The Tigers will look to build on their Homecoming victory with their first road win of the season this Saturday as they travel to New Hampshire. The team received a needed rest this past weekend due to the bye week but is anxious to get back in action.
"I think it was a good time off," Towson head coach Gordy Combs said. "We've been practicing over two months now and we needed to recharge our batteries and enjoy life a little bit. We're now as healthy as we've been all season."
The Tigers have struggled on the road this season with losses to Navy, Richmond and Coastal Carolina by a combined score of 117-30 and it won't get much easier with the Wildcats being ranked the tenth best FCS team in the country.
"We played good teams on the road," Combs said. "We played a team that was ranked No. 1 in the FCS and an FBS team and we went into the Coastal game really banged up. So I don't think there's a whole lot of things we will do differently. We've just got to make sure that we eliminate physical and mental errors."
The Wildcats are coming into the contest 5-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play. After losing to William & Mary in New Hampshire on homecoming, the team bounced back on the road defeating Northeastern 33-21. The game this weekend will be family day in New Hampshire as well.
Once again the Tigers will face another well-balanced and high powered offensive attack. The Wildcats are averaging 36 points per contest, but the tricky thing is that their doing it both through the air and on the ground by averaging over 175 rushing yards and over 250 passing yards per outing. The running game is led by halfbacks Chad Kackert and Robert Simpson, both of which are capable of 100-yard games. But their ground attack is made even more deadly due to the fact that quarterback R.J. Toman can run with it as well. Toman has 50 carries this season for over 200 yards, but the junior also has 15 touchdown passes this year and over 1,400 yards through the air.
"I think what we have to do is take care of our individual responsibilities and not try to do too much," Combs said. "Some of our mental errors have turned into big plays for the other teams. So we'll just try to keep players in the right position to make plays. We know who we've got to be cautious of."
Offensively the Tigers had there best output of the season against Rhode Island, scoring 37 points. They will have to build from that and avoid making any mistakes if they want to keep up with the Wildcats on the scoreboard. Defensively New Hampshire has allowed nearly 24 points and almost 260 passing yards per game with 11 touchdowns in the air alone. Not to mention the fact that on the ground they've averaged 108 yards allowed.
"I think we've been able to move the ball against a lot of different people we've just got to score, just like the Northeastern game where we never punted and lost," Combs said. "We understand that we have a young and inexperienced defense. I think that our young people are playing a lot better, but if we're going to win we have to out score them."
The only players that are out with injuries this week are defensive lineman Richard Lee and wide out Derek Waddy.
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