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Towsontiger1995

Rob Ambrose

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New to the forum page! Just wanted to get something off my chest. Absolute embarrassment that this team did not make the playoffs this year. Even with all the injuries there was more then enough talent to get them there. The second half of the Elon game the play calling was atrocious. We became so conservative and were just trying not to lose the game. We have weapons on our offense Leatherbury Clark that we’re mismatch against Elon’s secondary. Shane scores on a whip route in the redzone in the first quarter that was a pro route. Big 3rd down before half Clark runs a double move to pick up the first. For all the issues Clark has had in his career his usage the last two years in the pass game was very disappointing. It’s almost like rob and staff forgot he was on the roster. Tom did not Seem to have a great game he was late with reads and Delivering the ball. You can tell the burst we had become so use to seeing the last two seasons from him was not there when he was trying to scramble must have been dealing with injuries the last couple weeks. Two plays that stick out in my mind we’re the long pass play to 88 rut that if he just keeps his feet he scores. Then a long pass to number 11 in second half a long post ball that Tom puts right on the money no need for the kid to stumble and fall just keep running after catch. That’s 14 points right there ! Very bad ending to the season for the tigers. Rob needs to hire an Oc because he is not the answer. 

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Welcome to the board. Did you graduate in 1995 or is that your birthdate? Just curious.

Nice lengthy critique. That was refreshing. I wish we got more here, instead of just knee jerk reactions.

Thompson (11) and Rutkowski (8) both hauled in long passes where I think they just wanted to catch the ball first and probably didn't realize they were that wide open, so they stumbled a bit. I thought Thompson had an excellent game, but most of his routes are usually short to intermediate. Same with Rutkowski, so I don't think they were used to catching the ball downfield in a game, not a practice. Flacco probably underthrew Rutkowski a bit, but I'd have to watch it again.

Clark is hard to figure. He's not a very good blocker to be nice, so he's not on the field much and has other issues that I can't really elaborate on. Shane also dropped a pass from Tom on the other side of the field, that would have been a huge gain with his speed. Instead of catching the ball, he was looking up the field to score. We made a million mistakes on both sides of the ball. Not having Caleb Smith, who at least could get vertical, was a big loss. We just had very few dynamic weapons on offense.

Tom was definitely injured. He wouldn't use it as an excuse and he does tend to hold it too long. Or at least he did.

As for Rob, he probably shouldn't be the OC because it takes away from his head coaching duties. Especially when you have your head in the playcharts all game and you have to talk to the offense on the sidelines when the defense is on the field. I doubt he gives it up next season, unless they just give it to Van Zile and get a new QB coach. At this point, I don't see them bringing in a guy who might be here just one season, if they fail to make the playoffs.

Was he too conservative? A lot of people jump on him for his gambling tendencies. I thought it made sense to be conservative in the first half (he did start the game with a reverse that didn't work). We had a 17-3 lead, kept turning it over and the defense played great. But in the second half, the defense went back to their old ways. The offense got stuck at the 30, the safety, the fumble and the last pick and it was over. He rarely plays scared or not to lose, but the second half was definitely a case of being a bit too vanilla. Yet, with Flacco's inability to move side-to-side that well, I'm not sure what else we could have done other than run more gadget plays. Maybe more screens to Shane. 

One of the worst regular-season losses in any sport that I've covered.

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Appreciate the response. Graduated from TU in 2014! I definitely agree with your points. That drop by Shane could have ended up being an explosive play. The loss of Caleb was huge I see nfl potential in him. I get the blocking part of Clark but at 6”6 over 250 pounds with his ability to get down field the fact that  we didn’t use him like that in his two years is a head scratcher. Makes me wonder what is going on behind the scenes. 

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28 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

One of the worst regular-season losses in any sport that I've covered.

In my 17 years associated with Towson, this is no doubt the worst regular season loss ever.  

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32 minutes ago, griggey20 said:

In my 17 years associated with Towson, this is no doubt the worst regular season loss ever.  

Delaware in 2013 is the worst.

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This is not a productive thread, as it is inherently negative.  That being said, I would offer the following as additional, epic, regular season losses;

2016 at Dartmouth < loss on the road to non-scholarship program

2014 vs Central Connecticut State < 1st home game after FCS Championship Game appearance & loss to head coach in his 1st game as head coach of reduced scholarship

2012 vs Old Dominion < 11 point home loss, where best player in program history had altercation w/ head coach and walked off the field 

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1 hour ago, griggey20 said:

In my 17 years associated with Towson, this is no doubt the worst regular season loss ever.  

Playoffs last year? 

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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.    

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Another long-lost poster. Good to hear from you again O. I still don’t want understand why we didn’t add at least one running back last season. One back who could be 215 next season is Kobe Young.

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