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J Monday, 10-10-11
Matthew Hazlett/ The Towerlight
Freshman running back Terrance West charges past Richmond defenders during Towson’s 31-28 win over the No. 14 Spiders. West had 128 yards rushing on 21 carries, four of
which went for touchdowns. The Tigers won thanks to West’s 24 points and kicker D.J . Soven's four PATs and last-second game-winning field goal.
TIGERS STOMP SPIDERS
Late field goal seals tie for first in CAA
ALEX GLAZE
Staff Writer
With four seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, sophomore D.J. Soven took the field for the
Tigers.
Soven lined up to attempt a 27-yard, game-winning field goal, and then Richmond used their last
timeout in an attempt to ice the young kicker, who had not hit a game-winning field goal in his col-
Christopher Curry/ The Towerlight
legiate career.
Towson Head Coach Rob Ambrose huddled the entire field goal unit up and made sure that Soven
was relaxed by telling him jokes and making fun of him, something that got a laugh out of the 5-foot-
7-inch kicker, even with the game on the line.
"It goes back to how we practice and prepare for adverse situations," Ambrose said. "It was more
about keeping his head not focused on anything, his muscle memory should take over."
As the final seconds ticked off of the clock, Soven delivered and nailed the field goal to lift the Tigers
to a 31-28 victory over the 14th-ranked Richmond Spiders.
"Coach prepares us for moments like that, and it really wasn’t anything strenuous," Soven said. "The
guys did a great job blocking, [Brian] Potts did a great job holding, and that was it."
Towson (4-1, 2-0 Colonial Athletic Association) and the Spiders both put on impressive offensive
displays, combining for more than 800 total yards in the game.
The Tigers’ offense was led by freshman running back Terrance West, who ran for four touchdowns
to make up for an uncharacteristic performance by the Towson defense West gained 128 yards on the
ground on 21 carries and gave the Tigers just enough to squeak by the Richmond Spiders.
"The holes were there, so 1 just give it all to the [offensive] line," West said.
In the four games that West has played this season, he has scored multiple touchdowns in three of
them, including three or more touchdowns in the past two games.
In a game with two prolific offenses battling, Ambrose said that the Tigers were going to need to do
two things: run the ball in an effort to lull time off of the play clock; and get the final possession of the
game. Towson completed both of those assignments successfully, and in return they remain undefeated
in the CAA.
"Their offense is impressive," Ambrose said. "If we could not get to [Richmond quarterback Aaron
Corp], which we weren’t doing a very good job of, we were going to have to keep the ball out of the
offense’s hands.”
Towson’s defense allowed Richmond to gain 459 yards of total offense and at times allowed the
Spiders to move the ball with ease down the field. For Richmond (3-3, 0-3 CAA), Corp’s record-setting
day proved why he is one of the elite quarterbacks of the CAA Corp completed 31 of his 34 pass
attempts and threw for 353 yards and two touchdowns. Corp set a new FCS single game completion
percentage (minimum of 30 attempts) record by completing 91 percent of his passes.
Tre Gray is statistically the best wide receiver in the conference and was Corp’s favorite target
See UR, page 22
Freshman running back Terrance West
