Tigers’ season grinds to halt
Towson can’t withstand offensive futility in FCS playoff loss to Dukes
In the 2018 regular season, the Towson football team had thrived in the red zone. The offense led the Colonial Athletic Association in touchdowns when reaching their opponents’ 20-yard line with 35 scores.
But the Tigers could manage only three points in three red-zone trips in the first half of Saturday’s NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoff game. And that ineffectiveness contributed heavily to a 31-10 loss to visiting Duquesne in a first-round matchup before an rain-soaked 2,158 at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson.
The Dukes, the Northeast Conference champion, improved to 9-3 and earned its first win in the FCS postseason. They will travel to No. 5 seed South Dakota State (8-2) in the second round Dec. 1 at 3 p.m.
For the Tigers (7-5), the loss was their second in a row in the FCS playoffs after falling to North Dakota State, 35-7, in the 2013 national championship game. The program has not secured a victory in the postseason since Dec. 21, 2013 when that squad upset Eastern Washington, 35-31, in the semifinals. See TOWSON, page 9