TOWSON, Md. - With the 2010 season opener at Indiana University a few weeks away, Coach Rob Ambrose and the Towson University football team will take a break from their pre-season preparation for their annual Picture Day on Friday, August 20 at 10:00 a.m.
Picture Day will take place on Minnegan Field at Johnny Unitas® Stadium.
The official team photo will be taken at 10:00 a.m. After the team photo, Coach Ambrose and his players will be available for photos and media interviews.
The Tigers will continue their pre-season practice schedule until August 29 when they begin final preparations for the season opener at Indiana on September 2.
Tracking the 2010 Tigers:
GARDNER, THOMAS RETURN AS SENIOR CORNERBACKS: The Tigers' defense will be led by two very familiar faces at the cornerback positions ... Seniors Jeremy Gardner and Ollie Thomas should be the starters for the fourth consecutive year ... Gardner has appeared in 29 career games and he has made 28 starts ... A starter in all 11 games last year, he suffered season-ending injuries in 2008 and 2009 ... In his career, he has 124 tackles with 11 pass breakups ... Gardner has intercepted two passes ... As a freshman, he had an interception at Colgate, just minutes before his season ended with a broken hand ... Last year, he helped the Tigers to a win over Coastal Carolina with a fourth quarter interception ... Thomas has been much healthier than Gardner ... He has played in all 34 games of his career ... He has made 27 starts and enters his senior season with a streak of 23 consecutive starts ... Thomas has made 135 tackles in his career with 13 pass breakups and one interception ... His only interception came in the Tigers' win over Columbia in 2008.
OLD FACES IN NEW PLACES ON DEFENSE: Although the Tigers have eight starters returning on defense, two of them have changed positions ... Sophomore Romale Tucker, a transfer from Syracuse who started eight games at outside linebacker last year, has been moved to defensive end ... Junior Danny Collins, a two-year starter at free safety, has been moved to outside linebacker this season ... Last season, Tucker made 54 tackles, including six for lost yardage ... He also forced two fumbles and recorded 2.5 quarterback sacks ... After starting 20 of 22 games at safety the last two years, Collins will be an outside linebacker ... In two years, he has made 118 tackles and has five pass breakups with one interception ... Last season, he was second on the team by making 66 tackles.
IBIA EXCELS ACADEMICALLY AND ATHLETICALLY: Senior defensive tackle Yaky Ibia has a very good chance to become the third Tiger football player named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® University Division Football team ... A pre-season All-Colonial Athletic Association selection, he is an Actuarial Science major with a 3.51 G.P.A. ... Last year, he was named to the FCS ADA Academic All-Star team and earned a berth on the District 2 All-Academic team ... A native of Nigeria, Ibia made 52 tackles in ten games last season ... He also had a team-leading 11.5 tackles for lost yardage ... In his career, Ibia has made 94 tackles, including 15 for lost yardage ... The only two Tiger football players to be named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® University Division Football team are defensive back Aaron Bates (1993) and wide receiver Adam Overbey (2000) ... Bates earned second team honors while Overbey was a first team selection.
MOORE ALL-PURPOSE YARDS: With the return of wide receiver Hakeem Moore, the Tigers are expecting even "moore" all-purpose yards this season ... The Fredericksburg, Va. native has accumulated more than 1,000 all-purpose yards in the last two years ... In 2009, he had 1,046 all-purpose yards in nine games and was ranked third in the Colonial Athletic Association ... He also averaged 22.4 yards per kickoff return, fourth in the CAA ... In 2008, he had 1,000 all-purpose yards in 12 games ... In 26 career games, he has 2,069 all-purpose yards.
The Tigers' top returning receiver, he has 77 receptions for 838 yards in his career ... He is also fourth on the Tigers' career list of kickoff return leaders ... Last year, he tied a school single season record with 33 kickoff returns in one season ... In his career, he has returned 53 kickoffs for a 22.4 average.
ANOTHER TOUGH SCHEDULE: After playing the sixth-toughest schedule in NCAA FCS last year, the Tigers have another difficult slate this season ... Last year, Tiger opponents compiled a 71-51 (.582) record ... In addition to playing Bowl-bound Northwestern, the Tigers faced five nationally-ranked NCA FCS teams ... In 2009, the Tigers lost to #6 New Hampshire, #23 Delaware, #1 Richmond, #5 William & Mary and #3 Villanova ... Four of those teams went to the NCAA FCS Playoffs and Villanova won the NCAA title ... In 2010, the Tigers will play Indiana in the opener as well as five teams that have won the NCAA FCS title since 1998 - Massachusetts, Delaware, James Madison, Richmond and Villanova.
TREMAYNE DAMERON LEADS TIGERS' RUNNING GAME: It is probably just a coincidence that sophomore running back Tremayne Dameron's initials are "T.D." but he did lead the Tigers with eight touchdowns last season when he was a "red shirt" freshman ... Dameron led the Tigers with 588 yards rushing, averaging 3.3 yards per carry ... He also caught 19 passes for 105 yards ... He had the first 100-yard game of his career when he ran for 126 yards on 28 carries ... Dameron led the Tigers to a win at Rhode Island by scoring three touchdowns.
Unlike last season, the Tigers have some depth at the running back position ... Sophomore Dominique Booker, the team's second-leading rusher with 218 yards, averaged 4.0 yards per carry last season ... A pair of "red shirt" freshmen, Nygee Carmichael and B.J. Greening, will also see plenty of action.
CHRONIGER HAS OWN POSITION: Sophomore Tommy Chroniger was one the Tigers' quarterbacks last season ... This year, he has his own position - "Athlete" ... He could show up on the field as a wide receiver, tight end, fullback or running back ... He could also play defensive back ... The only thing that Coach Rob Ambrose will guarantee is that Tommy will be on the field somewhere.
DANGERFIELD EARNS PLENTY OF RESPECT: Unlike his namesake "Rodney," Jordan Dangerfield earned plenty of respect after transferring from Hofstra University in January ... He did well in the Spring and could be a starting safety when the Tigers open their season at Indiana ... At Hofstra, he played in eight games and started once ... He made 23 tackles and led the team with two interceptions for 54 yards.
FLORIDA WELL-REPRESENTED ON ROSTER: Knowing that the state of Florida is rich in football talent, Coach Rob Ambrose and his staff added six players from the Sunshine State ... Junior quarterback Chris Hart (Bradenton, Fla.) and sophomore defensive back Jordan Dangerfield (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) are transfers who joined the program ... Four freshmen, including tight end Drew Bellamy (Cottondale, Fla.), wide receiver Justen Davis (Tampa, Fla.), defensive back LaTrayon Fagins (Bradenton, Fla.) and punter-place kicker D.J. Soven (Weston, Fla.), have also joined the Tigers.
FORMER PROS ON COACHING STAFF: The Tigers have three pro football players on their coaching staff ... Defensive Line Coach Canute Curtis played six years as an NFL linebacker for the Cincinnati Bengals (1997-2002) ... He played in 70 games and started 15 times ... Quarterbacks Coach John Kaleo is a 14-year veteran of the Arena Football League where he played for ten different teams and led Tampa Bay to the league championship in 2003 ... He threw for 35,335 yards in the Arena League ... Defensive Line Assistant Konstantinos Kosmakos is a two-year veteran of the Baltimore Mariners of the American Indoor Football Association ... The Mariners' starting offensive center, Kosmakos helped the AIFA champion Mariners post a perfect 16-0 record.
