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mat1992

Second Scrimmage Review

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Second scrimmage today. Weather held up. Not as hot as last week. The defensive line really stood out. They got a lot of pressure up front against a pretty good offensive line, especially early in the scrimmage. That's without Elorm Lumor, the Rutgers rush end who may have been nicked up, but they were just holding him out (riding the bike). And that's understandable. You had parents and season ticket holders out today (about 250?) so RA is not going to show everything. But we're fine on D. Really deep. Cholewa is going to be a problem against most Olines. He'll take up two blockers at DE or NG. We haven't had a lot of 6-7, 310-pounders and add him along with Jesus Gibbs (6-4, 290) and Tramar Reece (6-4, 280) and you have size and length that we've never really had. Oly Okombi (6-1, 270) was not there, but I expect him to be a disruptor and Sam Gyeni (6-0, 280) is a solid nose guard. 

Darrien Reynolds was flying around at inside linebacker. Had one pick off of Ferguson and nearly had another. I think he and Christian Dixon should be a very strong duo. At safety or Bandit Keyvone Bruton is going to a terrific pick up. He can cover inside receivers, can blitz, and hit with authority. He's apparently a lot bigger than his listed 5-11, 195. Guessing at least 215. Corners should be fine with Shuman, Peoples, Collins and Makai Self from Penn State. Have a lot of talent there. I would say Shuman gets the start and maybe Peoples at the other corner. 

  Ferguson is the clear leader at QB. He had some overthrows today and threw that pick on that blitz from Bruton and that was picked off by Reynolds. Also made some nice throws to Street in the corner of the end zone. He can throw on the move so he's not just a statue. I do like Amendola's ability to run, but he's not ready to start.

Then there's Jerry Howard. All I can say is watch the first game. I interviewed him briefly. Big and explosive. Doesn't usually go down after the first hit. Love Devin Matthews as well. The freshman who probably would have sat out last season. Runs low and is a compact runner that could see time as a third-down specialist. Also, Curtis Murray (5-10, 190) is finally on the roster. The transfer from Maine, who has four years left. Did not see him out there.

At receiver, somebody new to look out for is No. 7 Matthew Akuchie, the FAU transfer. He's long, like Jabari Allen was at 6-3, 205. Ran with the 2s and looked like a starter. Had a really nice catch in the corner of the end zone on a pass from freshmen Scott Smith. He's going to be in the mix somewhere. If he's healthy, you have Allen, Street, Thompson, Caleb Smith, Rutkowski and Akuchie in some rotation. It looks as though they are moving WR/KR D'Ago Hunter to RB, though it may just be an experiment. He's just so small at 5-6ish 160. He's pretty electric in the open field, but don't see him as running back. Maybe I'm wrong.

Rob Ambrose comments:

On second scrimmage
"Needed a long hot one. This was the longest amount of live work we've been able to do. Tons of stuff to evaluate.
We're going to be pretty good defensively. We're deep, fast, and big. We're giving our offense a lot of challenges.
I don't if there's anybody that we will face that will be that good. We're so deep up front. It's crazy.

Injuries
"Grim (Grzymkowski) was held out after tweaking his back. We're limiting some guys. There are fights in the trenches and
we're getting better."

On Cholewa
"We have short, quick and athletic. And we have big, long, and strong. That's a great combination. 

 he's happy to be here.

On RBs 
Matthews is what I wanted to see today. I know what Jerry (Howard) can do. I know what Kobe can do. We played a little bit
in what D'Ago (Hunter) can do. But you just might have seen the short-yardage back show up today in Matthews. He's not big
but he explodes into you. He's powerful.

On other freshmen
Kenjuan Manuel didn't play today, but is having a great camp. He's really good. He's going to help us. Shafeek (Smith) is
going to be really good. Little Rut (Evan Rutkowski) he can help us at four different positions. All those kids look like
they are going to play sooner than later.

On Cost of Attendance
It's a competitive advantage of disadvantage if you have it or you don't. Delaware and JMU have it and we don't. When it comes
down to recruits and, all things being equal, they are going to take $5,000 to $2,000 a year that they get from somewhere else
and we don't get them. It's a competitive disadvantage in our league.

It's the amount that the University declares for extra fees. Room, board, books. There are computer fees. There's travel.
They call that the true Cost of Attendance to attend a school. The difference between those numbers can be made up with grant
money. If you have it. Delaware and JMU do it. We don't.

On NIL
It's awesome. It's about time. It's going to be a challenge to handle to some degree. At this level, I don't know how much
we're going to have to worry about. I caution the guys that to make sure you are always respectful and take care of the game
first. Because without the game, there's no name, image, and likeness. So if you are more worried name, image, and likeness
than the game, you are not going to make much money at all.

On facilities
We're going to have an academic center in the near future. We're having monster conversations about closing that all off
(stadium) but you'd have to ask people above me.

Jerry Howard on moving from defense back to offense
I didn't play that much defense. With COVID, I got a week or two of linebacker play and then I switched back to running back
by Game 3. It feels great. I'm supposed to be here as a running back. I want to move to linebacker at Georgia Tech. I didn't p
play that much my junior year so to get more reps I wanted to play linebacker. It didn't work out the way I wanted to so I
was playing special teams and I moved back to RB.

On getting recruited by Rob Ambrose
I was telling him it was between Mercer and Towson. And due to the relationship I had with Coach Ambrose was the reason I
came here.

