Towson -ODU - the Aftermath

[tampajag]

They do, that's how I got these lovely battle scars. If you think that's bad you should see our bowling tournaments.

I'd imagine a lot of weave-pulling and 10-inch nail scratching.

Actually our bowling team is mostly white. So that's lots of hair pulling and screaming.

[Aho Old Guy]

You'll get no sympathy from most posters on here.

This. Fourth and 29 ain't nuthin'

If you've been around long enough you have seen nearly every imaginable way possible of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Ask the Villanova fan about the JMU game in 2008

Since you were so gracious to bring up James Madison/Appalachian, We have even better legends from The Rock ...

('Miracle on the Mountain' warning to FU fans)

[dbackjon]

I'd imagine a lot of weave-pulling and 10-inch nail scratching.

Actually our bowling team is mostly white. So that's lots of hair pulling and screaming.

[tampajag]

Actually our bowling team is mostly white. So that's lots of hair pulling and screaming.

I credit the bowling team with sparking my interest in whootys. The team doesn't look hot at all now.

[89Hen]

You'll get no sympathy from most posters on here. If this is the most heartbreaking loss you have in the next five years, you're either not very successful or you won a bunch of championships...

BS. How many teams lose "important" games when if ANY ONE of THREE different plays, where the probability is on your side, go your way, you would win? Yeah, the loss sucks. But I have a much bigger problem getting over the WAY we lost.

Were you not around here last January?

[tampajag]

BS. How many teams lose "important" games when if ANY ONE of THREE different plays, where the probability is on your side, go your way, you would win? Yeah, the loss sucks. But I have a much bigger problem getting over the WAY we lost.

Were you not around here last January?

I turned that game off at halftime. What happened?

[CAA Flagship]

BS. How many teams lose "important" games when if ANY ONE of THREE different plays, where the probability is on your side, go your way, you would win? Yeah, the loss sucks. But I have a much bigger problem getting over the WAY we lost.

Were you not around here last January?

What were the "freakish" plays?

[89Hen]

Were you not around here last January?

What were the "freakish" plays?

Are you being serious?

[CAA Flagship]

What were the "freakish" plays?

Are you being serious?

Seriously. Sure there was a big shift in momentum after going up 19-0, but what plays went against you where the odds were in your favor?

[89Hen]

Are you being serious?

Seriously. Sure there was a big shift in momentum after going up 19-0, but what plays went against you where the odds were in your favor?

How about stopping a team on 4th down and having the refs blow TWO calls? We Hen fans were pretty darn cordial about that one in the days and weeks that followed.

[CAA Flagship]

OK. Fair enough. I see the 4th and 1 with 3:30 to go. Again, not sure of the odds of 4th and 1. I'm thinking a lot closer to 50-50. I did forget about the bad calls. That certainly is a hearbreaker. But bad calls are a different animal sort of. At least you can blame the refs. I would love to have the refs to blame at this point. All we have is ourselves to blame for dropping a pass, not fielding an onsides kick, and giving up a 63 yard TD pass on 4th and 29. Come on, admit it. We really choked that game away.

[89Hen]

Come on, admit it. We really choked that game away.

Oh, no doubt, but that's what losers do.

[89Hen]

BTW, NOBODY is immune to that. I recall a year when UD had a chip shot blocked at Richmond to lose the game (actually that happened TWO years to the Spiders), missed three chip shots at URI TWO in OT, let The Citadel escape a 4th and long at the end of the game to lose by 4, had a receiver slip and turn into a pick 6 at W&M to lose by 3... all to finish 6-6. They could have easily been a 9-3 team, but they blew a bunch of plays where the odds were in their favor.

Ask about the McNeese semifinal game someday.

[andy7171]

Back in 1992 we came back, down by 20 some points in the final 5-6 minutes of the game, up at IUP. We converted 3 onsides kicks to do so. AND after getting that third one, we fumbled the ball away, only to get it back on the very next play.

Suck on those statistical odds!

