Towson University football head coach Gordy Combs tries to find the positive light in everything. A long bus trip to North Carolina? No big deal. Combs will use the down time to relax.
“It gives me a chance to put my feet up and watch some movies I haven?t seen,” said Combs of the roughly 400-mile trek.
This week, Combs has been trying to catch up on the Elon football team, a program he has faced twice in the past, but not since 2004.
A good deal has changed at Elon since the Tigers won a 34-14 game at Elon?s Rhodes Stadium in the opening weekend of the 2004 season. Not only has the personnel on the field changed, but the Phoenix has welcomed new head coach Pete Lembo to campus this weekend in his first home contest.
“We know a lot about Pete Lembo because he was the coach at Lehigh when we played them,” Combs said of his former Patriot League foe. “Our last three years in the league, he was the coach there.”
And when Towson moved to the Atlantic 10 Conference, former Georgetown coach and new Tigers defensive coordinator Bob Benson battled with Lembo.
Lembo won two of the three games he coached against Towson as the head coach at Lehigh. He also brings a defensive coordinator from Lehigh in Jay Bateman. And offensive coordinator Warren Ruggiero was previously with Hofstra in the Patriot League.
“Between those two [Lembo and Ruggiero], they?ll want to throw the ball a little bit,” Combs said.
Elon quarterback Wes Pope passed for 203 yards and a touchdown in a 23-20 upset win over No. 25 Coastal Carolina last Saturday.
Despite that information, Combs feels that the first few drives Saturday will be about flexibility within the game plan.
“We?re going to have to be on top of things, especially our staff, to be able to make adjustments throughout the first quarter,” Combs said.
Combs is looking to force Elon into some third-down situations where his athletic, versatile defense could make some big plays.
“There?s no doubt, from a defensive perspective, that we want to put them into obvious passing situations,” Combs said.
TIGERS ON THE TRAIL
» In Towson?s win over Elon in 2004, cornerback Allante Harrison intercepted two passes, including one he returned 45 yards for a touchdown.
» Combs said that tailback Nick Williams (hamstring) will return next week against Liberty, with tight end Ryan Collins (mononucleosis) expected to return the following week against Hofstra.
