FB routs URI, 29-10 in finale

[mat1992 2,250]

http://towsontigers.com/news/2017/11/18/football-tigers-pass-rhode-island-for-season-finale-victory.aspx

[TSU88 1,074]

Sorry to see the season end. In the last 3 games, we’ve averaged 28 ppg. “If” is loser’s talk to some degree, but if we had beaten Elon, we finish with a winning record, which, considering we had a RS freshman at QB, & no running game, wouldn’t have been bad.

URI has a pretty good offense, and we effectively shut it down, with 5 sacks. D wasn’t great this year, but it was improved. 

Jury is still out, at least for me, on Stover as the future QB. He threw 4 TD’s today, but overthrew & underthrew passes, & missed Gallahan on a sure TD. His completion percentage for the season was pedestrian and he threw more INT’s than TD’s. He does do a good job running the ball on designed plays, though I don’t think he does well when the pocket breaks down.

i think there’s decent talent at the WR position, but we need stability and productivity at QB, improved run blocking & improved play at RB. On D, we lose Anderson, who had 1/3 of our sacks this year. Desperately need to upgrade the D-line

[mat1992 2,250]

Stover might be the future quarterback but anybody that watched him knows he was erratic. Even the INT at the end, he was trying to force it to Greenwood, who doesn't have a TD this season. Everybody please read the comments below. End of the year press conferences are always the most interesting

Ambrose opening statement
"Flem has done a great job this year. They get better every year. Their offense kept me up last night. But I want to
focus on these guys. Our seniors did a steady and quiet, growing job as leaders. We lost a bunch of key players early
in the season and had to regroup. These guys held the group together when people outside the family told us not to be
together. They played their faces off week after week after week. I have the greatest amount of respect for them.
And we've had some pretty good groups come through here, but these guys held together something special. I love them.
I told them this week that the only way we could win this game was as a team. Had to be as a team. We have no corners
left. We have no players left. Nobody is allowed to get hurt. Tough, hard-nosed. Love is a powerful thing. I'm very
proud of them and very grateful that I got to be a part of their lives."

D'Sean Cummings
One thing Coach Ambrose said is that the secondary and linebacking corps were really thin. We knew we had rotating bodies
on the D-line. It was going to be on our shoulders. We had fresh guys coming out all game. We didn't have to take as many
snaps as some of the other guys did. So because we were so fresh, we could attack the quarterback. Just fit our gaps and
make the plays we were supposed to.

We all took advantage of the one-on-one matchups. Our inside guys did a great job. You always have to scheme for
Clifton Jones and Kanyia Anderson. The outside guys were left for one-on-one matchups.

As a D-line, it was one of our best games. Speaking for the D-line, with all the seniors having a sack or two, that was
the way that we should have went out. The W that was incredible. You can't ask for any more as a senior.

Shane Leatherbury
We just are having fun. In the beginning, we focused too hard on each other and too hard on ourselves. Now we just go
out there and have fun. As receivers, we just look at each other and say I got you, you got me. We just played ball.
We've been improving every week.

On his season overall
I started out a little rough. I was lacking some confidence. I was too hard on myself. I wasn't really having fun.
As long as we're having fun it's a different game.

I felt like I could play. All the coaches had my back. It was hard. Speed of the game is tough (to adjust).

We know we started off bad. Our offense has been rolling. We're looking forward to next year.

Leatherbury on Ambrose
Like I said, I was lacking confidence at the beginning and was really down. He's always picking us up and saying the right things.

Cummings on Ambrose
Coach Ambrose coming in for all the seniors, a lot of us from that 2013 class, we weren't grown yet. We thought we had
it together. We had other offers and things We thought Towson would just dominate. He would humble us and break us down
a little bit but at the same time grow us. He understands we need praise. He understands we need that tough love.
The entire staff each grows every one of us and we appreciate that.

Ambrose on season
I said we're resilient. It's more than that. When you are playing as long as we're playing, we left Rhode Island last
year and started planning. Good plan, sexy plan. It looked good. In a span of 14 days get destroyed. It wasn't just
the coaches, it was everybody. We struggled. We fought. It was hard. In today's world...go hit an internet thing with
a news site, everything is negative, horrible, bad. Not them. I said in January, April, July. There's something about
this group that's different. It's not about how they play the game, it's about who they are as human beings. There is a
chemistry in this group...but there's something about these guys. Instead of listening to the crap everybody says, they
got tighter and then we just started having fun. We were having fun and getting better with a losing record. I love
all these guys that I had a chance to coach but these guys are special. The coolest thing about it is that we have a lot
of guys coming back.

