Baltimore Sun: Towson football opens season at South Florida

[Brad]

Towson football opens season at South Florida

Mike Klingaman The Baltimore Sun

 

Towson (0-0) @ South Florida (0-0)

When: Saturday, 7 p.m.

Site: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Fla.

Video: ESPN3/American Sports Network

 

Radio: 1300 AM, TowsonTigers.com

Series: First meeting

What's at stake: It's a doozy of an opener for Towson and one that will test the mettle of its 18 returning starters. The Tigers (7-4 last year, 5-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association) take on a once-sorry South Florida bunch, which after three losing seasons in the American Athletic Conference has morphed into a power to be reckoned with. The Bulls have 15 starters back from a team that went 8-5, and after losses to both Maryland and Navy, won four of its last five games while averaging 47 points over its final four games. Towson, meanwhile, is anxious to give notice to prognosticators who picked the Tigers to finish sixth in their league.

Key matchup: Three of Towson's top four tacklers — all linebackers — return and hope to hound Quinton Flowers, South Florida's explosive dual-threat quarterback. That linebacker corps of Jordan Mynatt and Eric Handy (both out of Wilde Lake) and Chris Tedder, the 2015 CAA co-Defensive Rookie of the Year, will challenge Flowers, who ran and passed for 3,287 yards and 34 touchdowns last season while running South Florida's spread offense.

Player to watch: Towson has turned over the reins to quarterback Morgan Mahalak ...

 

Rest of report

[raptorcj]

dangit Brad, you stole my thunder in the trib thread. 

So sad, really. Wake up TBT, it's friggin gameday.

[Brad]

http://www.towsontigers.com/news/2016/9/1/football-gameday-central-south-florida.aspx

Stadium	Raymond James Stadium
Capacity	65,857
Surface	Natural Grass
Kickoff	7 p.m.
TV	American Sports Network/ESPN3
	Mike Gleason (PxP) and Michael Young (Analyst)
Radio	CBS Sports Radio 1300
	Spiro Morekas (PxP) and Gordy Combs (Analyst)
Internet	TowsonTigers.com
Series Record	First Meeting

Story Lines
 The Tigers are opening the season against a team from the American Athletic Conference for the second-straight season and the third time in the last four years.  Towson opened the season with a 28-20 loss at East Carolina in 2015.

The 2016 season marks the fourth time in the past five years the Tigers have opened the season against an FBS team.

Senior running back Darius Victor enters his final season looking to become just the second Tiger running back to rush for over 1,000 yards in three-straight seasons.  He was named to the STATS Offensive Player of the Year Watch List, as well as the CFPA FCS Performer of the Year Watch List.

Redshirt sophomore Morgan Mahalak was named the starting quarterback for the season opener.  Mahalak transferred to Towson after spending two years at Oregon.

The Game
Towson opens the 2016 season on the road as the Tigers travel to face South Florida on Sept. 3.  Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Raymond James Stadium.

Radio Coverage
The Tigers contest at South Florida can be heard live on CBS Radio 1300.  The voice of the Tigers, Spiro Morekas, will once again be joined by Gordy Combs to call the action.

Friday Night Pep Rally
The Towson Alumni Association will be hosting a pep rally Friday night from 6-8 p.m. in the Tampa Bay room at the Hilton Tampa Airport Westshore.  There will also be a pregame reception from 5-7 at Veranda B on the east side of Raymond James Stadium.

Saturday Weather
A threat of severe weather is expected in the Tampa area on Thursday and Friday in the form of Tropical Depression 9.  The storm should be through the area by Saturday morning.  Temperatures are projected to be in the upper 80s.

Television
The Tigers season opener is the first of seven games to be televised this season.  Saturday's game will be aired on the American Sports Network, as well as ESPN3.  People in the Baltimore area will be able to see the game on NBC Sports Regional.  

vs. South Florida
The Tigers and Bulls will be meeting for the first time on the gridiron.  Football is also the only male sport to take on the Bulls.  Women's basketball (0-1), volleyball (1-0) and softball (2-2) are the only other programs to play USF.

Sunshine State Debut
Saturday's game will mark the first time the Tigers will play in the state of Florida.

Tejada Going Home
Senior defensive tackle Max Tejada will be going home for the season opener.  The Orange Park native is the only Tiger on the roster from the state of Florida.  Orange Park is about a three hour drive to Tampa.

On this Date: Sept. 3
Saturday' will be the third the Tigers will play a game on Sept. 3, and the first against somebody other than Morgan State.  
Year    Opponent    Result
1998    Morgan State    W, 15-10
2011    Morgan State    W, 42-3

Season Openers
Towson is opening its 48th season of collegiate football.  The Tigers are currently 28-19 in season openers.

Opening vs. AAC
Saturday's matchup with South Florida will mark the second-straight season, and the third time in the last four years, the Tigers will open the season against a team from the American Athletic Conference.  
Year    Opponent    Result
2013    Connecticut    W, 31-13
2015    East Carolina    L, 20-28
2016    South Florida    TBA

Opening vs. FBS
Towson is opening the season against an FBS opponent for the sixth time in the Rob Ambrose era, and the seventh time overall.  The Tigers are 1-6 in those games.
Year    Opponent    Result
2008    Navy    L, 13-41
2009    Northwestern    L, 14-47
2010    Indiana    L, 17-51
2012    Kent State    L, 21-41
2013    Connecticut    W, 31-13
2015    East Carolina    L, 20-28

Same FBS Conference
The Tigers are opening the season against a team from the American Athletic Conference for the second-straight year.  This marks the second time that Towson has opened back-to-back seasons against FBS teams from the same conference.  The Tigers opened up the 2009 season at Northwestern, and the 2010 season at Indiana, both members of the Big 10.

USF Watch Party
Towson will be holding a Watch Party on the rooftop of The Greene Turtle in downtown Towson.  The event will start at 6:30 p.m. and feature $5 appetizers and drink specials.  

Playing on the Natural Stuff
The Tigers will be playing on natural grass when they open the season at South Florida.  Towson is opening the season on the natural stuff for the fourth time in the Rob Ambrose era.  Towson opened the 2009 season on grass at Northwestern, while also opening on grass at UConn (2013) and East Carolina (2015).

Distance Traveled for Opener
This season marks the furthest trip ever taken by the Tigers to play a season opener.  Towson will travel 961.4 miles to Tampa, Florida.  This supplants the 723 miles to Evanston, Illinois for the 2009 season opener against Northwestern.

Up Next
The Tigers will open their 2016 home schedule as they welcome Saint Francis to Unitas Stadium on Sept. 10.  Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.

First Responders Night
Saturday's home opener against Saint Francis is First Responders Night.  All First Responders will receive four complimentary tickets to the game.  Also, all tickets for the game will be $9.11.

Honoring the 2011 CAA Champs
Towson will honor the 2011 CAA championship football team at the home opener against Saint Francis

[Rex Havoc]

10 minutes ago, raptorcj said:

dangit Brad, you stole my thunder in the trib thread. 

So sad, really. Wake up TBT, it's friggin gameday.

How do they not have anything about the game today? Shows you how poorly run that newspaper is. 

[Brad]

14 minutes ago, raptorcj said:

dangit Brad, you stole my thunder in the trib thread. 

I literally did.  You reminded me I usually like to find the opponent's newspaper game day write up.  Thanks!

[Leviathan]

Amazing that this will be the first time they have played in FL.

UF alone plays about 4 of these type of teams per year.

[Rizman]

1 minute ago, Leviathan said:

Amazing that this will be the first time they have played in FL.

UF alone plays about 4 of these type of teams per year.

That is all UF wants to play.