 lbs back with some wiggle. Everyone wants this back so I am not making light of pulling this off. West was a once in a lifetime player. You may never land West again but you have to somehow come up with a Phiefer, Wethington, Victor or even a Nick Williams. Villanova had this type of running back, he got hurt and now they are nowhere near the team they were. Daniel Smith is not as productive without Covington. I actually expect Villanova to lose in the first round. To play in the CAA you need a great offense to win most of your conference games and not just a good offense. A great offense which means you can throw and run. Run where the defense has to constantly think about playing more in the box. I believe our line was getting better and better however we just could not run well enough to be a great offense. We had a winning record so there was success on offense however I think Flacco would have been much more productive with a running game that the opponent worried about. No way opposing teams came into a game worried about our running game. I’m just disappointed that we could not see Flacco in the playoffs with a really good running game. I don’t know how far we could have gone. Would have been nice. Now we have to find a QB, which is even more difficult than the back I describe. Worst loss, maybe that Dartmouth game. It is just embarrassing to lose to an Ivy League School in my opinion when you come from the CAA. Dartmouth is just junk. I support Rob. Not because he does everything right but because be careful for what you wish for. We have a limited budget that is not really going to change. If our budget goes up here and there over time so do the top programs. When I compare our program to that of JMU and NDSU we just do not have the same resources. I understand that those programs may be in the extreme, nevertheless, we field a somewhat competitive team for the most part. We had more really good players on the 2011 – 2013 teams than just West. I think the more realistic positive result for Towson is that you land a West, Flacco, Vinson, Schaffer and so on, and you try and have solid players around that gem. You then make a run and hope for low injuries. That type of team probably gets you in the playoffs and if stars align, maybe further.

I'm not sure just stacking your schedule with the easiest games, avoiding an FBS game if you can, is still not the best strategy. Who doesn't have sour feelings over the way we were treated by being left out of the 2012 playoffs. Anyone who has been watching this program knows that that 2012 team was a special team. Many believe it was better than the 2013 team, and that is not in any way an exaggeration. Better than the team that went to the National Championship and the selection committee left that team out of the field of 24. That 2012 team placed a 60 burger on New Hampshire at their place in the last game of the season and yet the committee put NH in the tournament and left us out. Just a scandal. They have the ability to make bad decisions. I mention this because I do not think it is a lock by any means. Even with a win, from what I read, there are only a few spots we can fit into when you take into consideration what teams most, analysts believe are in and/or who have easy last games. There are not a lot of spots left barring some major upset. , https://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/17995 If you look at the above site, it has us as the 6th best team in the country (that is what power rankings are supposed to do in terms of a measure that is equalizing everything). This site explains its calculations at arriving at these rankings. And yet if you go to their bracketology, they have us out of the playoffs. Also take into consideration they have the Colonial as the best conference in the FCS. https://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/17989 Believe me, the committee is more than capable of leaving us out and this wouldn't even be as an unfair as 2012.

Eventually you have to put a game together and not have any excuses. If there were a game, this is it. The biggest disappointment this year, IMO is our offense. TF is only having an OK year. Yes he has to run for his life sometimes, but that is part of his game. He is supposed to have the skill of running for his life over and over and making that little pitch throw, or picking up 15 yards on the ground several times on 3rd down. For the most part our O line has been intact, which makes our offense even more disappointing this year. The loss of Shane Simpson was a huge loss, but just highlights the unrealistic position RA expected. Last year was just a fluke that Shane could stay healthy. That was a first. You cannot feature Shane. It is just silly to expect that he can return kicks and be an every down back. There is just no depth at RB and it shows. We get no respect with our run and then each and every team T's off on Flacco for all 4 quarters. There is no way to stop this mentality even if Flacco makes a big play because the other team just does not believe Flacco can consistently make plays against the rush. So far our opponents have been right. Delaware will be no different. Tommy either beats them and outscores them or we do not win.

