Caveat: I have not seen Towson play, thus the following analysis and opinion are based solely on their game and season statistics to date.

Towson appears to be a one-man team. Contain Flacco and you beat Towson.

If our defense gives Flacco the time and room to run that we gave URI's Lawson, we are in trouble.

Towson's defense is not so great, good news for our rejuvenated offense. Cellar-dweller Albany scored four touchdowns on the Tigers, and they weren't garbage-time touchdowns. Three of those TDs were in the first half. Towson won that game 35-28. Nova, who we shut out and is in the cellar with Albany, hung 35 points on the Tigers.

If you are a transitive property fan, you will be encouraged by the fact that Maine lost to a Tribe team we clobbered, yet beat Towson, whose defense is especially susceptible to big running plays. (more Percy and designed runs for DiNucci).

Towson has lost two of its last three games to Delaware and Maine, which scored 40 and 35 points on the Tigers, respectively. Their most recent game, however, was a blowout of Elon at Elon 41-10, which, I'm sure, is going to have their confidence at an all-time high coming into Saturday's game against the Dukes.

For weeks, I have been most worried about our offense. Against Towson, I am most worried about our defense. I believe we should assign a spy on Flacco (a safety with good speed?). And, pressure, pressure, pressure, on Joe's little brother. I believe our offense will do fine if we stick to the playcalling we ran against Rhody, but open it up even more, especially more designed runs for DiNucci.

My assumption is Elon still has no summers and cheek is done for season....somehow we need Elon to beat r
Maine...

(11-11-2018 12:08 PM)5000DOLLARBILL Wrote:  My assumption is Elon still has no summers and cheek is done for season....somehow we need Elon to beat r
Maine...

Elon is not the same Elon now that beat us, and it will be a tall task for them to beat Maine.

Flip side is that makes Towson's win over Elon a bit less impressive. We can, and should take care of business next week. Win and the season continues.

Question I have is what happens with seeding if JMU wins, and Maine takes the CAA crown. Seems possible they may get a seed and we don't, or are seeded lower.

Top 4 seed seems unlikely. Best I'm hoping for is any seed opposite the Bison. They seem to be a lock on #1, which means we want a #6 or #7 seed. Unless something crazy happens, don't see us in the running for a #2 or #3 seed, and everything else means a likely trip to the dome.

(11-11-2018 11:47 AM)Purple Wrote:  Caveat: I have not seen Towson play, thus the following analysis and opinion are based solely on their game and season statistics to date.

Towson appears to be a one-man team. Contain Flacco and you beat Towson.

If our defense gives Flacco the time and room to run that we gave URI's Lawson, we are in trouble.

Towson's defense is not so great, good news for our rejuvenated offense. Cellar-dweller Albany scored four touchdowns on the Tigers, and they weren't garbage-time touchdowns. Three of those TDs were in the first half. Towson won that game 35-28. Nova, who we shut out and is in the cellar with Albany, hung 35 points on the Tigers.

If you are a transitive property fan, you will be encouraged by the fact that Maine lost to a Tribe team we clobbered, yet beat Towson, whose defense is especially susceptible to big running plays. (more Percy and designed runs for DiNucci).

Towson has lost two of its last three games to Delaware and Maine, which scored 40 and 35 points on the Tigers, respectively. Their most recent game, however, was a blowout of Elon at Elon 41-10, which, I'm sure, is going to have their confidence at an all-time high coming into Saturday's game against the Dukes.

For weeks, I have been most worried about our offense. Against Towson, I am most worried about our defense. I believe we should assign a spy on Flacco (a safety with good speed?). And, pressure, pressure, pressure, on Joe's little brother. I believe our offense will do fine if we stick to the playcalling we ran against Rhody, but open it up even more, especially more designed runs for DiNucci.

More so than pressure I'd rather our d-line to keep contain and not give up scrambles for big plays. Our secondary is the key to this game. Good coverage and limiting Flacco's ability to escape out of the pocket will be enough especially with Towson's Defense not up to the level we've seen this year

*AND LIMIT TURNOVERS*

Don't discount RB Shane Simpson. Early on, Flacco was TU's leading rusher, now it's Simpson.

Towson beat Nova 45-35 with Bednarczyk
They beat Stony Brook 52-28, and I think we know that's impressive.

