One week after their offense put up 627 yards to produce a key road win, the Towson football team?s defense allowed a school-record 630 yards in a last-second loss.
William & Mary kicker Blair Pritchard booted a 34-yard field goal with just five seconds left as the Tribe beat the Tigers Saturday, 29-28. The loss puts Towson at 6-3 overall and 3-3 in the Atlantic-10 and damages the squad?s playoff hopes.
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Towson which is likely to fall out of the polls this week, plays Richmond and James Madison the next two weeks and, at best, would finish the regular season at 8-3, 5-3.
“There?s still a chance we could get in at 8-3,” Towson coach Gordy Combs said. “Then we?d be at the mercy of a lot of different things still to happen in our league and around the nation.”
The Tigers never could slow a Tribe offense that put up 148 yards in the first quarter and had 333 at halftime. Quarterback Mike Potts passed for 409 yards and two scores and running back Elijah Brooks carried 22 times for 165 yards.
Still, Towson led most of the way. William & Mary did score the game?s final 12 points on a touchdown and two Pritchard field goals in the final five minutes. The Tribe, now 3-6, 1-5, ended a nine-game A-10 losing streak which dated to a win over Towson last year.
“Our defense did a poor job of tackling,” Combs said. “We also had some blown coverages. That had 630 yards of offense and that?s amazing to me.”
Towson quarterback Sean Schaefer put up some big numbers again with 367 yards passing and four touchdowns. The last three weeks he has passed for 1,126 yards and 11 touchdowns. He has thrown just two interceptions in his last 234 attempts.
William & Mary?s game-winning drive began on its 30 with just 1:26 left and Towson up 28-26. Cook took the team 53 yards with no time outs left, leading to the final field goal.
“It wasn?t that hard [to move downfield quickly],” said Potts. “They were sitting back in a more or less prevent defense and left open the short passes.”
So the Tigers will have to wait at least another week to post a seventh win for the first time in six years. Richmond hosts Towson at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Tiger tales
» William & Mary beat Towson by 31 points last season and is now 4-0 all time vs. the Tigers.
» Towson wideout Dayron Arnold, from Milford Mill, had a career-high 11 catches for 119 yards and one TD.
» Towson second-leading tackler, LB Brian Bradford, missed the game with a knee injury but might play at Richmond.
