Chris Hart - file photo by Christopher Curry/ The Towerlight

The Towson Tigers opened the 2010 football season the same way they did in 2009, with a loss to a Big Ten opponent.

Thursday night at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind., the Tigers fell to the Indiana Hoosiers by a 51-17 final score.
Last season, the Tigers travelled to Evanston, Ill., where they lost to the Northwestern Wildcats, 47-14.
“They will admit that in the first half of the Northwestern game they were shocked,” Towson head coach Rob Ambrose said. “They didn’t know what to expect. The fear factor for a greater percentage of our team is over [this year]. You saw a better product this year.”

Towson started the game strong, stunting the Indiana offense on the first series by making the Hoosiers go three and out. But on Towson’s first offensive possession, quarterback Chris Hart connected with sophomore wide receiver Alex Blake at the Tigers 37 yardline. Blake turned upfield, but lost the ball. He appeared to have fumbled, but the official ruling was an interception by Tyler Replogle because the ball never touched the ground.
The Hoosiers were able to capitalize when quarterback Ben Chappell threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Ted Bolser five plays later, putting the Hoosiers ahead 7-0 early in the first quarter. Chappell started the game hot, completing his first five passes and 10 of his first 12.
After Hart’s second interception of the first quarter gave the ball back to Indiana near midfield, running back Darius Willis found a crease and went 49 yards for the Hoosiers second touchdown of the game, putting Towson in an early 14-0 hole with 8:26 left in the first quarter.
But Hart would help Towson respond in the second quarter. After a 42-yard rush from the mobile quarterback, Tom Ryan caught his first career touchdown pass on a pass from Hart, a five-yard score that put Towson’s first points of the season on the board and bringing them 17-7. The sophomore receiver, expected to be a heavy contributor in the passing game this season, finished the game with a team-high five catches for 41 yards and the touchdown.
“He is mature beyond his years,” Ambrose said of his leading receiver Thursday. “He is extremely tough. What you see in Tom Ryan you don’t see enough of anymore.”
But Hart wasn’t done in the quarter. With 10:16 to play in the first half, he connected with senior wide receiver Hakeem Moore, the team’s leading returning receiver, for a 64-yard catch and run that momentarily put a scare in Indiana, as the Hoosiers led 24-14.
But 24 unanswered points by Indiana, including an interception of Hart that was returned for a touchdown, put Indiana in the driver’s seat 48-14 with 8:37 to go in the third quarter.
Chappell, one of the leading returning quarterbacks in the Big Ten, played just two and a half quarters before being pulled with the game well in hand. He completed 17 of 24 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns. Hart, in his first career start for the Tigers, finished the game with 288 total yards (165 passing, 123 rushing). He did, however, throw three interceptions.
“We had 27 interceptions last year, so I’m irate,” Ambrose said. “But what he brought to the table was exactly what I thought he would bring to the table— a chance for us to be successful with some flaws in other parts of our game offensively. I’ve been involved with quarterbacks who have rushed for 1,000 yards [in a season] before. I’ve been involved with quarterbacks who have thrown for 4,000 yards [in a season] before. It’s about taking the skill level of the players that you have and building the offense to suit their needs and teaching them how to use the offense to suit their skills. That’s what we’re doing with Chris. Chris played very well, but when you are at quarterback you can make mistakes that are bigger than just one play. I’m trying to make sure tomorrow is better than today.”

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