This Saturday the Towson University football team will be back on the gridiron after a week off when it hosts the Great Danes of UAlbany at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium with a 4 p.m. kickoff. The Tigers got a chance to mentally and physically heal after losing to #8 Florida back on Sept. 28.

Towson will head into Saturday's game ranked ninth in the nation, but will be taking on a Great Dane squad that can certainly light up the scoreboard. In four of its six games, UAlbany has scored at least 35 points. Redshirt freshman quarterback Jeff Undercuffler has thrown for over 250 yards a game and has fired 18 touchdown passes.

But UAlbany is not a one dimensional team on offense; the Great Danes are also averaging almost five yards a carry running the ball. The Towson defense will have to have its "A" game heading into this contest.

UAlbany's defense will have to play better than it has because the Danes are facing probably the best offense they have seen all year in the Tigers. Tom Flacco continues to move up the charts in all the important passing categories, and with a week off, he could be getting back some of the weapons he has been missing the last few weeks.

For the Tigers, a win Saturday will get them over .500 in conference play, and should keep them in the top ten in the weekly polls. Towson will also be home next week in its final nonconference game of the year when the Tigers host Bucknell in the annual homecoming game.

If you go by historical trends, eight is the magic number for this football team. Eight wins just about would guarantee the Tigers a spot in the FCS Tournament. A win Saturday gets them halfway there at the midway point of the season.

Hard to believe with football only halfway through its season that it is time to start also thinking about Towson basketball.

The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) released its preseason predicted order of finish on Wednesday and the Tigers were picked sixth. If the poll of coaches, SIDs and media is any indication, this is going to be a wild year in the conference.
There is no consensus at all. Five teams got first place votes. As a matter of fact, Charleston picked up 18 first place votes but is picked to finish second. Hofstra received 14 first place votes and is picked to finish first. The other three schools to receive first place votes were Northeastern, JMU and Delaware.

I asked Pat Skerry what he thought of the Tigers being picked sixth, and he said "I care most about getting better, staying healthy and playing our best basketball in late February and early March."

Coach Skerry nailed it. You just want to see that it's getting better all the time. One player who is expected to help the Tigers get better is senior Brian Fobbs. Brian was picked to the CAA Preseason First Team All-Conference squad. He led the Tigers last year averaging 17.5 points per game and was second in rebounding at just under six per ball game.

The Tigers open up the 2019-20 season on Tuesday Nov. 5 at SECU Arena.

Gordy Combs and I will have all the action the football game Saturday starting at 3:45 p.m. on CBS Sports Radio 1300 and TowsonTigers.com
 
Until next week, GO TIGERS!!!