Towson entered its game against Northeastern with one of the worst defenses in the country.
But the unit reached a new low Saturday afternoon.
The defense yielded at least one touchdown in each quarter as Northeastern rallied from an early, double-digit deficit to win easily, 35-17 in front of 4,032 fans at Johnny Unitas Stadium.
Towson (2-4, 0-2 Colonial Athletic Conference) began the weekend ranked 101st out of 118 teams in the Football Championship Subdivision in total defense, yielding an average of 31.4 points and 423 yards per game. Northeastern (2-3, 1-0) finished with 419 yards and scored five touchdowns, including the game’s final 28 points.
The Huskies took the lead for good on their first drive of the second quarter when receiver Chris Plum caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Anthony Orio. The receiver ran across the field, found himself wide open at the 10-yard line where he hauled in the pass, and jogged into the end zone for a 21-17 lead with 8:09 remaining in the third quarter. The deficit ballooned less than a minute later after an interception by Towson quarterback Sean Schaefer. A trick play found Huskies backup quarterback John Sperrazza with plenty of time in the backfield to throw a 37-yard touchdown to receiver Rob Theoudele, pushing the lead to 28-17.
Northeastern running back Alex Broomfield put the score out of reach with 13:12 remaining in the game when he took a direct snap and powered up the middle for five-yard touchdown run and insurmountable 35-17 advantage.
The Huskies opened the scoring just over three minutes into the game when running back John Griffin dashed to the outside on a sweep play for a nine-yard touchdown. But the Tigers scored the next 17 points – a career-long 41-yard field goal by kicker Mark Bencivengo and rushing touchdowns from Schaefer and running back Matt Castor – to take a 10-point lead. Northeastern, however, got a 24-yard touchdown catch from Plum with 1:55 remaining in the half to cut the lead to 17-14 at intermission.
Plum finished with five catches for 109 yards with two touchdowns.
One of the lone bright spots for Towson was Schaefer, who battled the flu, but still completed 31-of-46 passes for 358 yards with an interception.
[email protected]