Towson did a good job at getting him. This is the kind of speed, power and size we need and running back. This is the type of back every team wants. T West type body and power, speed. It would change the entire team to have him and Simpson.

Matt, any chance at getting this guy back next year? Looks like he is a man against boys at the division II level https://gocuhawks.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=4097

I thought Villanova was the best team we faced so far before the game and I didn't see anything that changed my mind. They are just well balanced and but for a few costly turnovers I think they win this, not easy, but in hand in the 4th quarter. We just cannot run the ball well enough to compete at the top of the FCS level right now. Losing Shane is a big deal but I feel we got lucky to have Shane injury free last year. That is not his legacy. He is a great player but too small to take a pounding full time, let alone returning kicks, as his career has shown. Villanova crowed the line of scrimmage all night determined to contain TF. They took their shot to try and limit his ground yards and not allow him enough time to sustain drives with chunk completions. TF can improvise as good as anyone, but Villanova took the chance that TF couldn't do it enough to outscore them and they were right tonight. Our pass rush concerns me. Smith is a play maker like TF but he also had a lot more time last night than TF. We don't seem to have that tall, lean edge rusher that you need to regularly disrupt timing. To convert long third downs consistently you need time. You can make a lucky play here and there, but to convert long third downs over and over you need time, and Smith had more time than TF. We also had nothing to threaten Villanova in comparison to having Covington lining up in the backfield. He is the type of back you want that some of us on here have been saying we need.

Yeedee would have certainly been our best option today. I don't think he is Wethington but definitely the type of back that we needed in that downpour. And although I believe our strength is out scoring the opponent and therefore hiding our defense by keeping them off the field, this doesn't mean I'm ok with this. It is just that having seen Rob's teams, he can't seem to put together a Maine type of defensive unit. We get a really good defensive player here and there, such as Dangerfield, but overall our good teams have just laid the points on. Of course no guarantee that we win even in better weather however that was as extreme of weather as you are going to see that favors one team over the other. If that game started at noon, I believe it would have made all the difference in the world. Although our offense is our strength and really the reason for our success this season (Flacco in particular) I am concerned with our total lack of ability to adjust to teams adjusting and spying on Flacco. We lost 4 out of our last 5 games. Starting with the Delaware game, we showed problems with redzone production. I think we won that game (just a dropped pass second to last play of the game and the game is over and we win) but even before the end of the game we were showing signs that we did not have an answer for teams trying to spy Flacco and keep him from converting 3rd downs. Like I said, we still played good enough to win but we kicked a lot of field goals and struggled to convert in the redzone on 3rd down. We then move on to a really good Maine defense and again we played good enough to win but just struggled in the redzone at times. Every opponent is tired of Flacco extending plays and converting third downs. Every league watches film and tries to put together a game plan to combat the other teams success. It just seems that we were not creative enough to come up with ways to make teams pay a price for dedicating a player on a spy position. We then had over 500 yards against JMU but only 17 points. Again, just a breakdown in redzone production for the 4th week in a row. I think Elon was even closer than the score due to our lack of redzone production; it was just that Elon was so one dimensional that we got away with being unproductive for the first 3 quarters. Flacco makes teams dedicate resources to stopping him from taking off with the ball. Now make them pay for doing this. I think this is a good team and look forward to next year. It is just a shame it had to end with such an embarrassing loss.