On Stover
He gets an A- because he threw that ball in the end zone and did something I told him not to do. He was pushing to get
Jabari Greenwood a touchdown. He's an all-league player with no TDs. We tried to get him a TD. Ryan stepped out of the box and did something I did not want him to do. He threw a pick in the end zone. But he gets a really good grade.

He's hot and cold. Like a young guy, when he's on, he's really on. When he's off, my hair turns gray and it falls out.

On Jabari Allen
He did great. I could say that about all them. As the season has progressed, they have progressed. All these guys come
back. They were young, talented dudes without experience. Now they are a little bit older with a whole lot of experience
and a whole lot of confidence.

On Stover for 2018
I could tell you he is the man tonight. Maybe. The problem is that Morgan Mahalak is not going to play anymore. Truth be
told, I didn't tell anybody this. At the beginning of the season, I didn't want anybody to know that his concussion
was that severe because as you have seen, people will go after guys heads. I was doing my best to protect him. It happened
in the first quarter in the Morgan State game. How was he so bad in that game? When I found out he had a concussion later
on, he didn't remember any of that stuff. Is Ryan the guy for the future? He's going to have a chance at that job, but
if Morgan doesn't stay and it doesn't look like he will, I have two quarterbacks on scholarship. That's not enough in
this league or this level. I'm going to have to get one. The question is whether I'm going to get another young guy
or an older guy as an insurance policy. So that's a long answer for I don't know yet.

On heading into 2018 winning 3 of 4
I have good players and good coaches that have responded to adversity in a way that most people don't. We have to figure
out a way to not be injured, especially in the beginning of the year. We know how to play football and as a team. We
have to find a way to not get injured. Ryan Stover was not ready to play and lead us to victory. You can lose
your star tailback and survive. You can lose your stud quarterback and survive, but not if you do both. Not if you plan
a year for this and lose them both in a heartbeat. There's no subtitute for experience. These kids grew the entire year.
If anybody can't see that, they are truly blind.

On defense
Things that had to improve greatly were third downs and red zone defense. We have a lot to work on defensively but our
pass defense is 10x better. We put way more pressure on the quarterback, we cover better. That allows us to get off
the field on third down. We have grown and improved. I'm going to expect them to be better. I'm going to expect us to
be better. Spring ball is going to be one of the more fun springs we ever had.

On new signing date
One of the things I laid into some of my guys that we need to have the compliance office ready. I guarantee you, we will
sign people on the 20th. We will. I'm not telling you who they are.

Is the clock ticking after not making the playoffs in four seasons
Sure it is. To be honest, I hear all kinds of noise during the season this year. That's my job and I'm perfectly ok with
it. Everybody around here likes to talk about Delaware, I understand why. We beat them three of the last four years.
I remember a time when they told me we never beat W&M before and we are .500 against them or something like that. We
definitely have moved the needle. I can't stand losing. I hate it. Almost more than I like winning. That keeps me up
at night. It makes the offseason hard. The expectations are no higher than they are in the coaching office and in the
locker room. My agent does a good job with my contract but I don't want to be talking to you guys about the end of the
season come Thanksgiving next season. This is the start of the new season and I'm not doing it. We're going. Come Hell
or highwater, we're going. I don't make promises I can't keep, so I have a hard time...it's as close to making a promise
as I can make it.

[mat1992 2,250]

It's nice to go into the offseason with a win. That didn't mean a lot last season but as Ambrose mentioned, it's tough to survive losing your top QB and top RB. You can lose one but not both. We also lost our top DL in Harps-Upshur. However, I'm not sure that meant we would be 8-3 instead of 5-6. Sure, it might mean 2-3 wins. Mahalak, who did have a bad concussion, is better than Stover. He was less mistake-prone. But the running game was marginal even with Shane. The offensive line got better as the season went on but we still struggled on short-yardage situations. Blocking wasn't great at the point of attack and we were not getting a great push. We also need more from our FBs and TEs in terms of blocking. That Kobe Young TD run that was called back seemed to epitomize everything that could go wrong with this offense this season. 

As the tired cliche' goes, at the end of the day, the offense didn't do their jobs. They averaged just 17.5 points per game and 3.3 yards per carry. That's incredible considering how we used to average 5.5 yards or whatever it was in our heyday even with guys like Sterlin Phifer and Dom Booker. Sure, the young backs struggled to get yards after the first hit. Kobe Young ended with 328 yards and did average 4.7 yards per carry. Stover rushed for 335 yards, while Feliiz-Platt had just 238 yards and 3.4ypc (with the two good runs late in the URI game). Shane Simpson had 160 yards and 3.3ypc, while grad transfer C.J. Williams added 26 yards in just 19 carries. 

