Football comes back to beat URI 31-30

[mat1992 2,235]

 https://towsontigers.com/news/2023/11/18/towson-football-defeats-rhode-island-with-fourth-quarter-comeback.aspx

 

[mat1992 2,235]

I'll have comments from a happy press conference when I get the chance to transcribe them. This was the Towson Football season in a nutshell. They committed 10 penalties for 70 yards, their offense was atrocious until the end of the first half. The middle of the field was wide open all day for Kasim Hill and company. Who would have thought that a backup QB, who never threw a pass all season and a fourth-string running back, who moved up to second-string would lead the team with a backup left tackle and right guard (after Germain got injured) would help us win the game. I thought Nathan Kent played well in the second half, got hit hard after another quarterback draw (he had five attempts for 7 yards). SEan Brown came in and was 4-for-10 for 38 yards, but I thought John Dunmore dropped at least one pass (I'll have to watch it back again sometime).

The story? There were many. 1)Carter Runyon. What a find and one of Kent's best throws of the year on a post and he nearly takes it all the way, but falls at around the 10 for a 64-yard pass. 2)Chris Watkins. My man barely touched the ball in the first half and I was having a conniption on the chat. Has 5 catches for 59 yards and 79 yards rushing on just eight carries with two TDs, including a 43-yard TD and the one at the end to win the game. Nobody on this team has his elusiveness and few have his speed. Nothing against Matthews and I assume he's a better pass blocker, but he's more North-South. 3)Defense. They were horrible at times against the pass and they allowed 154 yards on the ground. But do you know what they did well? They forced two turnovers and had four sacks with four QB hurries. The pass defense stepped up late, though if Hill decides to down the ball in the last few seconds, they probably win the game on a FG. 4)Shinnick. I really think he and his staff needed this game. They didn't want to go into the off-season 0-5 at home and 4-7 on the season, after RA and company went 6-5 with mostly the same players. It was also good to see the players get the win. Jamal Gay has been through a lot with new coaches and injuries, but he had the big pick early on Hill and led the team with 12 tackles.

Not going to touch on the negatives. The special teams, the penalties, lack of depth at certain positions. Poor tackling (not as bad in this game as the previous two). Shaky decisions like not using your last two timeout of the half to try and get the ball back with enough time to score. But you also have to wonder about URI's coaching. They amassed 513 yards and had the ball 37:43, yet for some reason, maybe because Kent got hurt, they got really conservative on offense. Oh well.

 

[TSU88 1,073]

Crazy game. Even though we were only doing 8 at the half, it felt like we were being blown out. But for 2 big plays by our D, & a missed FG by the Lambs, er Rams, we might have been down 37-6 at the half. Our offense was beyond dismal in the first half, taking 27 minutes to pick up our 1st first down (I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that level of ineptitude before).  Then, all the sudden in the 2nd half, Kent channels his inner Tom Brady and the offense comes alive, that is until he’s injured on, in my opinion, an incredibly stupid naked boot play call, which sent him on a trip to concussion city. So, we finally get to see the backup, who, under the circumstances, wasn’t too bad, that is, until he gets hurt. So, the 3rd string QB is pressed into action and hands the ball off for an improbable game winning TD run from about 9 yards out (does Smith get credit for engineering the game winning score?😆). I mean, if you wrote this as a script, it would have been turned down as to hokey. 

As crazy as it sounds, the D, which gave up a mind numbing 554 yards, actually came up big at times, with 4 sacks, the scoop & score, an INT, and forcing URI to punt several times in the 4th Q. This was fortunate, because the special teams were abysmal, missing 2 XP’s and giving up a blocked punt.

When we punted on 4th and 2, with like 4 minutes left, I thought the coaching staff made a terrible mistake, but it turned out to be the right decision. 

The one thing I’m unclear on (and I was at the game) is how URI, after that last pass, which put the ball on our 30 (within game winning FG range) wasn’t able to spike the ball and send on their FG team. I thought the clock stopped, with the moving of the chains, with like 5 seconds left.

You know what today was? Exciting football, which, as a consumer, I’m looking for at the end of the day. Even if we had lost, I would have been disappointed, but at least would have felt like I got my money’s worth.

Too bad we didn’t beat 2 out Norfolk, Monmouth or Albany. At 7-4, we might have been a fringe playoff team.

Ok, the honeymoon is over. Time for Shinnick to get to work on revamping the roster, starting with QB. Kent absolutely had his moments this season, but I hope we can upgrade at that position, and many others, in fairness to Kent 
 

 

Edited November 18, 2023 by TSU88

[mat1992 2,235]

Comments from Shinnick

"Congratulations to our Seniors. You lose 2 in a row and you go into the last game and you wonder, what's practice going to be like on Monday and Tuesday. Jamal Gay brings life and energy every time he's out there. People call me and say how is your team doing. If you would have watched practice, you wouldn't know what our record is because these guys want to go out and play great. Proud of them to win an amazing game. Steve (AD) said that all the other games we lost is that we were going the wrong direction in the fourth quarter. From now on, we'll go to the scoreboard (lol). Love to see how our defense played, responded with turnovers. Chris (Watkins) just ahs been an amazing guy who stepped in. Never complained about his role on special teams. THen started breaking plays left and right. His catch to get the first down. They were reviewing the TD run and I'm like, guys, he's four yards in the end zone."