I've always said we win by outscoring teams in this league and not by playing lights out defense. Don't get me wrong, that was a pathetic defensive effort. I just can't imagine a example of a team failing to make good tackles and taking poor pursuit angles. That being said the stars sort of aligned for Duquesne. Can you really get a worse day for passing the ball? Just incredible weather that favored Duquesne. Some on here said it would be the same outcome with clear weather. I couldn't disagree more. We don't have the top rated CAA offense for no reason. I just can't imagine we wouldn't have sustained more drives by being able to pass. By sustaining more drives obviously we score more points but we also keep our weak defense off the field, which is what we did all year. Instead the weather was just great for a weak conference Duquesne team with a big athletic back. A big athletic back that we could not match with our own big athletic back and our pathetic defense had to continually face him after our offenses constant 3 and outs. Our weak defense got absolutely no help and the weather had everything to do with it because we are a team that sets up the run with our pass. I like Simpson and Young but they are small and in torrential rains it is just not realistic that they are going to move the chains and sustain drives without the threat of a passing game. Yes it is disappointing that our defense could not stop basic running plays all day. However it is not that surprising. They were weak all year, and when your great passing game can't pass and you have 3 and out after 3 and out you are going to eventually get run over by that big back because you are not that good on defense and he is a really good back. He is eventually going to show his talent if you give him that many touches. I disagree that we should have run Knudson or some other big slow back. This is division 1 football. Knudson or anyone like him isn't running anywhere. Getting a big back like T West or even like the back we faced today is a difficult thing. They are in high demand. Anyone can get a big slow bruiser with no moves. But big slow bruisers aren't doing anything in division 1 football. We miss someone like Wethington. I know that name is old news but he was big and athletic and is what we would have needed in a game with this kind of weather. You may never see weather like this again in quite some time. Despite the lack of a passing game, I could see us squeaking this one out, even in this weather had Simpson not fumbled the ball. It happens but just crucial because as the rain kept falling the chances of success in the passing game declined. No ability to pass meant 3 and outs because we could not pass or set up the run. Anyone that has watched us this year knew that we were not just going to shut them down offensively. Probably the most embarrassing loss I have witnessed from Towson. Duquesne beat us fair and square and deserved to win however it would not surprised me if they get absolutely pummeled by South Dakota.

You can work on all the defense you want. The way this team is going to beat good teams is out scoring. Anyone watching this game knew settling for those field goals was a looming problem. We have been gashed with big plays the entire season by every single opponent. However we have such a potent offense that we still prevail. Nevertheless, that was an easy catch in the end zone to win the game. A lot of pressure but a soft pass right on the money. As much as we got gashed on defense, we still were there at the end with a pass on the money, in the end zone and the game would have been won. We still have the talent to come back and win this game. We should have won this right at the end and sometimes that happens. Just a tough loss. I am more concerned with our offense breaking down in the red zone because that I think can be better. I want the defense to be better however I can't look at this game and think we could win any other way but our offense just crushing them with points.

There are reasons for the low attendance. The administration needs to focus on this and can never give up because the program depends on it. Theoretically if no one showed up the program would end as we know it. The program at the 1-AA level and people's jobs depend on solving this problem. And it is a real problem. This may not be the entire reason however I have said this before and the level of overall just general harassment by the contracted parking lot security is just outrageous. I brought someone this week to a Towson game for the first time and he just couldn't believe it. His daughter goes to JMU so it was somewhat embarrassing to have a game this big and to have essentially no student attendance. I was tailgating in Lot 13 and I estimate security engaged us at least 3 times. No particular issues but just the overall starring, questioning and inquiry by the contracted security is just odd. I went to a pro game the week before and you just don't experience anything like what someone experiences at Towson. I have been consistently going to games at TU since 2005 and I can't recall a single incident in what would be thought of as the alumni lot during this entire time. What in the world are they policing? At one point I observed a security person coming over to a parked pickup and looking in the bed of the truck. It was an empty bed, but just strange. These contracted for security folks are not behaving like this without instruction and an overall policy from the administration. It is hard enough to get fans to the game. You just can't have such a harassing security presence, especially in the alumni lot and not make a negative impression to new fans. It will not keep me away from going to the games but I can only imagine how the security comes down on the average student. I would imagine many students made the cost benefit calculation that it simply is not worth risk tailgating at the game.

Great win. Flacco is the real deal. We need to somehow not make it so easy for the opponent in terms of big play. We had such methodical drives and then would give up a score in a matter of seconds. The decleater hit was one of the all time best hits I have seen. What a game changer.

