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Rob J. Moore - As an alumnis of Towson University (class of 2003!!), nothing pleases me more than watching the Towson Tigers in action. This Saturday, September 2nd, the Tigers open their season against one of their bitter rivals, the Morgan State Bears. As a student, I loved going to Johnny Unitas field to watch the Tigers in action and I always loved it when the Tigers took on the Bears as it was easily one of the beast matchups of the entire CAA season. Towson is looking to have a much stronger season this year, having finished last season with a 4-7 record and placing 8th overall in the CAA.
The Tigers are coached again this year by Rob Ambrose, a Towson alum class of 1996. Since taking the helm, Ambrose has led the Tigers to four winning seasons, two CAA championships, two playoff appearances and a trip to the 2013 FCS National Championship game, which unfortunately resulted in a loss stemming from a bungled field goal attempt in the first quarter. At the helm for the Towson Tigers this season is quarterback Morgan Mahalak. Mahalak played for Marin Catholic High School and earned First Team All-State honors by the San Fransisco Chronicle after going 160-for260 for 2,795 yards and 38 touchdowns. As a senior, he added 82 carries for 575 yards and 7 touchdowns. Mahalak will face off against Morgan State quarterback Elijah Staley. Staley also played for Tyler Junior College and completed 21 of 36 passes for 373 yards, including 5 TDs during the 2016 season. In high school, he was a standout prep athlete for the Wheeler wildcats and was rated a four star quarterback by ESPN.com. Towson's defense will be hard pressed to keep Staley in check. Let's hope they are up to the task. Fear the Roar!
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Euan McCreath - Now that the Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather showdown is over it's time for the country to turn its attention to yet another clash of the titans as college football is set to open the season with an epic battle Saturday night as the Florida State Seminoles take on the Alabama Crimson Tide.
What a way to announce to the country that college football is back as these two storied programs get set to brawl for the right to earn the number one ranking in the country. Hats off to the Chick-fil-A Bowl for getting these two teams on the same field so early in the season in Atlanta, Georgia in the new Mercedes Benz Dome that seats 71,000. Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher talked about his teams challenge specifically in trying to contain dual threat Tide quarterback Jalen Hurts,”This guy’s dynamic. He can throw it and he can also run, no doubt he’s a threat. You’ve got to be disciplined in your rush lanes, cover people and react to the football.” Alabama has a reputation of being stout on the offensive and defensive lines not to mention having multiple first round draft picks in the NFL, Coach Fisher added these remarks about his own team, “I think our lines had a really good camp. We ran the football we passed blocked and did the things we had assignment wise, and worked hard on blitz pickups and different things. The running game the past game and all the different scenarios.” Coach Fisher seems to thrive playing the SEC, he has amassed an impressive 9-1 record. Redshirt sophomore Deandre Francois is poised to build on his success a year ago when he led the Noles to a 10-3 record including a victory against highly touted Michigan in the Orange Bowl. This game is enormous for the programs, the SEC and ACC not to mention the fans and the polls. Las Vegas lists the Tide as a touchdown favorite. This marks the first time in the modern era of the polls that two top three teams will face off in a season opener, in the words of Michael Buffer, “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble.” Chris Heidel - The First State Rivalry is renewed Thursday Night at Tubby Raymond Field Delaware Stadium when Hornets of Delaware State takes on the Blue Hens of Delaware (the alma mater of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco).
This is first game for the Blue Hens new Football Coach Danny Rocco, who spent 5 season at University of Richmond. Rocco has a personal 5 game winning streak when it comes to season home openers. The Blue hens have won the last seven meetings vs their friends from Dover and are hoping to keep the good times rolling with what could be their 8th consecutive victory over the Hornets. Chris Heidel - Two former Big East Rivals are going to square off during Labor Day weekend in Landover, MD. for the first time since 2005.
The West Virginia Mountaineers and Virginia Tech Hokies used to play for the Black Diamond Trophy from 1912 -2005 and Mountaineers currently have a 28-22-1 record over Hokies despite Tech winning the last two meetings. Both teams comes into this game being ranked in the AP Top 25 Pre-season poll and will travel to Prince George Co with some question marks. One big question mark is the quarterback position for both teams. They have new a quarterback in West Virginia with Will Grier, who has some issues in Gainesville after being suspended for year after testing positive for PED. For the Hokies, after losing Jared Evans for NFL Draft they will give the football to Red Shirt Freshman Josh Jackson. Hokies football coach Justin Fuente is in his 2nd season in Blacksburg after winning the ACC Coastal Division and having the greatest comeback in Hokies football history in the Belk Bowl last December. On the other side, the Mountaineers are coming into this season trying to rebound from a tough loss to the Hurricanes in the Russell Athletic Bowl in Orlando after being 7-2 in the Big 12 in 2016. Chris Heidel - College football finally kicks off this weekend with aunique matchup with the Spiders of University of Richmond traveling to deep heart of Texas this Sunday night to face off against the Bearcats of Sam Houston State University.
The Spiders will be seeing an old friend of CAA who lead Delaware Blue Hens to 86-52 record from 2007-12: Head Coach K.C. Keeler, who has been leading Bearcats of Sam Houston State University since 2014. Coach Keeler, who has 5-6 record vs Richmond in his time in Newark, hasn't played against the Spiders since 2012. Last season, the Bearcats, who were 12-1 and undefeated in Southland Conference, ended their streak against James Madison in Quarterfinals in Harrisonburg, VA. On the other side of Football, Richmond is starting over with new head coach Russ Huesman, who comes to River City after 8 seasons at Chattanooga hoping continue the run to the FCS playoffs this season. After 3 seasons of being under.500, Delaware Blue Hens Football is looking to the future with a brand new coach to walk the sidelines at Delaware Stadium. New Head Coach Danny Rocck, however, is no stranger to the CAA .
Rocco, who spent 5 seasons in River City (Richmond VA) and winning 2 CAA Football Championship with the Spiders, brings his coaching career. Rocco's career has also taken him to University Of Maryland, Wake Forest, and even a short jaunt with the New York Jets. Coach Rocco is hoping to improve the defense in 2017 after last season when the Blue Hens defense could not stop other teams passing game. In 2016 Blue Hens pass defense gave up 181.5 yards per game. Last season as the Spiders Football Coach his defense gave up 100 yards less than Blue Hens defense in 2016 so he hopes he can bring back the winning ways this fall and get back to the FCS postseason for first time since 2010 . The new season starts Aug 31st with a matchup against the Delaware State (Route 1 Rivalry). Deondre Francois will undoubtedly be under a ton of pressure this year behind center for the Florida State Seminoles. The redshirt sophomore quarterback is back and looking to shine in his second season under center to running Jimbo Fishers offense.
Last year Francois was fourth in the ACC in all purpose yards accumulating over 3,500 yards. The pressure will be certainly magnified when you consider the Noles lost their All American running back Dalvin Cook and his 170 all purpose yards per game to NFL in the draft. The 2016 ACC Rookie of the Year will have to drastically improve on his completion percentage of 58% for the Noles to contend. Francois threw for 20 touchdowns while throwing 7 interceptions last year. The key will be can a much maligned offensive line protect him, especially without an accomplished running back to take the pressure off of him. Remember this is an offensive line that yielded 36 sacks last season. Despite that the Noles won seven out of their last eight games last season and beat a highly touted Michigan team in an epic Orange Bowl clash. Francois hopes to lead the Noles back to the ACC Championship game, a place they haven't been to since 2014. By: Chris Heidel |
Euan McCreath Archives
November 2018
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