By Kevin Hess

Online Exclusive

Seemingly before fans could take their seats, it was over. At the end of the first quarter, the Northwestern Wildcats, a rising Big Ten power with Top 25 aspirations this season, led the Towson Tigers 21-0 in Towson's season opener. In the end, Northwestern gashed the Tigers defense for 485 total yards in a 47-14 rout Sept. 5 over their CAA opponent who had won just six games over the past two seasons.

Rob Ambrose, Towson's new head coach who returned in the offseason to a hero's welcome at his alma mater, had been playing his quarterback situation close to the vest all summer by not naming a starter. He handed over the keys to his offense to true freshman Peter Athens, a smooth and elusive quarterback who completed 15-25 passes for 140 yards and one touchdown, though he was intercepted twice.

From the day Ambrose stepped on campus, he had preached redshirting all incoming freshmen and transfers, but after a summer watching the newcomers' work habits, Ambrose could not resist the temptation to play his best players regardless of class.

"They got their true test of what a top-20 team is in one of the best conferences in the country," Ambrose said of his players. "I was told the group that I inherited had not played a game for 60 minutes for quite some time. I'm not going to say they played their hearts out for 60 minutes. They played hard. But they played hard for a lot longer and they are more proud of themselves then they were a year ago, so I can take solace in that."

In all, 11 first-year Tigers (including seven freshmen) not only made the trip to Chicago, but also played, basically ending any chances of redshirting those players this season.

One of those players was defensive end Brady Smith, a transfer from Boston College who started 20 games in his time as a Golden Eagle. Arguably the highest profile player on their revamped defense, Smith did not disappoint, recording a career- and game-high 11 tackles (six solo). Because some of his family members had attended BC, Smith wanted to attend the school as well but had developed a relationship with Ambrose, who had recruited him while at UConn. So when Ambrose got hired at Towson, and Smith was looking for a new school, the massive defensive end was allegedly the first player of any kind to welcome Ambrose home.

Smith then became the first player in school history to be named a captain before taking the field for the Tigers when they opened the season at Northwestern. Coming from a BCS school, Smith knows what it takes to compete at the highest level.

"We were very excited to play against Northwestern because that's the type of team that we strive to be one day," Smith said. "The way they come out and play every snap, they play hard and that's what the coaches have challenged us to do this year." 

Posted September 8, 2009