NORTHWESTERN SPOILS ROB AMBROSE’S DEBUT, 47-14

(from athletic media relations)


EVANSTON, Ill. – For the Towson University football team, there was plenty of optimism in the air as the Tigers opened their season on Saturday at Northwestern University. The Tigers had a new head coach, new football helmets, new uniforms, a new coaching staff and a host of new players.

However, that optimism was tempered by the fact that the Tigers were facing a powerful Northwestern team that was the best team ever to face the Tigers in the 420-game history of the program. The Wildcats’ talent was very apparent as they spoiled the debut of Coach Rob Ambrose with a 47-14 victory over Towson before a crowd of 17,857 at Ryan Field.

Against a revamped Tiger defense that started two “red shirt” freshmen and had only two seniors, the Wildcats used their “no huddle” offense to near-perfection as they scored on their first four possessions of the game to take a 28-0 lead with 12:44 left in the second quarter. The Wildcats extended their lead to 37-7 at halftime and went on to post a 47-14 victory.

“First of all, Northwestern has a heck of a football team,” said Coach Ambrose. “This was a true test for us today. I know that the numbers on the scoreboard don’t look great but the faces in our locker room tell a different story. We played hard and we played hard for longer than we've ever played before. We showed a lot of heart and I can take some solace in that.

“We were trailing by 37-7 and I challenged our team at halftime to play a 60-minute game,” he said. “It’s difficult to play hard for all 60 minutes but we showed some resilience in the second half. We rose to the occasion and responded. We found some heart today and we’ll work from there.”

With a true freshman, Peter Athens, starting at quarterback, the Tigers won the opening toss and got the ball at their own 40-yard line when the kickoff went out of bounds. On their second play from scrimmage, the Tigers surprised the Wildcats with a well-executed screen pass from Athens to “red shirt” freshman running Tremayne Dameron, who ran to the Northwestern 30-yard line for a first down. However, the play was negated by a holding penalty and, two plays later, the Tigers were forced to punt.

On their first play from scrimmage, quarterback Mike Kafka of Northwestern was thrown for a four-yard loss by linebacker Donte Blakey. However, that was only a temporary setback for the Wildcats who marched 60 yards in nine plays to take a 7-0 lead on a two-yard run by junior Jacob Schmidt. Midway through the first quarter, Kafka led the Wildcats on a 56-yard drive in nine plays. When freshman Arby Fields scored on a two-yard run, Northwestern owned a 14-0 lead with 3:37 left in the opening quarter. On the first two possessions of the game, Kafka completed all six pass attempts for 84 yards.

With 44 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Fields upped the Wildcats’ lead to 21-0 when he ran around left end for a 23-yard touchdown.

Early in the second quarter, Kafka sat out a series and junior Dan Persa replaced him. On his third play, Persa stood up against heavy pressure and lofted a 72-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Andrew Brewer putting the Wildcats ahead, 28-0 with 12:44 left in the second period.

On their next possession, the Tigers found themselves backed up near their own end zone due to a muffed kickoff return. Rather than risk having a punt blocked for a touchdown, the Tigers took a semi-intentional safety, giving the Wildcats a 30-0 advantage.

Junior safety Ray White made the Tigers’ biggest defensive play of the first half when he intercepted a pass at the Towson 32-yard line. On their fifth possession of the first half, the Tigers’ offense started to click. Led by Athens and Dameron, the Tigers drove 78 yards in 12 plays to score their first touchdown of the season. On the drive, Athens completed three of four passes for 37 yards. His 21-yard pass to senior Casey Cegles on a third down play moved the ball inside the Northwestern five-yard line. Two plays later, Dameron scored the first touchdown of his career on a one-yard run, cutting Towson’s deficit to 37-7.

The Tigers’ momentum was short-lived, however. A 49-yard kickoff return by Stephen Simmons gave the Wildcats excellent field position at the Towson 38-yard line. On the fifth play of the drive, Scott Concannon scored on a 21-yard run to give Northwestern a 37-7 lead with 1:17 remaining in the first half.

On the Wildcats’ first possession of the second half, the Tiger defense forced a punt for the first time in the game. Junior tackle Yaky Ibia’s nine-yard sack of Kafka pinned the Wildcats back at their own 14-yard line. When Stefan Demos’ punt rolled dead at midfield, the Tigers had great field position. After moving to the Northwestern 33-yard line, the Tigers were faced with a fourth down-and-four. The Tigers decided to go for the first down and Athens made a terrific play. He scrambled to his right and fired a pass to senior David Newsom at the 15-yard line. Newsom caught the pass and ran toward the end zone. Just as he was about to be pushed out of bounds, he dove for the goal line and reached the end zone. However, the officials ruled that he went out at the one-yard line.

