Blood, Sweat and Tears. The words tattooed on Towson safety Kenny Scott?s left arm remind him of the sacrifices he made to make to become a captain of one of the top teams in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Scott has made several big plays for the Tigers (2-1, 0-1) this year ? none bigger than 68-yard interception return against Morgan State that set up the game winning touchdown in a 28-21 victory.
But after Towson fell, 36-13, to third-ranked UMass (3-0, 1-0) last week, Scott said the Tigers will have to play significantly better if they are to defeat No. 11 Delaware (3-0, 2-0) for the third-straight year at Unitas Stadium Saturday night at 7.
“One of the major keys is coming out and starting right away, confusing [quarterback] Joe Flacco,” said Scott who has 19 tackles and two pass breakups this season. “He gets the ball out quickly, and it?s hard to get pressure on him. It?s on our back seven to confuse him and make him throw some balls he doesn?t want to throw. As a team, we still realize we won a lot of games last year, but we are still on the up-and-coming stage and we have a lot to prove.”
Scott has proved plenty himself. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound senior believed he had the ability to play in the Football Championship Subdivision as a walk-on in 2003. He was redshirted his first season, but made an impact on special teams in 2004. Asa sophomore, he earned the starting job as free safety and was rewarded with a scholarship from coach Gordy Combs.
Last season, Scott made 71 tackles and forced a team-leading three fumbles.
“I think [what makes him special is] his intelligence,” Combs said. “The fact that he?s a smart young man and brings that to the field. He watches a lot of film and is student of the game and put himself in that position to succeed.”
Last year, Towson beat Delaware, 49-35, in a game which featured more than 1,000 yards of total offense. In 2005, current senior running back Nick Williams scored on a three-yard touchdown run with 38 seconds remaining to lift his team to a 35-31 win in front of a Unitas Stadium record-crowd of 10,778.
Against Delaware, which has won six national championships, coach Gordy Combs has led the Tigers to a 4-4 record in the team?s past eight meetings, developing a budding rivalry with the Blue Hens, whose campus is just across the state line.
“There?s a lot of positive things going on within the two programs,” Combs said. “I think with what?s happened in the last three years, it has become a healthy rivalry.”
Regardless of rankings or conference standings, the Tigers need a win, Scott said.
“If we win, things will take care of themselves,” he said. “Rankings are the opinions of a lot of guys who haven?t played the game themselves.”