Converting a onsides kick is not impossible, ODU did it in the same game.

Converting a 4th down is not all that uncommon either.

It's a tough one to swallow, sure, but the impossible didn't happen.

Yeah, that's pretty wild. I never said it never happens, I'm saying it is rare to have 3 death blows with high odds fail.
Re: onsides kicks, the difference is we knew the onsides kick was coming. Towson did not when we got it. That's a big difference. Converting 4th and 1 (or 2) is not uncommon, I agree. But I would like to see the odds of converting in that situation.

The next game following, same '92 season, Northeastern scores with 8 seconds left on the clock. They kick off, we pass back, pass back, pass back until our 2nd string center with a broken hand in a cast(!), passes back to our main return man, who runs across the field into the entire NU bench who is to the hash marks celebrating. Tackles at the 25 yard line, whether or not by a elliblbe Husky player. Flags fly. Game can't end on a defensive penalty. Fade to the corner, Towson wins. EVERYONE rushes the field. ESPN Play of the Year, pre-ESPYs.


Towson State was special before they dropped scholarships in the early 90's when the recruiting classes came of age. Set us back decades. But at least we aren't BU or where Uconn was before the BE invited them in.

..but I am biased.

[andy7171]

Bottom line, this shit happens every week in college football. It's what makes it better than the NFL.

[89Hen]

Northeastern scores with 8 seconds left on the clock. They kick off, we pass back, pass back, pass back until our 2nd string center with a broken hand in a cast(!), passes back to our main return man, who runs across the field into the entire NU bench who is to the hash marks celebrating. Tackles at the 25 yard line, whether or not by a elliblbe Husky player. Flags fly. Game can't end on a defensive penalty. Fade to the corner, Towson wins. EVERYONE rushes the field. ESPN Play of the Year, pre-ESPYs.

But you sold yourself short... it was only 4 seconds left.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1992-1 ... son-tigers

[andy7171]

Northeastern scores with 8 seconds left on the clock. They kick off, we pass back, pass back, pass back until our 2nd string center with a broken hand in a cast(!), passes back to our main return man, who runs across the field into the entire NU bench who is to the hash marks celebrating. Tackles at the 25 yard line, whether or not by a elliblbe Husky player. Flags fly. Game can't end on a defensive penalty. Fade to the corner, Towson wins. EVERYONE rushes the field. ESPN Play of the Year, pre-ESPYs.

But you sold yourself short... it was only 4 seconds left.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1992-1 ... son-tigers

Did mention I'm elderly?

[89Hen]

Did mention I'm elderly?

It's just rare to see somebody understate a yarn of days gone by.

[CAA Flagship]

BTW, NOBODY is immune to that. I recall a year when UD had a chip shot blocked at Richmond to lose the game (actually that happened TWO years to the Spiders), missed three chip shots at URI TWO in OT, let The Citadel escape a 4th and long at the end of the game to lose by 4, had a receiver slip and turn into a pick 6 at W&M to lose by 3... all to finish 6-6. They could have easily been a 9-3 team, but they blew a bunch of plays where the odds were in their favor.

Ask about the McNeese semifinal game someday.