We definitely have a quarterback. Really can't play any better than Flacco. Just couldn't keep Wake honest against the run. We are missing a bigger back like Weathington. Maybe this won't be so obvious against conference play but despite the punt returns by Wake, if we had some type of running game Wake would have been on their heels. We may never see another West but it matters. You just can't expect to keep making play after play through the air. It is amazing that we could have that much production in the air without absolutely no threat on the ground. This team looks like a really good team. They just need to stay healthy. Flacco is a gamer.

They keep winning but they need the rest. I think they are good but we will really see during the next three away games. If they could win all three that would put them on a different level. I have to say, today's referees were the worst I have seen in a long time. How many no contact calls were they going to make. You either saw contact or you didn't.

A lot of players coming back next season. A lot of experience. This helps with injuries. Stover was up and down but overall I thought he played pretty well for a freshman. Even with the injuries I thought Wethington was the biggest loss. You have to have someone that the opposing team hates to tackle. Especially in the second half. We didn't have that guy and I think Wethington could have been that guy. He just would have been different than the RB's we had including Simpson. It is hard to get someone with size and speed. Every school wants someone like that. We are not going to win without a running back. I don't see that guy on this team yet.

I've been to just about every home game since 2005, plenty of away games and the championship of course. I haven't been as active on this blog recenlty because I just feel it is the same old same old for the past several years. I have said before that the CAA is all about offense. You out score your opponents period. There are exceptions to this rule but by in large this is how you win in the CAA. We haven't had an offense that can compete in the CAA since West's last year. Wethington was a substantial loss. I knew it. Simpson is too small to be an every down and his injuries are proving this to be the case. I don't think we will ever know how Stover is or the line is if you have no one that can make something out of nothing running the ball. Someone that the other team is concerned with. I think Wethington was the only RB on our team that had the potential to do that and he isn't here. So if you don't have a winning team you need atmosphere. I have tried and tried to bring as many people and family to all of the games every year. The tailgate debacle with the school cracking down on tailgating has been an unmitigated disaster. Even though this was several years ago, the school still has an overwhelming police and security presence like I have never seen at any other tailgate. Sometimes it just comes off as shear harassment by the police and security staff just itching to make a comment and look for something to enforce. Out of all my years tailgating I have not seen one incident that I can remember that was in need of enforcement in Lot 13. Yet the amount of police presence and security patrol is ridiculous. I brought my wife to the game against Richmond where she has not been in a while. She just couldn't believe the feeling that was portrayed with all of the security and police presence, especially where all the season ticket holders and alumni were set up. Just ridiculous. No wonder students don't want to come to the games. With that kind of scrutinty it would almost be a guarantee, if you were a student, to get harassed and probably some type of citation or arrest. Drinking and tailgating are never going away at any college in the United States. It just is never going to happen. Yes monitor Towson but don't live in an unrealistic world and ruin the tailgating tradition and atmosphere of college football. Lot 14 is just dead for years now.

What can be said? This was just one pathetic game. As bad as Morgan was they deserved to win. They are not a good team but they played a lot better than us. A lot better. The stats show it. They just made one or two mistakes that they couldn't make and we got lucky as heck with basically a give me touchdown. Worse offensive line performance I have seen since I got involved watching full time in 2005. We all love football and you guys know what you saw. I suppose anything is possible but realistically how can you put up such a dismal performance like this and have any hope that this is not going to be a horrible season. Rhode Island played tough against Central Michigan. How can we possibly even play close to bottom feeder Rhode Island given this type of talent or lack thereof? Maybe our defense is decent but I'm confident Morgan is a bad team so I can only place so much stock in shutting out Morgan. I may be overreacting but you can go through life not seeing a performance like that from a team you follow in any sport. 17 yards rushing and 85 yards passing against Morgan? The weather actually held up all night so you really can't even put any blame on that issue. If things do not improve from last night we are going 1 - 10 and that is not even a difficult prediction. Who else can we beat on our schedule if this is our talent level? RA has to somehow do a 180.