Towson turnovers lead to record-setting defeat, 57-7 - Baltimore ...

The Towerlight October 5, 2009
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SPORTS
Who in the NFL will stay
undefeated the longest?
Kevin: I’m taking the New York
Giants here. So much for them not
having a go-to receiver, huh? In four
games, Steve Smith has 34 catches
for 411 yards and four touchdowns.
For those of you who can’t do math,
that’s around eight catches for 100
yards, and a touchdown every week.
If you have a shot to go get him in
your fantasy league, although I can’t
imagine you do, get to the waiver
wire immediately.
Sure, Eli Manning got hurt yesterday,
but you know what? That run
game and offensive line is so physical
it won’t matter who’s behind
center if Manning misses time. They
are a nasty and tough group who has
enough depth to give their key players
a rest when needed.
The defense is still stacked even
without departed defensive coordinator
Steve Spagnuolo, and you
can’t underestimate a battle-tested
team. It starts with the pressure
that the Giants are able to get up
front from their defensive line, led
by Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora.
When they don’t have to rely on
their linebackers for pressure on
the quarterback, that leaves the
back seven free to stick to their
assignments and roll coverages to
shutdown top receivers.
This is a team that has won a
Super Bowl, and the current roster
has seen little turnover, so there
isn’t any reason they can’t go far
without a loss.
Pete: The Giants are in good
shape here, but I cannot pick them
to win at New Orleans, which is
happening Week 6 in a clash of
likely unbeatens. The Saints will win
that one, and then go on to play at
Miami and against Atlanta. They’ll
lose one of those games, because
the Dolphins and Falcons are flying
under the radar after last year’s
surprise season. Denver is 4-0, but
if you take a look at the schedule,
the Broncos could be 4-4 in five
short weeks. The Vikings shouldn’t
last too long with Favre throwing
interceptions and Peterson coughing
up fumbles (though he’s a hell
of a runner), so who’s left?
The Colts are once again quietly
undefeated through four games.
They have gone fairly unnoticed
because of the losses of Marvin
Harrison and Tony Dungy, who were
staples of the team before; but the
Colts’ talent pool is still there and it
looks like they haven’t lost a stride.
Indianapolis even has an extremely
favorable schedule. This coming
week is tough, since they have the
winless, but really strong Titans
looking for revenge. But I don’t
see a really likely loss until Week
11, when they travel to Baltimore.
That’s when I peg the Colts for a
loss, but if they can beat the Ravens
on the road, people are going to
start talking about Indy running
the table.
pete kevin
LORENZ/HESS
How will the NL
playoffs turn out?
Kevin: I have to say, even with
all of the question marks surrounding
the Phillies’ bullpen, no team
can match the top three starters
they can throw in any series. The
front of the rotation with last year’s
World Series MVP Cole Hamels,
former Cy Young winner Cliff Lee
and rookie sensation J.A. Happ are
as good as it gets.
If they can get deep into games it
won’t matter who closes games for
them, though I still feel like Brad
Lidge should be given a chance
based on how clutch he was for
them last year.
And that lineup, whoa. They
might have the best infield in the
history of baseball. That’s a bold
statement, sure.
But look at it closer and you’ll
see a Gold Glove shortstop who has
been an MVP, a first baseman who
was the quickest player in baseball
history to 200 home runs, and also
an MVP and a second baseman
who is career .295 hitter and is an
extraordinary power hitter for the
position.
Oh yeah, and each member of
their starting infield has a World
Series ring. Their bats can make
up for any deficiency that bullpen
may have; they’re no stranger from
playing from behind.
This is a team that has experience,
depth and a whole lot of
motivation to repeat. Why doubt
them now?
Pete: I’m actually with Kevin
here, for the most part. The Phillies
are a fantastic team and they’re
ready to make another huge postseason
run. I picked the Yanks to
beat the Phils in the World Series
prior the start of the season and
I’m pretty confident in standing by
that prediction.
However, everyone has to watch
out for the Cardinals. St. Louis has
great pitching and a killer lineup.
Pujols-Holliday? Are you kidding?
I think Philadelphia can take care
of them, but it’s going to be quite
a good series.
This is assuming that they win
their respective opening rounds,
which they definitely can. The
Dodgers’ pitching is suspect, and
that won’t fly against Albert in the
postseason.
The Rockies are playing hot, but
that can cool off quickly given
an opponent as confident and talented
as Philly. I’m really worried
about Colorado’s ability to continue
pitching well if Jason Marquis
can’t get in gear.
He’s good, but if he’s going
against Adam Wainwright, his
hitters aren’t going to give him
enough support.
I’m pretty certain that the
Phillies have the right combination
to roll past the Rockies and crash
the Cardinals’ party to win their
second straight title.
