The Towson Tigers dropped their second game of the season in heartbreaking fashion. Losing to the Villanova Wildcats on the road by a final score of 14-13. The Tigers were a missed field goal away from upsetting the Villanova in what could have been a significant win on the year.
The Tigers were able to move the ball all day and out gained the Wildcats 394-351. The Tigers got off to a fast start with 6 play 92 yard touchdown drive which was capped with a Carter Runyon touchdown pass from Sean Brown. Brown got his first career start for the Tigers in place of Carlos Davis. The Wildcats responded with a 20 yard touchdown pass from Connor Watkins to Jaylan Sanchez, which tied the game at 7. Keegan Vaughn gave Towson a 10-7 lead when he made a 41 yard field goal in the 3rd.
Watkins and Sanchez connected once again for another passing touchdown from 6 yards out. Vaughn added another field goal to make it 14-13. Unfortunately, with the chance to win he missed from the Wildcats 20. A heartbreaking loss which put the Tigers at 1-2 on the year and a 1 play from being 2-1.
Sean Brown’s Tiger debut was a good one: 20-36 for 233 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked 3 times on the day. Villanova QB Connor Watkins finished the day with a 116 yards passing on 14 attempts and 2 touchdowns. Devin Matthews was Towson’s leading rusher on the day with 139 yards on 14 touches. Isaiah Ragland and Connor Watkins combined for 206 yards rushing on the day but no rushing touchdowns for either team.
Towson’s passing game looked good on the day with 9 different guys with at least 1 catch. Carter Runyon led the team in receptions, yards and had their lone touchdown on the day. Jaylan Sanchez had a big day for Villanova with 2 touchdowns on 4 receptions.
The Tigers defense forced 2 fumbles and recovered both on the day. They got 2 sacks added in there as well from Alijah Bivans and Tre Birch. Will Middleton led the team with 9 total tackles. Brendan Bell had 12 total tackles for Villanova. They had 3 sacks on the day from Capri Martin, Nigel McSween, and a half sack from Richie Kimmel and Obinna Nwobodo.
Towson’s next game is a road game against one of the best teams in the FCS. The Tigers travel up to Fargo, ND to face the NDSU Bison. A rematch of the 2013 FCS National Championship. The Bison have won 17 National Championships and won 5 straight from 2011-2015. Now, this is not that same team but they’re still pretty darn good.
Cam Miller leads the offense and looks to be the next great Bison quarterback. Miller has 708 yards passing with 5 touchdowns on the year. He gets it done on the ground with 5 touchdowns and 169 yards rushing. CharMar Brown and Kpeeu Barika are over 100 yards rushing for the Bison
Bryce Lance and Joey Stoffel lead the team with 2 receiving touchdowns a piece. Lance is over 100 yards on the season receiving.
Defensively the Bison have been a pretty solid unit this year. Sam Jung leads them in tackles with 16. Logan Knopp, Keenan Wilson and Austin Altpeter are all really talented defensive players. Marcus Gulley leads the team in interceptions and will look to add another one against the Tigers.
Towson will need to play a perfect game in order to steal this one. Convert in the red zone, force turnovers and run the ball effectively. The Tigers look to avoid a 1-3 start and get that program defining win.
GO TIGERS!
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