Watkins on getting in the end zone

"Just every one doing their job. Just trying to do my job the best I can. Every time I get the ball in my hands, I just try and make a play. There was a lot of emotion and things said in those huddles with new players. Sean (Brown) is one of my roomates. Happy that he was able to get the job done. All confidence in our quarterbacks and players. Whoever is out there, it's next man up and do you job.
 

Jamal Gay on getting that first home in his last game

"I had to stop myself from crying a few times on the field. Just being here for so long and working hard to have the best Towson team possible. Getting the last W is everything. It's a testament to the guys on the team that even though we faced a lot of hardships during the season and we continued to fight the entire time. Every time I come back here and I'm going to remember that W and a great memory forever."

On adjustments on defense

"Everyone was locked in and focused. Realized that the game was in our reach. It was going to be on us in how we wanted to end our season."

Pete on the season

"We came in with a complete new staff and had 10 new guys come in January. 11 months ago, they had the opportunity to meet us and see who we are and what we're trying to do. I said from the beginning, we're going to go how they take us and lead us. Two amazing victories on the road against ranked opponents. We were close here at Unitas Stadium being right there a few times. Tremendous heart and drive to where we are. Set the stage for the future classes. What this can look like. What great buy in does. All 11 guys. Energy on the sideline. This is what we need. Build off each other's energy. Credit the senior class for being in the position where we're in. If they looked at us a different way, we would have had different results during the season. I would have loved to send them off with a few more victories. That was memorable, cool and a lot of fun."

 

[mat1992 2,235]

More from Pete about the season

"I think so. Every game is its own season in of itself. This league is extremely challenging. It's deep. You have to show up every week on point every week to have an opportunity. I'd love to have a couple of plays back here and there, but to end this way, to come back and see how our guys played, solidifies what we thought of. URI is 8-points away from being a pretty good football game. To go toe-to-toe with them and end this way, feel great about it. You look at how we played against some of the other playoff teams,...we have a chance here."

On QB situation and Watkins

"Ir was interesting because as we were huddling on the sideline getting guys in and out. Dan Volpe (LT) is out. He was replaced by Flo (Staehler) and he went out. Germain was out. Credit our guys for stepping up and making it go."

On improvements

"We have to be more consistent. The exciting thing in the games is won is how we played and what we're capable of doing. That was fun and great to see. We have to find consistency in how we play and what we do. We have to get every guy to have the same life and energy. We're a staff that coaches with a lot of energy and practices with a lot of energy. Our sidelines was a blast this game. Our defense made some amazing plays. We had one yard of offense at one point in time and we were still in the game because our defense scored a TD and created a turnover. You had to feel great about it. Very unique scoring scenario to score five TDs and had 31 points."

On recruiting

"Love to get another Carter Runyon (laughs). Want to get faster on offense and defense. That will be part of who we bring in and look at. Having been here now for 11 months. We need guys that love Towson and want to be at Towson. We have the best FCS town in the country and best campus. We want to recruit to that and we want guys to understand that. As we add guys whether in the portal or freshman class, that they love Towson and fired up about Towson. The future is very bright. This university is a special place. We're going to turn something that will be really good for a long time."

 

[mat1992 2,235]

 

[AtlantaTiger 205]

Personally very encouraged by Coach Shinnick’s first season. Now knowing what he has to work with in terms of his team’s talent & deficiencies he can better address their needs in the offseason. 

His energy and enthusiasm seems genuine and that’s refreshing. 
 

I’m curious to see if the entire staff comes back in tact or if he makes any changes among his assistants.

Go Tigers!

[Blounge 521]

“We have the best FCS town in the country and best campus.“ that’s actually not a bad take name one better fcs town? 

[TuTigers2012 1,071]

59 minutes ago, Blounge said:

“We have the best FCS town in the country and best campus.“ that’s actually not a bad take name one better fcs town? 

???

 

5-6 is honestly what I expected. Now I thought those wins and losses would come against different teams then they did. 
With how bad our offense and defense was at time and the ridiculous amounts of penalties, and below average qb play, 5 wins is pretty remarkable.  Seems like we started poorly alot and it took a while to get it going in games.  
 

not an awful season at the end, attendance and game day need to vastly improve. Can we go 8-2 next year to make the playoffs?  Cinci and Ndsu are both losses. And we have to play the toughest pod in the league

[Blounge 521]

I like that the boys showed pride and fought hard for a win even if there were no playoff implications. Good energy and enthusiasm from the players and coaches. If we beat Norfolk state and Monmouth we would probably think much more highly of coach Pete and co