Strengths
I would say I can manipulate the defensive line and to be this big, I have some speed on me. I clocked about a 4.52 at
laser at 225. I'm about 218. I'm a lot faster (at the lower weight).

On experience
It's helpful. We have to make sure we are on the same page. They came from a bigger school, but they may not have the field
experience. 

Towson
The goal is to win a National Championship. Starts in two weeks.

On running style

Feel like I'm electric, but still a bruiser.
 

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One thing I forgot to mention-I'm not ready to crown this team-but I don't see any major weaknesses just yet, though I'd like to see a few less mistakes from Ferguson. I think the kicking game is a concern. More specifically placekicking because McDonough is as good as any punter in the CAA or possibly FCS. The starter should be Clayton Harris, the UConn transfer, who has some experience and was a decent kicker for the Huskies. I would say Keegan Vaughn has the edge right now. You can't just give a guy the job based on previous history; he has to win it.

Of course, injuries are always a concern but we're pretty deep at most positions. Can't afford to lose Howard just because I think he's special. Difference between a bubble playoff team that could make it based on depth at running back with Kobe, Matthews, Folley, and possibly Murray. But to make a deep run when the weather is shaky and you can rely on the running game and a powerful runner behind a huge offensive line. Howard could be that guy. Not sure I'd even play him much in next week's scrimmage. Also, Jabari Allen has all the tools to be number one receiver. He just needs to stay on the field, which is why I guess they are being careful with him. I don't know if the other guys are as talented though Akuchie could be that guy maybe next season when he adds a few lbs. Or a young guy like Ty'Shaun Granger or Isaiah Perkins, who is not on the roster, but will be with the team in the spring. Now I probably have a bit of an obsession with taller receivers being a number one guy or guys with explosive speed like Leatherbury.  Street who I think has improved this year, could take a step up and I've always like Thompson for his size, toughness and ability to block. Caleb Smith is also one of those guys I forget about (despite covering his father) who can run and put up big numbers last season.

Morgan State is a team I would never take lightly. I'm not like others. I try to treat opponents with respect before the game. There's no reason to give bulletin board material because I assume opponents read this board. When you look at their offensive line, it's not as big as in the past. They have a lot of linemen who are listed at 6-0, which means they are probably shorter since heights tend to be inflated. Their defensive line does have some size with two 300+ pounders. But they don't have a lot of experience there. I Tweeted that Towson has 11 FBS transfers on defense since 2019. That's not even counting Jesus Gibbs (South Carolina) or some of the juco transfer like Peoples and Marcus Bowman. Technically I guess I was off a number because I think I counted Peoples as an FBS player.

https://morganstatebears.com/sports/football/roster

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Thanks, Mat.  Has anyone on the board bought season tix?  Will there be a contingent of Towson fans at the opener?  I wonder what color helmets and uniforms the team will wear against Morgan?  Hmmmm... looks like the Tigers have added some new players since the last scrimmage.  Hmmm... a RB from Maine?  Hmmm... looks like he was listed in their 2deep.  Stayed tuned. Rob,  I’m ready for the “unveiling “.  Oh, and 2012 ..... you lurking ? It’s called sarcasm... not arrogance.

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A little more on the guys recently added to the roster

RB Curtis Murray (5-10, 195), Maine transfer

https://www.hudl.com/profile/7725307/Curtis-Murray-Jr

https://goblackbears.com/sports/football/roster/curtis-murray/5242

WR Johnny Woodbury (6-1, 195), Morgan State transfer

https://www.hudl.com/profile/6161376/Johnny-Woodbury-Jr

OL Jeremy Crafts (6-2, 295) Monroe C

https://www.hudl.com/profile/2985414/Jeremy-Crafts

OL MATHIAS ADJINGBARUK, Silver Spring, Northwood HS

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20 hours ago, RundaPower said:

Thanks, Mat.  Has anyone on the board bought season tix?  Will there be a contingent of Towson fans at the opener?  I wonder what color helmets and uniforms the team will wear against Morgan?  Hmmmm... looks like the Tigers have added some new players since the last scrimmage.  Hmmm... a RB from Maine?  Hmmm... looks like he was listed in their 2deep.  Stayed tuned. Rob,  I’m ready for the “unveiling “.  Oh, and 2012 ..... you lurking ? It’s called sarcasm... not arrogance.

??

10-1, start planning the parade down York road!

In all seriousness this team could go 6-5/7-4. May be wrong but if they do not make playoffs doesn’t the coaches contract expire???

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And you'd be like the owner from the movie 'Major League', hoping that the team is just bad enough that you can move it to Miami...or in this case, get the coaches out.

If the defense is this experienced, I would hope we're smart enough on the sidelines to unleash them and play as aggressive as you can.  None of this cover-2 crap that doesn't work or not taking advantage of the speed by sitting back instead of sending extras on QB pressures.  When you haven't played in almost 2 years and you have a ton of new players, the defense is often going to be ahead of the offense so they may have to set the tone the first couple of games of the season until the offense can catch up.

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59 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

??

10-1, start planning the parade down York road!

In all seriousness this team could go 6-5/7-4. May be wrong but if they do not make playoffs doesn’t the coaches contract expire???

Based on what?  What observations/research  have you made of a 6-5 season?  Have you looked at the roster?

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Mat -- when RA referred to conversations about closing in one end of the stadium, was he talking about the fieldhouse/scoreboard end? Would the idea be to put in premium seating skyboxes, a la ODU?

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