Comes Down To This

[BoogerJ 30]

2018 comes down to this... 3 games to go against top tier opponents in the CAA.

 

MAINE

@ Elon

JAMES MADISON

 

Two home games out of three weeks.

 

Great Quarterback.

 

Suspect Defense.

 

Average Special Teams.

 

Win 2 out of 3 and get back to the playoffs. Lose 2 out of 3, or all 3 (which would be the last 4 God Forbid) and you stay home and miss the playoffs for a 5th straight year.

 

My bet is Towson beats Maine, loses to Elon and JMU and then misses out on the postseason at 7-4 and losing 3 of the last 4 games. When you limp down the stretch it's hard to get a break from the Committee when you are not New Hampshire.

 

Towson controls it's own destiny, and let one get away today that they never ever should have lost.

 

Blowing a 15 point lead with 15:11 left in the game is, unfortunately, to my experience, a sign of poor coaching and the failure to adjust to the game as it is playing out.  It's one of the unfortunate Hallmarks of the Ambrose Era.

[TUTigers 119]

Heartbreaking loss. Richardson obviously has to catch that, but it's not his fault that the secondary sucks. 

[AtlantaTiger 205]

My guess is we drop from #10 to #17 or #18 in the polls.  We don’t seem to be a very well liked or respected team among the pollsters/coaches. We’re going to get dinged hard for this loss.

[TSU86 16]

Just got home from the game.

Without looking at the final stats, I really feel that we were soundly outplayed. We got the 2 gifts on the bad snaps, and still couldn't put this one away. it seems as though our passing game was not in synch. Tom was able to improvise and make some plays, but nothing solid downfield.

Too many field goals .... not enough TDs. I hate to call out a young man, but there is one member of our secondary that had zero business being on the field today. I finally commented to  my buddy that a replacement literally could not do any worse. he was finally removed from the game.

 

Lastly - I cant believe the last TD by UD was not even reviewed. I was sitting right there, and the receiver most definitely was juggling the ball. Perhaps he gained control in time, but it should've been reviewed. 

[Chris Datres 424]

The secondary as well as the DC should be forced to walk home from Newark after that display.  They have 2 receivers and you let them run amok all day long.  *ZERO* thought of sending more than 4 players and then you play that stupid-ass Cover 2 (cover nobody) that any competent OC knows how to beat.  When you have 7 and 8 guys dropping into coverage, there is no excuse for guys being as wide open as Delaware's was today.  

I thought the play calling in the red zone when we had to settle for FG's in the first half was sketchy at best.  The first time, you're making low-percentage throws and the second time, you're trying to gouge into the line.  The off-tackle runs were working great throughout the game but yet, when we get into the red zone, those magically went away.  However, the draw call on the TD that put us up 36-33 was freakin brilliant.  Would have liked to have seen more of that.  I'd also like to know who the hell ordered the squib kick on the last kickoff.  You have the wind and a decent leg in Aidan and you're hitting a ground ball?  Gotta kick it deep in that situation because on a grounder like that, inevitably, kids are gonna lose their lanes when they see the ball rolling around.  

That was a lethal loss to this team's hopes.  They needed that cushion heading into the last two and that's gone now.  There is zero room for error over the next 2 games.  

As for that last TD, @TSU86, Papale did juggle but he got a foot down just as he re-controlled it.  So it was the right call.  

[TuTigers2012 1,071]

Was at the game.  Awful play calling.  Defense got carved up. Officiating suspect at best.  Feel awful for 11. 

Why wasnt 18 in the game at the end. We had 4 small wr and a rb in. Needed a big target 

 

this one hurts 

[mat1992 2,237]

59 minutes ago, TSU86 said:

Just got home from the game.

Without looking at the final stats, I really feel that we were soundly outplayed. We got the 2 gifts on the bad snaps, and still couldn't put this one away. it seems as though our passing game was not in synch. Tom was able to improvise and make some plays, but nothing solid downfield.

Too many field goals .... not enough TDs. I hate to call out a young man, but there is one member of our secondary that had zero business being on the field today. I finally commented to  my buddy that a replacement literally could not do any worse. he was finally removed from the game.

 

Lastly - I cant believe the last TD by UD was not even reviewed. I was sitting right there, and the receiver most definitely was juggling the ball. Perhaps he gained control in time, but it should've been reviewed. 

We outgained them by 111 yards. But in some ways, we got outplayed. They did give us 9 points on horrible snaps. We should have scored a lot more points and unfortunately, as the competition gets better, we're going to need to put up at least 40 in the next 3 games to win.

[mat1992 2,237]

25 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Was at the game.  Awful play calling.  Defense got carved up. Officiating suspect at best.  Feel awful for 11. 

Why wasnt 18 in the game at the end. We had 4 small wr and a rb in. Needed a big target 

 

this one hurts 

Allen was in unless he was injured. Play-calling was not great in the red zone. They only rushed 3 at times and Flacco has to run more. They played coverage the entire game. I would have rolled him out a bit more but when you have a two-touchdown lead in the second half, it's really on your defense save for that one terrible throw by Flacco that probably ended up costing us the game.

I didn't get to see the last play as my DVR ran out so I'm not sure if Allen was in or not.

[mat1992 2,237]

54 minutes ago, Chris Datres said:

The secondary as well as the DC should be forced to walk home from Newark after that display.  They have 2 receivers and you let them run amok all day long.  *ZERO* thought of sending more than 4 players and then you play that stupid-ass Cover 2 (cover nobody) that any competent OC knows how to beat.  When you have 7 and 8 guys dropping into coverage, there is no excuse for guys being as wide open as Delaware's was today.  

I thought the play calling in the red zone when we had to settle for FG's in the first half was sketchy at best.  The first time, you're making low-percentage throws and the second time, you're trying to gouge into the line.  The off-tackle runs were working great throughout the game but yet, when we get into the red zone, those magically went away.  However, the draw call on the TD that put us up 36-33 was freakin brilliant.  Would have liked to have seen more of that.  I'd also like to know who the hell ordered the squib kick on the last kickoff.  You have the wind and a decent leg in Aidan and you're hitting a ground ball?  Gotta kick it deep in that situation because on a grounder like that, inevitably, kids are gonna lose their lanes when they see the ball rolling around.  

That was a lethal loss to this team's hopes.  They needed that cushion heading into the last two and that's gone now.  There is zero room for error over the next 2 games.  

As for that last TD, @TSU86, Papale did juggle but he got a foot down just as he re-controlled it.  So it was the right call.  

Secondary was brutal in any coverage. We were getting killed in man and zone so not sure what you want Lyndon to do. Gillette and Reaves were burned time and time again. Gillette got hurt on a kickoff return coverage and he puts in sophomore Vashon McCants. So Kehoe goes right at him and throws a long TD pass. It wasn't horrible coverage but perfect throw and you can't leave that kid without help from a safety. 

Bottom line is that the secondary needs help from the front four. They did nothing today to get pressure and when we dialed up a few blitzes, they either didn't get there or Kehoe killed us with that one TD off the hot read again in single coverage. Really, really bad coverage in the last drive. Just awful but some of those throws in that weather, you have to give Kehoe a lot of credit. He was better than Flacco today at least as a passer.

 

 

[TSU86 16]

Remember- their stats refected 2 huge losses on the long snaps. 

In all actuality those two plays resulted in at least an 80 yard swing