Eastern faces tough test in Towson’s West
Eastern, meet West.
Three days ago, Towson coach Rob Ambrose was asked why Tigers running back Terrance West should win the Walter Payton Award, the top individual honor in the Football Championship Subdivision.
Ambrose paused, then pounced.
“You mean this is an actual question, that there’s somebody out there who doesn’t think he should win?” Ambrose shot back Monday morning during the Colonial Athletic Association’s weekly media teleconference.
“If he doesn’t win, there is something wrong with how we tabulate the ballots,” said Ambrose, whose Tigers face Eastern Washington in a semifinal FCS playoff game Saturday at Roos Field.
Seconds later, a CAA representative informed Ambrose that the ballots had been counted three weeks prior, long before West ran for an FCS-record 354 yards in a quarterfinal win last Friday at Eastern Illinois.
Ambrose gave a disdainful laugh and a parting shot.
“Then those people are going to look pretty funny,” he said.
Sure enough, West finished third behind Eastern Illinois quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and Eastern Washington’s Vernon Adams.
They probably don’t look as funny as the defenders West has left in his wake en route to an FCS-best 2,295 yards and 38 touchdowns this season. A versatile 5-foot-11, 223-pound junior from Baltimore, he also averages 6.3 yards per carry and has 215 receiving yards.
“After watching him, he’s as good as any running back I’ve ever seen in my career here at Eastern,” EWU coach Beau Baldwin said.
West and Towson made history in 2011, running for 1,294 yards to earn the inaugural Jerry Rice Award given to the top freshman in FCS. That also marked the Tigers’ first FCS playoff game, a 40-38 loss to Lehigh that only whetted the program’s appetite for more.
West ran for 1,046 yards last year, then burst onto the national scene in this year’s opening game, a 33-18 win at FBS school Connecticut.
“From the beginning of the game I saw we could handle them,” said West, who rushed for 156 yards and two scores against the Huskies.
The ability of West and the savvy of senior quarterback Peter Athens have been a key in this, the best season in Towson history. The fifth-ranked Tigers are 13-2 after winning the first two playoff games in school history, including a 49-39 win in the snow and sleet at high-scoring Eastern Illinois.
“Dang, he’s good,” Eastern linebacker Albert Havili said of West. “He hits holes, runs hard, and he’s going to be physical.”
Ambrose values his possession offense as a tool to keep prolific opposing offenses off the field.
“Attempting to shorten the game with a run is an intelligent move,” Ambrose said as he prepared for Eastern Washington.