Towson Tigers 2010 Review

2010 Record: 1-10 (0-8), 10th Colonial
2010 Postseason: None
2010 Schedule/Result:  @ Indiana, L 51-17, Coastal Carolina, W 47-45, @ Villanova, L 43-7, @ Columbia, L 24-10, UMass, L 27-14, James Madison, L 17-13, @ Richmond, L 28-6, Rhode Island, L 30-20, @ Delaware, L 48-0, Maine, L 28-18, @ New Hampshire, L 38-19

REVIEW

     What do you say about a team that finished 1-10 that does not come off like I am piling on? I'll give a couple of positives. First off, the one win that the Tigers were able to muster was against Coastal Carolina, the Big South champion and FCS playoff patricipant. Here's another positive from a wreck of a season...The pass defense was not horrible. The Tigers only allowed 176.2 yards passing per game. An time you can hold the opposition under 200 yards, it's a very good thing. The positives pretty much come to a halt there. Let's dig in.
     The offense struggled mightily all season long. They were held to under 20 points 10 times in 11 games. They ran a...gulp...2 QB system for much of the season, and predictably, it worked not at all. Chris Hart was limited by the split to just 126.6 yards per game, and 1013 yards overall in 8 games. He was the better of the two with a 9/6 TD to pick ratio. On the other side, we had Bart Blanchard, who passed for 597 yards and a terrible 1/6 ratio. In all, the system put together a 10 TD, 12 pick season. Hart was also a runner, and finished second on the team with 399 yards and 1 TD. Not exactly world beating numbers.
     The run game wasn't exactly wonderful. Tremayne Dameron was not very good in 2010, having been the lead rusher with only 465 yards to show for it. He only averaged 42.3 yards, and fell under 4 yards per carry.
     Only 3 receivers caught more than 20 passes in 2010, but when the QBs suffer bad numbers, it kills the receivers. Only 3 Tiger receivers caught 20 or more passes in 2010. Erron Banks caught 40 passes to lead the team, but he only picked up 334 yards and never scored a TD. Hakeem Moore led the team in yardage with a line of 29-559-6, and was the only downfield threat that the Tigers possessed. Tom Ryan was the third, with a line of 26-245-2.
     The Tigers were decent against the pass, but the front seven was a huge slice of swiss cheese, as opposing teams managed to rush for 180.9 yards per game against Towson. The Tigers did get some solid production out of their top 3 tacklers. DB Jordan Dangerfield led the team with 96 tackles, while LB Donte Blakey (85) and DL Frank Beltre (84) followed him in the next two slots.
     As bad as the run defense was, Towson actually boasted 3 players who managed double digit TFLs. Yaky Ibia actually finished 3rd in the CAA with 17 on the season. Beltre finished 5th in the conference with 14, while Blakey had 12 to finish 13th. The defensive front basically got worn down from being on the field for too long a period of time to an inept offense. The Tigers were not, however, very adept at rushing the passer, as Matt Morgan led the team with only 4.
     Jeremy Gardner and Dangerfield led the secondary as Gardner defended 7 passes and Dangerfield knocked 5 passes away during the season. The Tigers did lack in pick production, as nobody ranked in the CAA top 40 in INTs.
     Senior PK Nick Wallace had his moments, but not many of them as he only connected on 67% of his kicks at 10 for 15. It's bad enough when your offense is struggling to score points that you give them away on bad FG attempts. DJ Stoven was an absolute trainwreck as a punter, ranking last in eligible punters with a 33.48 yard average per punt. His whole seson was one big shank.

FINAL NOTES

Truth be told, Towson should really consider joining URI in leaving the Colonial, as they are heavily outgunned in this conference. Towson is a yearly guaranteed cellar dweller in one of America's top 3 FCS conferences, and it doesn't look likely to change any time soon. There needs to be a renewed commitment to this program, and the community needs to be highly involved to get this program on track. Right now, Towson is a loser in a loser killing league, and without having seen the financials, the administration needs to really think about how long they can go on getting their teeth kicked in as a member of this league. It can't possibly be beneficial to anyone.