Stover threw for 2,001 yards with 11 TDs and 13 INTs on 55.5% passing. Jabari Greenwood led with 53 catches for 616 yards. Leatherbury had 30 catches for 296 yards  and two TDs just eight games. Sam Gallahan came on with 22 catches for 315 yards with three TDs in eight games. Jabari Allen added 20 catches for 190 yards and two TDs in nine games.

The defense allowed nearly 50% of third-down conversions and that was down to 33% but they did allow 44% on 4th downs (8-18). Red zone touchdowns weren't bad (54%), though they were terrible for the offense (43%). We were good against the pass, allowing 187 yards per game but lousy against the run (169.6ypg) for the most part (Elon, MD, UNH were disasters). The defense has to get better up front for that unit to improve. Cummings, K. Anderson and C. Jones are all gone.

Linebackers also need to get better. Diondre Wallace had a nice season with 90 tackles to lead the team. Rober  Heyward had 64 tackles, a pick and 7.5 TFLs. Keon Paye had his moments with 52 tackles, two picks and five TFLs. He needs to become more consistent next season. Thought DE/OLB Bryce Carter (4 sacks) showed potential. Didn't see much out of Malik Tyne (2.5 sacks).

Cornerbacks? McDade and JPD were all injured at the end. Thought Jamal Watson (14 tackles, 1 INT) and Vashon McCants (12 tackles) came on as freshmen. Safety was an issue opposite of Monty Fenner (72 tackles, 3 INTs, 7 PD). Mitch Boals had 36 tackles and played in just eight games. Coby Tippett had 27 tackles in just seven games with a fumble recovery.

More about who will step up next season in another post.

[TigerFan54 103]

35 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

"Flem has done a great job this year.

Who is Flem?

[TSU88 1,074]

The head coach of URI. His last name is Fleming 

[TSU88 1,074]

Tough to lose your starting QB & RB, no doubt. OTOH, the coaching staff has to be accountable for not having an adequate backup to plug in, especially in view of wasting a scholarship on Williams, the grad transfer RB from  Bucknell. 

Hindsight is 20/20, I get it. But the coaching staff also left the QB position in a precarious situation by not having an experienced alternative in the event Mahalak went down.

Lots of holes to plug in the off-season.  To be continued 

[omniland 31]

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.  

[Chris Datres 425]

Congrats to the players and coaches for finishing on a high note and not giving up on the season.  They could have easily packed it in but they fought for themselves and finished an overtime heartbreaker from a winning season.  Sad to hear about Mahalak and really unfortunate that a kid with so much promise when he came over from Oregon ends up playing what, 4 games in his Towson career?  As expected, defenses didn't respect Stover and would stack the box against him and it took him 3/4 of the season to get more acclimated.  Hopefully he can have a productive and healthy offseason to be the man next season.  Of course, we'll need to develop a running game and a reliable offensive line to round out that side of the ball.   5-6 is certainly nothing to be proud of but given where they were mid-October, this 3-1 finish has to be used as a springboard to bigger and better things in '18 and I think Rob realizes that.

Now, to TSU88's comment blaming the coaching staff for leaving the QB position in a precarious spot....I ask this question -- is Jimbo Fisher less of a coach because Francois went down and he had to go to a true freshman?  If Jalen Hurts goes down and his backup struggles, should Saban be held accountable?  What about if Darnold goes down at USC and the backup gets blitzed?  Does Helton get pilloried like some did to Ambrose?  It's asking a lot to expect a backup, especially a freshman, to just walk onto the field and light things up.  But then I realize that apparently there's a higher standard held by some people, one of which I've noticed has been awfully quiet since this 3 out of 4 stretch occurred.  But he'll keep running his numbers and his mouth.

 

[TSU88 1,074]

I see your point, to a point. Whether they like it or not, all HC’s are accountable, with the ultimate barometer being W’s & L’s. I simply rhetorically ponder whether given that Mahalak was coming off an injury from last season, whether it might have been prudent to bring in another QB as a potential alternative to handing the keys to a RS freshman.

Well, in any event, this season is now in the rear view mirror & the off-season is officially upon us. Given that the early signing date has been bumped up to 12/20, I suspect the off-season will soon begin in earnest, if it hasn’t already begun