I realize it happens "a lot", but "a lot" is not necessarily even once per team per year. There are approximately 122 D-1 games each weekend. I don't think a quarter of them are close enough to come down to a fluke (10% probability of success or less) play in the final quarter to decide a game. And the ones that are close may not have one of these fluke plays occur. But when it does, it is remembered which makes it seem like it happens more than it does. Remember, I'm not talking about good plays, I'm talking about low probability plays such as missed chip shot field goals or extra points, pick six or fumble return that turns into winning points, onside kick recoveries, hail mary's, blocked punts, punt or kickoff returns, 63 yard 4th and 29 passes for TD's, etc.
All of this is not meant to take anything away from Towson by the way. If a team drives down the field and has a 20 yard field goal for the win and misses it, the winning team didn't really earn that miss. The kicker lost it. In this case, Towson earned everything except the dropped touchdown pass but that was at the end of the 3rd quarter so I can't make such a big deal about that. Towson would have been down by 3 scores but still had 3 4th quarter drives (and one was stopped at on downs on our 8 yard line). Towson "intended" to recover the kick and complete the pass, so they earned it. We had control of the game and let it slip through our fingers. They are just the luckiest motherf#%kers on the face of the earth.
I would have felt better about the loss if we were never in the game, or like the Delaware game, a little overmatched combined with a poor performance.
Why are we bent out of shape over one loss? It's simple yet complex. First, it's oppurtunity. In a "down" CAA year, now is the time to take advantage of the opportunity. Second, recruiting. We need to keep the ball rolling. Third, attendance. Again, keep the ball rolling. Fourth, attention of FBS conferences, if we choose to go that route. Fifth, and certainly not least important, student recruiting, which is the main reason we ventured into football. With each win, the next game remains meaningful and student interest remains high. Also, we talked a lot of crap with our early wins and everyone was quick to point out that it was against weak competition. But we know what we saw regarding the talent and we knew that having experience, regardless of the competition, would serve us well. So yeah, being competitive in our first CAA year is important to the chips on our shoulders.

[BDKJMU]

Your infancy is showing.

Somebody has already pointed out Villanova last year, but that was regular season.

If this had happened in the playoffs and you had the attitude you have now, wow...we'd be calling the hotline.

Just consider what JMU fans think of as one our most heartbreaking losses...

2007 we go to App. St., the defending champs. We are leading 27-19 with 7 minutes left. App kicks a field goal with 5 minutes left, we have the ball and are up 27-22. We go for it on 4th and 1 (or 2) in our own territory and get stuffed. IF we get that play, we can pretty much run the clock out. Instead, App scores with a minute left to go up 28-27. THEN we drive down inside their 10 and instead of kicking the field goal on 3rd down to win it, we run one more time - the fumble heard 'round the world ensues...IF we had kicked the field goal or IF J. Sullivan holds onto the ball, we probably win the game.

Not going into as much detail on this one, but in the 2006 playoffs we had an ELEVEN point lead going into the fourth quarter and blew it at Youngstown.

Again, if this is your most heartbreaking loss in the next five years, you're doing something wrong.

I hear ya. But I'm a little unsure about the odds of converting a 4th and 1 against a team that absolutely needs the stop. It may be in your favor, but not by much. I will say that the fumble instead of a high probability field goal is a heart breaker.
I have said it for many years. The NFL is an 8-8 league with the exception of maybe 6-8 teams. And the difference between a 10-6 team and a 6-10 team is one low probability play occurring in each of 4 games. I don't have a problem with losing a game because of one "freak" play. It's when you had 3 opportunities with heavy odds in your favor go against you that puts sand in my bikini. It's like playing blackjack and standing on 20 while the dealer pulls a 5 on 16 three times to beat you.

When you'd converted about 10 or so 3rd and short or 4th and short all game (every single one, rushing for over 300) until they stop you on 3rd and short and then you gamble on 4th and 1. If Landers doesn't slip, then game, set, match, and a good chance JMU goes on to win the NC, or at least make Chatty for a rematch with UD. Given what had already happened all game, those odds were about 90% JMU makes that 4th and long 1.

That 07 1st round loss to ASU with "The Fumble" in ASU's Miracle on the Mtn was probably the most devastating loss I have ever witnessed or heard of as a JMU player (1 season), student, or alum.

-06' to YSU wasn't because I'm convinced JMU would have won qtr final vs Il State then lost to ASU in semis (had lost in regular season- ASU was clearly superior that yr).
-08' semis Montana wasn't because I'm convinced JMU would have lost to UR in the NC without Landers (after beating UR regular season on McGee last sec punt return).

mcveyrl is right- ODU will have more euphoric wins and more heartbreaking losses in the next 5 yrs.

[mlbowl]

But there was no pepper spraying the football players after the ODU-Towson game. We all know that every SWAC game ends in a riot because they are HBCU teams. Right?

