This Saturday marks the beginning of the 2019 Towson University football season. The Tigers will open the season on the road against The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. For Towson, it will be the first time they have played a football game in Charleston since they faced off against Charleston Southern on September 24, 1994. One can only hope this game goes as well; The Tigers defeated CSU 51-0.
There will be four people that I know of who were at that game that will be at this one as well: Tiger head coach
Rob Ambrose who was an assistant coach, senior associate athletic director
Dan Crowley, who was the Tigers' starting quarterback that afternoon, Gordy Combs, who was the head coach that hot humid Saturday, and of course, yours truly.
As I have been thinking about that 51-0 shellacking, it started me to thinking about this year's version of the Tigers. Is there a team we can compare it to? I think so.
In 2012, Towson was coming off its first ever appearance in the FCS playoffs. That 2011 team had been picked to finish at the bottom of the CAA and shocked the FCS world by winning the CAA.
Last year's Towson team was also picked to finish near the bottom of the CAA and finished near the top and went to the playoffs for the first time since 2013. The comparisons don't end there.
The 2012 Tigers were quarterbacked by a senior transfer in
Grant Enders, who ran the offense beautifully in his first season with the Tigers with his arm and his feet. This year's Towson team is led by a senior transfer quarterback in
Tom Flacco, who ran the offense last year beautifully with his arm and with his feet.
The 2012 Tigers had a preseason All CAA running back in
Terrance West. This year's Towson team has a preseason All-CAA running back in
Shane Simpson.
That 2012 Towson team was the first to ever play an SEC school when it faced off against LSU. This year's Tiger team will be the only other to ever play an SEC school when they square off against Florida in week five.
This year's team, much like the 2012 team, will not be able to sneak up on anyone like the 2018 or 2011 Towson teams. Every opponent will know they are facing a top 25 football team. Coach Ambrose and his team know they will be getting the best of their opponents.
Last year's offense was one of the most explosive in school history with Flacco, Simpson and wide receiver
Shane Leatherbury. In seven of the Tigers 12 games, they scored at least 30 points. In five, they scored at least 40.
Someone who has been a part of this program for a long, long time and has been at every practice told me that this is the best wide receiving corps Towson has ever had. If he is right, this team could shatter all kinds of school offensive records.
But defense wins championships they say. The Tigers will come into this year with a new defensive coordinator,
Eric Daniels. This defense is led by All CAA preseason linebacker
Robert Heyward. If they improve just a smidge on the defensive side of the ball, this team could be playing well into December.
That 2012 team did not make the FCS playoffs. They finished the season 7-4. But, they played two FBS games, and by all accounts should have been selected for postseason play. The 2013 team went to the FCS championship game. But ask most who were around for both 2012 and 2013, and they will tell you the 2012 team may have been better. I know Coach Ambrose will tell you that at the end of 2012, that team was playing as well, if not better, than any team in the nation.
If this year's team plays as well as that 2012 team, this is going to be one fun football season.
I know I can't wait to see it unfold.
I am honored to have Hall of Fame Coach Gordy Combs back as my sidekick on the radio this season. Coach Combs and I will have every game on CBS Sportsradio 1300 and TowsonTigers.com all season long. We hope you will tune in this Saturday starting at 2:45 p.m. for the matchup against The Citadel.
Until next week, GO TIGERS!!!
