Tigers fall to Stony Brook, 25-17

[mat1992 2,237]

http://www.newsday.com/sports/college/stony-brook/efficient-joe-carbone-leads-stony-brook-to-victory-over-towson-1.14259817http://www.newsday.com/sports/college/stony-brook/efficient-joe-carbone-leads-stony-brook-to-victory-over-towson-1.14259817

http://towsontigers.com/news/2017/9/23/football-tigers-suffer-hard-fought-road-loss-at-stony-brook.aspx?path=football

So Towson has the football, down by five with about 5 minutes left. Fourth and a foot at the SB 40. If they make the first down, they have a shot at winning this game or at least taking a lead. But instead of having Ryan Stover sneak it with his 6-4 frame, Towson attempts a pitch to freshman Kobe Young, who not only gets stopped but fumbles the ball and it's returned about 50 yards on the other end. Towson D holds to a FG but game over as Towson goes 4-and-out down 8.

Frustrating loss but not surprising. No Morgan Mahalak, Shane Simpson, Trey Kilgore, John Tsimis or Shane Leatherbury on offense. The offensive line isn't moving people in the running game and I don't want to hear about them stacking the box because we spread them out. When T-West and even Victor was running, they saw safeties in the box all the time. And they succeeded against them because they were physical and so is the line.

What we need to get back to if Stover is still at QB is running the football downhill. Simpson should be back next week and CJ Williams should get more than a few carries. He's 6-0, 220, Platt is 5-7, 185, Kobe Young is 6-0, 185. Even Bryant played some tonight. But when Stover is your best runner, something is wrong. He's a tough kid but he's not Michael Vick in his prime or even Grant Enders, who I do see some resemblance to as a QB. Enders was better on short and intermediate passes. He sometimes struggled deep. Stover seemed to have communication issues with Gallahan, who finally played tonight.

But bottom line is that this team is a little closer than I thought but still not good enough, especially on D. Too many yards in the air (242) against a team not known for passing. They exploited JPD and then McDade all night. Lyrics at least bounced back with a pretty good game. But there is not pass rush unless we blitz, which is rare. When Anderson and Clifton Jones got sacks on that one drive, we stopped them, but that was it. Now it looks like Harps-Upshur is going to be out for awhile. Injury looked serious and there's no depth in the middle. Nieqquo Cook was playing and he's not big enough to hold the fort at 6-5, 260. Reece Burnett is big enough, he's not just a full-time player.

So here we are, looking at 0-2 and the end of our playoff chances or we can buck up at home against Villanova and make some plays. I don't really know about this team but they showed something tonight. Just not enought of it.

[Ironman42 4]

I like and agree with everything you said but Towson may when two more games and it not because of those young man they can only follow directions.

[TSU88 1,073]

Presumably you are thinking we MIGHT beat Elon & RI. At this point, I doubt it. Last I checked, Elon was leading Richmond in the 2nd half & RI lost in triple OT earlier this year to an FBS team, & only lost by 14 to UNH today.

While I truly hope I'm wrong, it is not out of the realm of possibility we go winless the rest of the season 

 

[mat1992 2,237]

16 minutes ago, Ironman42 said:

I like and agree with everything you said but Towson may when two more games and it not because of those young man they can only follow directions.

I won't go that far. When guys are missing tackles, not turning around in the secondary, losing their man because of ball fakes, not all on coaches. Scheme on defense is pretty much same as it was for eight years except they go back to 3-4 and play mainly 4-3. None of that works against a good O-line. Then we lose best DL and leader in Harps-Upshur, though he's not a pass rusher. They get no pass rush pressure for the DEs. They weren't horrible against the run tonight, Got gashed some at the end and on one drive but pass D was atrocious considering who they were playing against. Offense at least is young so they have some excuses despite a couple of irrational calls.

[Ironman42 4]

Speaking as a coach you have to teach these guys to tackle properly stay with your blocks have some football IQ. Sadly most coaches teach win first instead of making players fundamentally sound teams that are doing the right things are usually at the same level year after year North Dakota state proves that year after year.and this is just my opinion I hold players accountable for penalties that's on the players .players knowing what to do on the coaches 

[Ghost of andy7171 45]

Speaking as a coach, I think we can build from this loss.  SB is a respectable CAA team.  We had a lot of injuries  Somethings gotta give sooner or later.  Get healthy, get better.  One game at a time.  Play for pride and man the F up.

[griggey20 178]

Mat, any quotes from Rob?

 

[mat1992 2,237]

Not any quotes after the game. I did listen to the CAA Conference call today and really just took out a few things. 1)Injuries are mounting on both sides. 2)He loved the way Clifton Jones played. 3)CJ Williams should see more time this week. 4)Stover is probably back as the starter this week. 

Honestly, though, it was depressing. Shane Simpson doesn't look like he's coming back soon according to Rob. That means more Platt and Kobe. Probably more Pistol with Stover running some. Did mention that they have to execute better inside the 5, which is well, obvious. 

Defense though hurting without Harps-Upshur. Didn't hear if it was season-ending or not. But that's a huge loss. We just don't have the bodies to replace him. I suggest we go back to a 3-4 with Reece in the middle, Clifton and Kanyia Anderson. Rotate Tibo, Cummings and Cook at both ends. Jones might have to play the nose when Reece comes out. Carter, Tedder, Paye and Tyne at OLB. Heyward and Wallace inside.

Also lost Boals at safety, where we are so thin that Lyrics Klugh was playing safety in the second half. Vashon McCants burned his redshirt and moved to corner. McDade played a lot in the second half and wasn't sure if JPD was banged up but apparently Jamal Watson is. Incredible. I'll guess we'll know a little more when the depth chart is released late Tuesday.  But damn, the lack of depth on the D-line has caught up with them (Cox is also injured) and I don't see them burning a redshirt on a guy like Mullins (who I really like).  About 10, maybe 12 years ago, we were so banged up on the D-line, we moved an offensive line to defense. Forget his name but we may be heading in that territory.

BTW. We are averaging 3.2 yards per carry and allowing teams to rush for 4.7 yards per carry (I know the Md game hurts that average). Stover is our leading rusher with 158 yards. Do we miss Shane? Of course, but he was only averaging 3.5 ypc. I guess it's all on the small backs and has nothing to do with our line, who I admit is getting better as a pass blocking unit. They do in my humble uneducated opinion have to get better as a run blocking unit, even if they are going against stacked boxes.

 

[Ironman42 4]

Good info matt

[mat1992 2,237]

Apparently, we also burned the redshirt of OL Cole Cheripko. I thought it was a mistake that he had a tackle but he was listed in the participation chart. I guess he played special teams on the defensive side. I know they like him but not sure what the purpose is playing him as a true freshman unless they are going to start him at some point this year. I do understand playing a kid like Vashon McCants because they don't have much of a chioce there. Also forgot about Grant Udinski. He's getting more time at DE and is certainly a valuable reserve.