NFL: Stay positive at 1-3
From page 24
have enough talent to compete in
the NFL, so it’s time to turn to
Mel Kiper Jr.’s column the rest of
the year and start dreaming about
which young superstar can come in
and turn your franchise around.
While starting 1-3 may sound
pretty painful as well, hope is
not lost. Five teams started 1-3
last season, and one of those, the
Minnesota Vikings, found their way
into the playoffs. The Vikings
turned things around by playing to
their strengths the rest of the season,
going 9-3 the rest of the way
to win an NFC North division that
was up for grabs all the way up to
the last game of the season.
The record most teams achieved
after four games was 2-2. It’s tough
to get a grasp on where a team
really is with the same amount of
wins as losses, and things can go
a number of different routes from
there. A team could take this start
and realize its potential, like the
Indianapolis Colts did, going 10-2
the rest of the season. On the
other hand, they could completely
bomb and finish 5-11, like the
Jacksonville Jaguars.
In total, 13 teams were at .500 at
this point, and only three of those
teams finished the season with
losing records. The big surprise is
that seven of those teams made the
playoffs, three reaching the conference
finals, which is well more than
teams that started 3-1.
Teams starting 3-1 had a tough
time sustaining their success
throughout the season. Though no
team finished with a losing record,
only three of the seven teams finished
the season with more than
nine wins. Both the Broncos and
the Redskins had catastrophic
meltdowns in the second half,
leading to 8-8 finishes, while the
Cowboys and the Buccaneers had
trouble playing consistent football,
ending with 9-7 records.
What is even harder to believe
is that only two of the seven
teams made the playoffs. New
England fell just short of a playoff
berth, but still finished with
11 wins. Pittsburgh and Carolina
both received first round byes, with
Pittsburgh going on to win its second
Super Bowl in four years.
Finally, we have the teams that
start off without a loss. Winning
four games in a row at any point
in an NFL season is extremely
difficult, especially the first four
games, but even achieving this
great feat does not guarantee a
playoff appearance.
Take the Buffalo Bills, for
instance. They started off the season
4-0, one of only three teams to
do so, but injuries to their quarterback
caused their promising season
to slip away, winning only three
more games the rest of the season.
The other two squads that started
with four wins were the Giants
and the Titans, and both had very
successful seasons, but the ultimate
goal is always to reach the
Super Bowl, which neither team
did.
So what can we tell about how
the NFL season is going to end
up? Probably not a whole lot.
The Seahawks could get their act
together and make a run to the
playoffs, or Chicago might crash
under the pressure, and throw their
season away.
So much could happen from here
to the end of the season, but that’s
why they play the games.
GOALS: Drexel’s half-dozen
From page 24
Towson forward Tommy Appel-
Schumacher came out firing. He
netted the first goal of the day only
1:35 into the opening half.
“We went into it after our first
CAA loss knowing that we needed
to turn things around and get a
win and come out firing,” Appel-
Schumacher said.
The Dragons responded by scoring
two consecutive goals two minutes
apart.
Senior Fabio Assumpcao scored
the first goal and was followed by
sophomore Andrew Goldberg with
less than 25 minutes left in the
half.
Tigers came back with a string of
three goals to gain a 4-2 advantage.
Maloney scored off a free kick for
his sixth goal of the season. Starting
Darron Cummings/Associated Press
Can the Seahawks, mired in a 1-3 start to the 2009 NFL season,
stay on their feet, or is the season virtually over in Seattle?
the second half, Sophomore Nicolas
Bermudez Roa scored on a chip shot
from about mid-field. Then freshman
Juan Esteban Garcia Cabrales scored
his first career collegiate goal.
However, the Dragons responded
with two goals in a three-minute
span to tie the game at four.
Maloney said that he and his
teammates became greedy while
leading 4-2, and as result let the
Dragons back in the game.
“Everyone tries to come forward
and get as many goals as we can, but
we switched off in the box and we
can’t do that,” he said.
With the game tied at four, junior
Marco Mangione scored on a penalty
kick to give the Tigers the lead with
a 7:21 remaining.
The Dragons forced overtime with
Goldberg’s second goal of the game
with 3:37 left on the clock.
In the second overtime freshman
Nathan Page scored the Dragon’s
game winning goal with 4:17 remaining.
“We just need to work with ourselves
and hopefully we will never
concede six goals,” Maloney said. “If
we just make little improvements,
and if we can go out and find goals,
we are going to climb up the conference
sooner or later.”
In their next two games the Tigers
will play George Mason and Old
Dominion, two of the top teams in
the conference. Maloney explained
that there is no reason to hold back
any more; if they are able to beat
one or even both of those two teams,
then it will restore confidence within
the team.
“We have got nothing to lose now;
we can only get better from here on
in,” he said.