(11-11-2018 01:51 PM)Dukie95 Wrote:  Towson beat Nova 45-35 with Bednarczyk
They beat Stony Brook 52-28, and I think we know that's impressive.

This is the best towson team in a while, but I think they are beatable. We (especially the Defense) need to play our best game of the year. **Early forecast is cloudy and high of 47. We should have a decent amount of purple in the stands

The defense needs to play their game and TU is still going to get their points (Like Rhode Island did). Can our Offense keep up in a track meet?

Our offense seems to have found itself yesterday, but URI was a relief from the list of teams with excellent defenses (Elon, Stony Brook, Villanova, UNH), and I consider Towson in the URI category, but we will need to score on each possession.

(11-11-2018 01:17 PM)jmuduke10 Wrote:  *AND LIMIT TURNOVERS*

A few notes on Flacco:

1. He stole any speed from that family. Whatever Joe is lacking, he got. Ran for 185 yards against the Citadel this year.

2. Has completed 70% of his passes once all year and has recently completed low 60’s% in the last few weeks.

3. Has had at least 1 INT in every game this year, except for the William and Mary game, which they lost.

4. Has alternated between 1 and 2 INT’s in the last 4 weeks and threw 1 this weekend. He’s due and will throw 2 picks against us.

The Elon and Towson game was closer than the score shows. Two late turnovers by Elon blew the doors off and their defense gave up. Elon's backup QB is not good and extremely inaccurate. The game is on demand on CAA TV if interested in watching.

Flacco will make bad decisions if we get pressure on him. He had 2 picks against Elon but one was overturned with a roughing the passer. He has excellent escapability and we will need to put a spy on him to ensure he's contained. The running back is decent and will create challenges for our defense. We should game plan for swing pass plays to the RB as we have been volnerable there this season.

Dukes need to continue to improve on oline, have no turnovers, pressure and contain Flacco and we will win. I would still like to see our Oline become nasty and not only dominate the point of contact but own it. I hope we take the same approach to last week's preparation and don't relax and take this game as a win or else game.

(11-11-2018 12:37 PM)fishingduke12 Wrote:  

(11-11-2018 11:47 AM)Purple Wrote:  Caveat: I have not seen Towson play, thus the following analysis and opinion are based solely on their game and season statistics to date.

Towson appears to be a one-man team. Contain Flacco and you beat Towson.

If our defense gives Flacco the time and room to run that we gave URI's Lawson, we are in trouble.

Towson's defense is not so great, good news for our rejuvenated offense. Cellar-dweller Albany scored four touchdowns on the Tigers, and they weren't garbage-time touchdowns. Three of those TDs were in the first half. Towson won that game 35-28. Nova, who we shut out and is in the cellar with Albany, hung 35 points on the Tigers.

If you are a transitive property fan, you will be encouraged by the fact that Maine lost to a Tribe team we clobbered, yet beat Towson, whose defense is especially susceptible to big running plays. (more Percy and designed runs for DiNucci).

Towson has lost two of its last three games to Delaware and Maine, which scored 40 and 35 points on the Tigers, respectively. Their most recent game, however, was a blowout of Elon at Elon 41-10, which, I'm sure, is going to have their confidence at an all-time high coming into Saturday's game against the Dukes.

For weeks, I have been most worried about our offense. Against Towson, I am most worried about our defense. I believe we should assign a spy on Flacco (a safety with good speed?). And, pressure, pressure, pressure, on Joe's little brother. I believe our offense will do fine if we stick to the playcalling we ran against Rhody, but open it up even more, especially more designed runs for DiNucci.

More so than pressure I'd rather our d-line to keep contain and not give up scrambles for big plays. Our secondary is the key to this game. Good coverage and limiting Flacco's ability to escape out of the pocket will be enough especially with Towson's Defense not up to the level we've seen this year

I agree. As I mentioned, if we give Flacco the time to pass and room to run that we gave Lawson, he is going to burn us.

Is Ambrose a good Xs and Os coach, or is he susceptible to being out coached in tight games?

I think this could be a game where a series of smart coaching decisions help you to control the game.

We need to contain Flacco roughly as much as we just did against URI. Lawson is a good QB and definitely the best URI has ever had so far this century. He looked better than SB’s Carbone.

Flacco will be that much better. Our defense needs to keep them in the low 30s for us to have a chance to win. Our offense MUST get north of 40 points. This will be a shootout and we must somehow outscore Flacco.