As the Tigers were about to run a play, the officials stopped the clock because the play was being reviewed up in the press box. After a three-minute delay, the officials ruled that Newsom had scored on a 33-yard touchdown pass. When junior Jon Boyer made the conversion, Towson had trimmed its deficit to 37-14 with 10:07 left in the third quarter.

The Wildcats responded with a time-consuming drive that ate up 5:12. They marched to the Tigers’ nine-yard line where the Tiger defense stiffened. Demos booted a 26-yard field goal to up the Wildcats’ lead to 40-10.

Early in the fourth quarter, Concannon scored his second touchdown of the game on a three-yard run, capping off 60-yard drive. His touchdown run gave Northwestern a 47-14 lead.

The Wildcats, who posted a 9-4 record last season and played in the Alamo Bowl, rolled up 485 yards of total offense against the Tigers. Kafka, a candidate for All-American honors, completed 15 of 20 passes for 192 yards. Simmons led the Wildcats with 77 rushing yards as Northwestern ran for 221 yards. Brewer was the Wildcats’ receivers with six catches for 145 and a touchdown.

The first true freshman to open the season at quarterback for Towson since Dan Dullea in 1973, Athens completed 15 of 25 passes for 140 yards and one touchdown. He also threw two interceptions.

Despite his solid effort, Coach Ambrose wasn’t ready to name Athens as the Tigers’ starting quarterback for the rest of the season.

Ambrose said, “Peter did some good things but he also did a few ‘bonehead’ things. We had anticipated playing our other quarterbacks more than we did but he seemed comfortable out there and we wanted to get him into a rhythm.”

A product of Huntingtown High School in Southern Maryland, Athens was one of seven true freshmen to appear in their first collegiate game at Northwestern. B.J. Greening, a Calvert High School graduate, was the Tigers’ leading rusher with 35 yards on nine carries while quarterback Tommy Chroniger of DeMatha ran for three yards on one carry. Wide receivers Alex Blake of Friendly High School and Tom Ryan of Philadelphia also saw considerable action. Place kicker Marc Magas of Damascus High School handled the kickoff duties while defensive back Dwayne Price of Friendly High School made two tackles.

“I realize that I had been saying that we want to ‘red shirt’ our true freshmen,” said Ambrose. “But we have an extremely talented freshman class. When our coaching staff evaluated them, we realized that they had to play. All of our true freshmen made a contribution against Northwestern.”

In his first game as a Tiger, senior defensive end Brady Smith made a career high 11 tackles. Smith was a two-year starter at Boston College who was making his Towson debut. Held in such high esteem by the coaching staff, Smith was a game captain against Northwestern, meaning that he was a captain before ever playing in a game for Towson.

“It was very exciting to play Northwestern,” said Smith. “They have a great team and they are very tough up front. I am sure they will do well.

“This game was a good starting point for us and I know we will work hard to get better,” he added.

Blakey made ten tackles in the loss, setting a career high. Linebacker Danzel White, a “red shirt” freshman, made his first career start and had nine tackles.

The Tigers, who are idle next week, return to action on September 19 when they host Coastal Carolina at Johnny Unitas® Stadium at 7:00 p.m.

TIGER TIDBITS: The Tigers played before a crowd of 17,857, the eighth-largest crowd ever to watch Towson play … The Tiger defense suffered a serious setback in the first quarter when senior linebacker Alex Butt suffered a shoulder injury … He did not return to the game … Darius Hill, another “red shirt” freshman, took his place in the lineup and made eight tackles.

On the Tigers’ 57-player roster, there were seven true freshmen and 14 “red shirt” freshmen … The Tigers are going to use game captains this season … Ollie Thomas, Cegles, Butt, Smith and Newsom were the game captains at Northwestern.

White’s interception was the third of his career and only Towson’s fourth interception in its last 13 games … Ibia’s sack was the first of his college career … He finished the game with six tackles, a sack and two tackles for lost yardage.

Newsom was the Tigers’ top receiver at Northwestern … He caught six passes for 74 yards and a touchdown … Cegles had four receptions for 40 yards.

In his first collegiate start, Dameron ran for 33 yards on 14 carries.