WEST LONG BRANCH – Monmouth’s prolific offense came into Saturday’s game against Towson University ranked No. 1 in the Coastal Athletic Conference in scoring, total yards and passing yardage. But Saturday, its offense seemed out of sync most of the day and struggled to find its rhythm, which never really materialized.
And the result was a discouraging 26-14 loss to Towson on its home turf at Kessler Stadium.
Towson’s defense, on the other hand, which entered the game ranked 12th in the CAA in scoring and total yards allowed, came out like gangbusters and never let up. It held Monmouth to season-lows in points (14) and total yardage (361) after giving up 52 points and 512 yards of total offense in its loss to Stony Brook last Saturday.
I guess that’s why they play the game.
“It’s a disappointing loss for us,” said Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan. “We had been playing really good football lately, and our goal was to continue that out there today. I don’t think we were at our best today, and when you play against a good football team in this conference and don’t play your best, it makes winning very difficult. We did some good things at times, but we could never find the consistency on either side of the ball to play the way we had been.”
Entering the game, Monmouth (4-4, 2-2) had won three of its last four. But Saturday’s loss all but eliminated them from FCS Playoff contention, especially with two of their final four opponents ranked in the top 25 and the other two receiving votes.
Despite Monmouth’s shortcomings Saturday, they were in the game until the very end, but things just didn’t break their way.
Down 26-14 with 8:33 left in the fourth quarter, the Hawks drove from their 21-yard line to the Towson seven-yard line, taking just two minutes off the clock. However, on the first-and-goal from the seven, Monmouth quarterback Derek Robertson was sacked and stripped of the ball, and Towson recovered.
From there, with 6:13 still remaining in the fourth quarter, Towson never gave up the ball again. They ran off 13 consecutive plays and advanced to the 10-yard line before taking a knee to run out the game clock.
Monmouth’s defense, which entered the game playing its best football of the season, carried that over into the first half of Saturday’s game. They held Towson to 10 points and just 114 total yards of offense, but they had no answers for the resurgent Tigers offense in the second half.
“Defensively, I thought we had some really good stops in the running game,” Callahan said. “They had a little over a hundred yards on the day, but we were on the field a lot, and we gave them some really good field position.”
Towson’s running game ranks fifth in the CAA, averaging 185.4 yards per game.
“Yes, they did do some things differently in the second half,” said graduate linebacker Ryan Moran when asked about Towson’s offense in the second half. “We did make adjustments, but we had to go from there, and that carried on for the rest of the way.”
The Tigers offense scored on its first three possessions of the second half, and its fourth possession ended at the Monmouth 10-yard line, where the game ended.
Monmouth made a couple of coaching decisions that backfired and certainly didn’t help their cause. Trailing Towson 10-7 with 1:36 left in the second quarter, the Hawks drove from their own 16-yard line to the Tigers’ 32-yard line, where they had a first down with under a minute to play.
Instead of trying to position themselves for a game-tying field goal with sideline throws, they took three long shots into the end zone, which fell incomplete, before a fourth-down Hail Mary pass was intercepted.
Then, early in the fourth quarter, with Monmouth trailing 20-14, the Hawks drove from their own 25 to the Towson 40-yard line. On third-and-7, Robertson was sacked for a six-yard loss by Daniel Raymond, bringing up a fourth-and-13 at the Towson 46. Callahan elected to go for the first down instead of punting and possibly pinning the Tigers deep in their own territory.
Robertson’s fourth-down pass intended for wideout Josh Derry was broken up by Cam Snell, turning the ball over on downs to Towson at the 46-yard line with 12:37 left in the fourth quarter.
“It was a toss-up situation there,” said Callahan. “If I had to do it all over again, I would probably punt it there.”
Towson then marched 54 yards in 10 plays to take a 26-14 lead after a missed two-point conversion attempt. A six-yard pass from Sean Brown to Carter Runyon for a touchdown finished off the drive.
“I’ve got to take responsibility for that,” Callahan added. “I made the decision to go for it, and when you do that in that field position, and you don’t convert, you’re putting your defense in a very difficult spot. So, I have to take responsibility for that and do a better job coaching and managing the game.”
The first quarter was scoreless as both offenses attempted to find some traction.
On Monmouth’s second possession of the game, they advanced to the Towson 30-yard line, where they were faced with a fourth-and-2 decision and went for the first down only to come up short. Robertson’s pass to Derry was snuffed out by linebacker Will Middletown and safety Kam Snell, and the Hawks turned the ball over on downs.
A Towson punt on their ensuing possession pinned the Hawks deep in Tiger territory. Following a Robertson sack on third down, the Hawks were forced to punt out of the end zone, resulting in prime field position for Towson at the Monmouth 40-yard line.
Seven plays later, Tyrell Green ran it in from 10 yards out to give Towson a 7-0 lead.
However, Monmouth answered right back with a nine-play, 69-yard touchdown drive of its own to even the score at seven. On second-and-5 from their own 46, Robertson found wideout Gavin Nelson for 41 yards and first down at the Towson 13-yard line. Four plays later, on fourth-and-1, Sone Ntoh ran it in for his 18th rushing touchdown of the season – No. 1 in the country. Starting center Ed Gatling was injured on the drive and never returned.
The two teams traded punts before Towson drove to the five-yard line, where they had a first-and-goal. However, a goal-line stand by Monmouth’s defense forced a field goal after stops by linebackers Damir McCrary and Sam Korpoi prevented the touchdown. Towson then kicked a 23-yard field goal to take a 10-7 lead at the half.
Towson received the second-half kickoff and went 70 yards in nine plays to take a 17-7 lead when Brown connected with Runyon for a three-yard score.
Monmouth answered with a 13-play, 86-yard scoring drive to cut the deficit to 17-14. Robertson found Nelson, who finished with nine receptions for 133 yards, for a 33-yard touchdown.
A roughing the passer call negated a Towson fumble and Monmouth recovery on the Tigers’ ensuing possession, giving them a first down at the Monmouth 31-yard line. Safety Deuce Lee’s tight coverage forced an incompletion on third-and-goal from the five-yard line, and Towson had to settle for a 22-yard field goal to push its lead to 20-14.
Robertson completed 28-of-46 passes for 305 yards with one touchdown and an interception but never really looked comfortable in the pocket with constant pressure from the Towson defense in his face much of the afternoon.
Monmouth’s rushing attack, which had complimented the Hawks passing attack significantly entering the game, was held to 56 yards on 25 attempts by Towson’s defense, forcing Robertson to throw the ball 46 times, an unusually high number for him.
“We didn’t run it like we had been running it,” said Callahan. “And that’s a credit to Towson’s defense and how the front four played.”
The Hawks must now regroup and prepare for the most challenging part of their schedule, which begins next Saturday with a road trip to the University of Rhode Island, ranked sixteenth in the country.
“There’s no finger-pointing; it’s time to get back to work,” said graduate linebacker Ryan Moran. “At this point of the season, there’s really no time to grieve; our season is by no means over; we have everything in front of us, but it’s time to go.”