He will hang a minimum of 28 on us, and that’s if we have a “good” day on defense. He’s that good.

(11-11-2018 12:08 PM)5000DOLLARBILL Wrote:  My assumption is Elon still has no summers and cheek is done for season....somehow we need Elon to beat r
Maine...

It was announced after their UD loss that both Cheek and Summers were done for the season. In Summer’s case, his playing career is over as a senior.

(11-11-2018 01:51 PM)Dukie95 Wrote:  Towson beat Nova 45-35 with Bednarczyk
They beat Stony Brook 52-28, and I think we know that's impressive.

SB had an uncharacteristic amount of mistakes in that game though. Towson buried them with those mistakes.

Score more points than them

Play well, get a bye. Play like pooh, no rest for you. If that's not motivation, what is? (besides hot JMU girls of course)

Time to punch Flacco's tigers in the neck!

(11-11-2018 11:47 AM)Purple Wrote:  Caveat: I have not seen Towson play, thus the following analysis and opinion are based solely on their game and season statistics to date.

Towson appears to be a one-man team. Contain Flacco and you beat Towson.

If our defense gives Flacco the time and room to run that we gave URI's Lawson, we are in trouble.

Towson's defense is not so great, good news for our rejuvenated offense. Cellar-dweller Albany scored four touchdowns on the Tigers, and they weren't garbage-time touchdowns. Three of those TDs were in the first half. Towson won that game 35-28. Nova, who we shut out and is in the cellar with Albany, hung 35 points on the Tigers.

If you are a transitive property fan, you will be encouraged by the fact that Maine lost to a Tribe team we clobbered, yet beat Towson, whose defense is especially susceptible to big running plays. (more Percy and designed runs for DiNucci).

Towson has lost two of its last three games to Delaware and Maine, which scored 40 and 35 points on the Tigers, respectively. Their most recent game, however, was a blowout of Elon at Elon 41-10, which, I'm sure, is going to have their confidence at an all-time high coming into Saturday's game against the Dukes.

For weeks, I have been most worried about our offense. Against Towson, I am most worried about our defense. I believe we should assign a spy on Flacco (a safety with good speed?). And, pressure, pressure, pressure, on Joe's little brother. I believe our offense will do fine if we stick to the playcalling we ran against Rhody, but open it up even more, especially more designed runs for DiNucci.

Contain Flacco and you beat Towson.

I have seen Towson play and I agree. It is not going to be easy though. He is a master of the last second decision. Pocket breaks down and he starts to run and just as he approaches the LOS he push passes the ball to a wide open receiver. As he runs he waits til you get an angle on him and then he kicks it into another gear. did I mention shifty quick, he is like a crafty point guard who does that no-look assist or the behind the back Houdini. But he can throw INTs when he tries to make a play he shouldn't. Hopefully our pass rush contains and squeezes in on him.

I have seen very little of Towson this year. But the small bit I did see, it seemed to me Flacco was not very big.

we have gone up against talented but smaller QBs and some <ahem> Soft (HSU) QB's a few times in the past few years, and we have had very good success against them because we hit them early and hit them hard.

We still have the most physical group of defenders in the CAA. Most CAA Qb's will not get the punishment they get when they play us.

I think if we get to Flacco early and let him know we are there, it could rattle him. It's happened many times in the past few years. That's the formula again Saturday IMO.

Lawson was a big QB (i thought I was watching Landers again). he could withstand the punishment. Can Jr Flacco?

(11-12-2018 10:42 AM)Duke Dawg Wrote:  I have seen very little of Towson this year. But the small bit I did see, it seemed to me Flacco was not very big.

we have gone up against talented but smaller QBs and some <ahem> Soft (HSU) QB's a few times in the past few years, and we have had very good success against them because we hit them early and hit them hard.

We still have the most physical group of defenders in the CAA. Most CAA Qb's will not get the punishment they get when they play us.

I think if we get to Flacco early and let him know we are there, it could rattle him. It's happened many times in the past few years. That's the formula again Saturday IMO.

Lawson was a big QB (i thought I was watching Landers again). he could withstand the punishment. Can Jr Flacco?

Flacco is actually bigger (6'1 208) than Lawson (6'0 203) according to their respective roster websites. Even still, neither one is overly big or small