GREENVILLE, N.C. – The Towson football team nearly pulled off the upset Saturday night as the Tigers came just a few yards shy of scoring the potential game-tieing touchdown in a 28-20 loss at East Carolina.  The loss dropped the Tigers to 0-1 on the season.
 
How it Happened

• Trailing by eight with 6:30 to play, Towson got the ball on its own 40-yard line.  Darius Victor carried the ball five times on six plays to get the Tigers to the ECU 17-yard line.
• Towson was unable to pick up a first down on the next two plays and turned the ball over on downs.
• The Tigers were in a position to tie the game as the put together a 75-yard scoring drive on their previous possession.
• Victor appeared to score a touchdown on a long run, but was ruled down at the one.  On the next play, Connor Frazier scored on the quarterback sneak.
• East Carolina running back Christian Hairston accounted for all of the Pirate scoring as he rushed for 154 yards and four touchdowns.
• Towson started their first offensive possession of the season with a 14-yard run from Darius Victor.
• The Tigers marched 82 yards on 12 plays on the opening drive with Connor Frazier rolling out and hitting Brian Dowling on a 30-yard touchdown.
• Towson put together a 16-play drive on its second possession of the game.  The drive stalled in the red-zone and Sam Hurwitz connected on a 23-yard field goal.
• The Towson defense held East Carolina off the scoreboard in the second quarter.
• Tigers took the second-half kickoff and drove down the field for a 32-yard Hurwitz field goal.

 
Inside the Numbers

• Connor Frazier threw for a career-high 221 yards.  He also rushed for 43 yards and a touchdown.
• Darius Victor recorded his ninth career 100-yard game by rushing for 137 yards on 28 carries.
• Brian Dowling led the receivers with five catches for 53 yards and a touchdown.
• Senior Nico Law led the defense with 10 tackles.
• Jordan Mynatt and Malik Jackson added nine tackles each.
• Freshman Chris Tedder made four tackles, including his first career sack.
• The Tigers passed for 237 yards, while holding the spread attack of ECU to just 230 yards through the air.

Head Coach Rob Ambrose
On team's effort
"If you could be proud in a loss, I am.  It is one of the most hostile environments to play in college football.  To come down and have a chance to win in the fourth quarter, I couldn't be prouder of their fight, how much they love each other and how hard they work together.  The fact they learned not to quit at all.  This is a fun group to coach and the best is yet to come."
 
On play of quarterback Connor Frazier
"You got to see what five years learning in the same system and growing up can do.  That is probably the best he has played in a big game in probably his entire life.  He did it in a very casual and calm way and I am very pleased with his effort today."
 
On the play of the offensive line
"Without good line play you don't have a chance to win.  Last year was a struggle and you can clearly see that they improved.  They are still a work in progress.  We have a lot of work to do, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.  I am looking a little forward to next week already."
 
On the play of the secondary
"I don't think we tackled very well in space, but we were there to tackle.  That is something we couldn't do last year against a big time offense like West Virginia.  Seeing how we did against these guys, and knowing how talented ECU is, I feel better about our future."
 
On takeaways from tonight's game
You play a perennial bowl team in one of the hardest places to play in America, and you stick with them and have a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter.  That says a lot about what these kids can do.  Now we just have to build on what we did here, get over the loss, and keep moving forward."