They do, that's how I got these lovely battle scars. If you think that's bad you should see our bowling tournaments.

Been there...done that. I was taken out by a late hit on a 10 pin conversion. Ended my season!

[ODUfanRazor]

BS. How many teams lose "important" games when if ANY ONE of THREE different plays, where the probability is on your side, go your way, you would win? Yeah, the loss sucks. But I have a much bigger problem getting over the WAY we lost.

Your infancy is showing.

Somebody has already pointed out Villanova last year, but that was regular season.

If this had happened in the playoffs and you had the attitude you have now, wow...we'd be calling the hotline.

Just consider what JMU fans think of as one our most heartbreaking losses...

2007 we go to App. St., the defending champs. We are leading 27-19 with 7 minutes left. App kicks a field goal with 5 minutes left, we have the ball and are up 27-22. We go for it on 4th and 1 (or 2) in our own territory and get stuffed. IF we get that play, we can pretty much run the clock out. Instead, App scores with a minute left to go up 28-27. THEN we drive down inside their 10 and instead of kicking the field goal on 3rd down to win it, we run one more time - the fumble heard 'round the world ensues...IF we had kicked the field goal or IF J. Sullivan holds onto the ball, we probably win the game.

Not going into as much detail on this one, but in the 2006 playoffs we had an ELEVEN point lead going into the fourth quarter and blew it at Youngstown.

Again, if this is your most heartbreaking loss in the next five years, you're doing something wrong.

none of that sounds as bad as what we experienced. We were up 11 with 4 minutes left. They had to have everything go right AND get lucky (onside kick, 4th and 29 etc.) to win.

Your loss sounds more like stupidity than crappy luck. Trying to one up out devestating loss and telling us it's not that bad just wreaks of egotistical nonsense.

You gave up a fg and a td.....that happens. 4th and 29 doesn't happen very often, especially after recovering an onside kick that would have ended the game.

[ODUfanRazor]

Yeah, that's pretty wild. I never said it never happens, I'm saying it is rare to have 3 death blows with high odds fail.

Re: onsides kicks, the difference is we knew the onsides kick was coming. Towson did not when we got it. That's a big difference. Converting 4th and 1 (or 2) is not uncommon, I agree. But I would like to see the odds of converting in that situation.

The next game following, same '92 season, Northeastern scores with 8 seconds left on the clock. They kick off, we pass back, pass back, pass back until our 2nd string center with a broken hand in a cast(!), passes back to our main return man, who runs across the field into the entire NU bench who is to the hash marks celebrating. Tackles at the 25 yard line, whether or not by a elliblbe Husky player. Flags fly. Game can't end on a defensive penalty. Fade to the corner, Towson wins. EVERYONE rushes the field. ESPN Play of the Year, pre-ESPYs.


Towson State was special before they dropped scholarships in the early 90's when the recruiting classes came of age. Set us back decades. But at least we aren't BU or where Uconn was before the BE invited them in.

..but I am biased.

now THAT is a good comeback story! Incredible stuff.

[clenz]

You'll get no sympathy from most posters on here. If this is the most heartbreaking loss you have in the next five years, you're either not very successful or you won a bunch of championships...

BS. How many teams lose "important" games when if ANY ONE of THREE different plays, where the probability is on your side, go your way, you would win? Yeah, the loss sucks. But I have a much bigger problem getting over the WAY we lost.

Don't make me start going through the list of heartbreaking losses UNI has had the last 5-6 years...in games that literally cost UNI a national title, or a shot at the national title game.

[ODUfanRazor]

I think I'm Starting to notice a trend here ha.

When it's your team, it's much worse a loss than anyone else has ever suffered. Everyone has their stories, odu has finally earned one for themselves. This incessant need to try and minimize how bad a choke job this was from odu by bringing up other teams bad loss stories from years ago seems rather pointless.

But then again, that seems like the purpose of the majority of this board.