BOSTON, Mass. - Seeking to put an end to a 13-game losing streak, Northeastern University (1-6, 1-3) took advantage of a pair of early mistakes by the Tigers (2-5, 1-3) to take a quick 14-0 lead and went on to post a 27-7 Colonial Athletic Association victory over the Tigers at rainy Parsons Field on Saturday afternoon.
While winning their first game since October 4, 2008, the Huskies held Towson to a total of eight rushing yards and ruined the first career start by freshman quarterback Tommy Chroniger. Chroniger was starting due to a season-ending knee injury suffered by Peter Athens in Towson's loss to Delaware last week.
Once the Huskies got their quick 14-0 lead, junior tailback John Griffin helped them protect it. Griffin, who ran for only 325 yards in the first six games of the season, rushed for a career high 200 yards on 29 carries against Towson. In the first half alone, he picked up 166 yards on 11 carries. He became the first opposing running back to run for 100 yards against Towson this season.
"My hat's off to Northeastern," said Towson Coach Rob Ambrose. "It says so much about this conference that an 0-6 team plays like that. They played hard and they played physical. That was the difference in the game."
The injury-riddled Tigers went into the game with a revamped offensive line. With junior center Steve Jordan sidelined after making 20 consecutive starts, Colin Bass made his first start. Sophomore John Esposito, who started at guard the last two weeks, made his first start at left tackle while sophomore Dan Hurley and junior Chris Ritter were the team's starting guards.
After Steven Murray Sesay returned the opening kickoff 44 yards to the Towson 42-yard line, the Tiger defense held the Huskies on downs. The defensive series was highlighted by a sack from linebacker Romale Tucker.
On the Tigers' second possession of the game, Northeastern's defense came up with the first break of the contest. Facing third-and-ten at his own 27-yard line, Chroniger tried to set up a screen pass. Under heavy pressure from linebacker Kyle Hunte, he threw a pass intended for Tremayne Dameron on the left side. Senior nose guard Mike Lukenda intercepted the pass at the Towson 20-yard line and rumbled into the end zone for the first touchdown of the game. When Mat Johnson made his conversion kick, the Huskies owned a 7-0 lead with 8:35 left in the first quarter.
It was the fourth interception that was returned for a touchdown by Towson opponents this season.
"That pick that Tommy threw really hurt us," admitted Ambrose. "We came out on the field with the intention of getting off to a good start and playing with enthusiasm. That 'pick' blew a hole in our plan to start fast."
On the ensuing possession, a holding penalty negated a 21-yard run by Dameron and the Tigers were forced to punt from their own 23-yard line. However, a bad snap prevented Bill Shears from getting the punt away and the Huskies took over at the Towson ten-yard line.
Northeastern wasted no time taking advantage of its good fortune. On the first play, sophomore tailback Elijah Harris ran around right end for a touchdown, giving Northeastern a 14-0 lead with 5:56 remaining in the first quarter.
Although the Tiger defense held Northeastern to one first down and 58 total yards in the first quarter, the Huskies owned a 14-0 advantage.
Midway through the second period, Griffin broke loose for a 70-yard touchdown run to give the Huskies a 21-0 lead.
Trailing by 21-0, the Tigers were looking for an offensive spark. Junior Jeremy Jayne replaced Chroniger at quarterback and completed his first two passes. It was the first game action for Jayne in his college career.
His 33-yard pass to senior David Newsom moved the Tigers deep into Northeastern territory. After a pass interference penalty in the end zone, the Tigers had a first down at the two-yard line. But the Northeastern defense rose to the challenge. On first down, Dominique Booker was thrown for an eight-yard loss. On second down, Jayne was sacked by Hunte for a 14-yard loss.
On fourth down, freshman Marc Magas was called upon to try a 41-yard field goal. His kick was wide to the right and the Tigers' best scoring opportunity of the first half was turned away.
Late in the second quarter, Griffin broke loose for a 53-yard run before being tackled at the Towson 15-yard line. With 26 seconds remaining in the first half, Johnson kicked a 32-yard field goal to give the Huskies a 24-0 lead at intermission. It was Northeastern's first field goal of the season.
In the third quarter, the Tigers were faced with a fourth down-and-three from their own 26-yard and Ambrose decided to go for it. His faith was rewarded when Jayne completed a short pass over the middle to Newsom. Newsom broke loose and ran for 71 yards before he was tackled at the Northeastern 7-yard line.
Two plays later, Jayne hooked up with senior tight end John Godlasky for a six-yard TD pass. Magas' conversion cut Towson's deficit to 24-7 with 7:05 left in the third quarter.
The Huskies responded by driving deep into Towson territory. A false start penalty and sack by Yaky Ibia and Marcus Valentine pushed the Huskies back to the 18-yard line. Johnson gave the Huskies a 27-7 lead when he kicked his second field goal of the game, a 35-yarder with 1:14 remaining in the third period.
From that point on, the Tigers had a hard time generating any offense.
"We put Jeremy Jayne in the game to try and get the offense moving," said Coach Ambrose. "He earned a chance to play with his hard work in practice. He did some good things but he also made some critical mistakes.
"He is the fifth quarterback we've used this season," said Ambrose. "So, obviously that's been a problem area for us."
Jayne, who transferred from Temple two years ago, completed 14 of 31 passes for 170 yards and one touchdown. However, he threw three interceptions.
Led by Darryl Jones, who had two interceptions, Northeastern intercepted five passes in the game.
Griffin led the Huskies with 200 rushing yards as Northeastern ran for 233 yards against Towson. Northeastern's 223 rushing yards were the most allowed by Towson in a game this year. The previous high was 221 yards by Northwestern in the season opener.
Quarterback Alex Dulski of Northeastern completed 12 of 18 passes for 92 yards and was sacked twice.
Tucker led the Tiger defense with a career high 10 tackles. He also had a sack and a forced fumble. Danzel White, another "red shirt" freshman linebacker, made nine tackles while senior Brady Smith had six tackles and a fumble recovery.
The Tigers, who are now 0-5 all-time at Parsons Field, return home next week to host defending national champion Richmond on October 31 at 1:00 p.m. Richmond is the number one-ranked team in NCAA FCS and owns a perfect 7-0 record.
TIGER TIDBITS: Northeastern came into the game averaging 107.7 rushing yards per game and finished the game with 233 yards, more than doubling their seasonal average ... With the win over Towson, the Huskies have beaten the Tigers four times in a row ... Northeastern leads the all-time series by a 7-3 margin.
Freshman Tom Ryan had a career high five receptions for 36 yards to lead Towson while junior Hakeem Moore caught five passes for 24 yards ... Newsom had three catches for 104 yards, the first 100-yard receiving game of his career.
Godlasky's touchdown reception was the eight TD catch of his career.
Ironically, Northeastern's last win was a 35-17 victory at Towson last October.
