BALTIMORE – After 93 weeks waiting for its next game, the Towson University football team earned its first shutout since the 2017 season, defeating crosstown rival Morgan State 31-0 to bring the Battle for Greater Baltimore trophy back to Tiger Town.
 
Towson scored a touchdown in every quarter and did not allow Morgan State past the Towson 32-yard line in the game.
 
This is Towson's first shutout since Sept. 2, 2017, a 10-0 at home vs Morgan State.  This is the first shutout on the road for Towson since Nov. 2, 2002 when the Tigers won at Monmouth 20-0.
 
Towson wins its season opener for the fourth season in a row.  The last three times were all on the road.
 
Key Stats:

• The Towson defense held Morgan State to seven three-and-out drives and 142 total yards as the Bears averaged three yards per offensive play.  Towson held MSU to 79 yards passing and just six completions.
• S.J. Brown II led the team with five tackles.  In his first-ever start, Nygil Johnson notched four tackles, a half-sack and two quarterback hurries while Bryce Lauer tallied two tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. 
• As a team, Towson earned 432 yards of total offense, led by Chris Ferguson in his first game as a Tiger, throwing for 247 yards and two touchdowns.  His top target was Caleb Smith, with six catches and 58 yards, while Darian Street made two catches for 91 yards, including a 73-yard breakaway touchdown catch.
• On the ground, Jerry Howard Jr. had 45 yards on seven carries for 6.4 yards a rush.  Devin Matthews and Kobe Young each had rushing touchdowns in the game.
• In his first-ever collegiate game, Keegan Vaughan converted his lone field goal attempt of 29 yards.
• For Morgan State, Duce Taylor, one of three quarterbacks that played for the team, completed three passes out of nine for 68 yards.  Jairus Grissom, another quarterback, rushed five times for 35 yards.  On defense, Quri Hickman led all players with nine tackles, also breaking up a pass.

Postgame Quote:
Towson head coach Rob Ambrose: ""The level of experience that our defense, offense and special teams has, is probably at the highest level since I've ever been a coach here.  We played well in all three phases.  That great first offensive drive of the third quarter contributed to that great defensive play and the second shutout in a decade.  It was great to back on the field after all this time."
 
How It Happened:

• Towson held Morgan State to a three-and-out on the on the opening drive, forcing a punt from the Morgan 14.  D'Ago Hunter made a 16-yard return to the Morgan 44, then later converted a first down off a drop-off pass for four yards.  The Tigers got to five yards outside the red zone of Morgan, going for it on fourth down, but an incompletion gave the ball back to the Bears.
• Towson's defense held the Bears to one yard the next drive to force another punt.  Jabari Allen made a leaping catch to get Towson back into Morgan territory, then a Chris Ferguson rollout to Caleb Smith converted another third down for 17 yards.  After some runs by Sabias Folley and Devin Matthews, Ferguson lasered a pass to Jason Epps for the eight-yard touchdown.  Towson led 6-0 with 2:21 to play in the 1^st.
• After three-and-out forced by the Towson defense, capped by Mark Collins Jr. making the breakup on a pass along the sideline.  First quarter ended with Towson leading 6-0.
• Morgan State converted a first down as the second quarter began, but on a third and eight, Charles Peeples made an open-field tackle on a pass across the middle to stop the gain at one.  Towson took over after the punt on its own nine.
• Jerry Howard Jr. powered his way on first down on an 18-yard gain.  Two plays later, Ferguson found a wide-open Darian Street at midfield.  Street sprinted all the way to the end zone to complete the 73-yard touchdown catch.  A two-point conversion to Caleb Smith on the pass made it 14-0 Towson with 9:19 to go in the second quarter.
• Towson's defensive line barreled through the Morgan offensive line the next drive on three rushes, combining for no yards.  Towson forced another punt and took over on its own 38 following the punt.
• A dropped pass on third down finished the Towson drive.  The other way, again Towson forced a three-and-out to get back the ball; Hunter returned the ball 24 yards to the Morgan State 47. 
• Following three-and-outs by both sides, Towson went for one final drive as Ferguson passed down the field on short completions, getting the Tigers to the Morgan 12.  Keegan Vaughan converted his first career field goal attempt from 29 yards to put Towson up 17-0 at the half.
• To begin the second half, Towson methodically marched down the field with runs from three different running backs and short passes from Ferguson.  On 2^nd and goal from the two, Matthews barreled into the end zone to complete the 16-play, 77-yard drive that took 8:41 of play.  Towson led 24-0.
• Each side exchanged another three-and-out, then Morgan got into Towson territory off a 27-yard screen pass to David Adeleke.  Towson's defense halted Morgan's remaining progress with Darien Reynolds tackling Adeleke in the backfield, then Nygil Johnson and Vinnie Shaffer sacking the quarterback.  Towson got back the ball via punt, going into the fourth quarter up 24-0.
• A Luke Hamilton 22-yard catch began the fourth as Towson proceeded to run the ball and drain down the clock.  Kobe Young led the running game down the field, punching the ball into the end zone with 10:42 left to push Towson up 31-0.
• Morgan got a strong drive going with a couple of conversions on third and long, but Bryce Lauer forced a fumble, with Ryan Kearney recovering, stopping Morgan State's drive.
• With 6:21 left, Jeff Miller took over at quarterback as Young and Folley brought the clock down to under 1:30.  Morgan State got an interception to get a final offensive drive.  Towson held and earned the 31-0 victory.

Inside the Numbers:

• This was the first football game for each Towson and Morgan State since Nov. 23, 2019 – 93 weeks, 651 days.
• This is the first shutout on the road for Towson since Nov. 2, 2002 when the Tigers won at Monmouth 20-0.
• This is the third shutout for Towson under coach Rob Ambrose.
  • Oct. 31, 2015 – Towson 19, Delaware 0 (Towson, Md.)
  • Sept. 2, 2017 – Towson 10, Morgan State 0 (Towson, Md.)
  • Sept. 4, 2021 – Towson 31, Morgan State 0 (Baltimore, Md.)
• This is the first time since Oct. 19, 2019 where the Tigers shut out an opponent in a half, the last being the second half against Bucknell.
• Devin Matthews scored his first touchdown in his first collegiate game. 

Next Game:

• Towson heads north to New Hampshire on Saturday, Sept. 11 for a 6 p.m. game.  The game will be broadcast on FloSports, available via subscription.