 "Photo: Football vs William & Mary file photo by Blake Savadow / The Towerlight")
Towson will head off to the campus of William & Mary Saturday for a battle with the No. 5 Tribe at Zable Stadium. With a 7-1 record, the Tribe holds their best starting record since 1986. They are undefeated all-time (6-0) in their meetings with the Tigers.
“They are very similar to Richmond,” Towson head coach Rob Ambrose said. “They blitz more on defense and they throw it more on offense. Well coached, very fast, very strong.”
Towson will have to be especially strong offensively if it hopes to compete with William & Mary’s strong defensive unit. The Tribe has the top ranked run defense in the nation, yielding just 61.6 yards per game against opponents.
Much of that can be attributed to the strong performance of potential all-American defensive end Adrian Tracy.
Among all active players in the FCS, no player has more career tackles for loss than the 6-foot 4-inch 243-pounder’s 55. He has 14.5 this season alone along with eight quarterback sacks. But Tracy isn’t the only defensive lineman who can pose major matchup problems for opposing offenses.
Senior defensive tackle Sean Lissemore is also a fellow all-American prospect. At 6-foot 4-inches and nearly 290 pounds, he is generally larger than any offensive lineman he may matchup against. With Towson’s offensive line going through a series of injuries, Ambrose knows stopping the pair will be key in operating an efficient offense.
“I’m not going to say you can’t shut them down because I don’t believe in that word,” Ambrose said. “Can you limit the damage they do to you? Yes. [Tracy] is a complete defensive end. He will get into [an NFL] camp and he will make it. He plays the interior like he plays the exterior and that’s why they’re so good, because they’ve got a bunch of guys who do exactly what they’ve been taught to do.”
The Tigers are coming into the game with a bit of momentum following a 42-14 loss to No. 1 Richmond last Saturday. What the final score fails to show is that for nearly three quarters, Towson was able to play even with the powerful Spiders, who entered the game with 17 straight wins. With freshman quarterback Tommy Chroniger’s 12-yard touchdown run, the Tigers took a 14-13 with 10:54 left in the third quarter. And for the first time in the history of the program, Towson did not have a penalty in the contest. Over that span, Towson has played 426 games.
From a defensive standpoint, the Tigers will be tested by quarterback RJ Archer and running back Jonathan Grimes. Archer has completed 64.5 percent of his passes and has thrown 12 touchdowns. Grimes is the second leading rusher in the Colonial Athletic Association with 695 yards, an average of 86.9 per game. He has also scored five touchdowns.
The attacking style of first year Towson defensive coordinator Matt Hachmann will certainly be tested, but a recent standout for the unit has been linebacker Romale Tucker. Over his last two games, the Syracuse transfer has 19 tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles. With injuries to linebackers Alex Butt and Donte Blakey, Tucker’s emergence as well linebacker Danzel White, have been important to maintaining intensity on the defense.
“Let’s put it this way,” Ambrose said. “If you have earned your way into the linebacker position at some point during the year, our injuries dictate that you will play and you will probably get a chance to lineup at linebacker during the season. I’m not real happy about that, but you play with what you’ve got.”
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