Head Coach: Pete Shinnick (4th year as HC, Overall Record: 18-19)
Coach Shinnick started his head coaching career in Division II. Before coming to Towson, he was the head coach at West Florida when they started their program in 2016. While at West Florida, he won the DII National Championship in 2019.
Offensive Coordinator: Adam Neugebauer (2nd year as OC)
Neugebauer's offense is best described as a spread, Air Raid-inspired offense, with more of a vertical passing element. Now, this doesn't mean Towson will throw the ball 50 times against the Gamecocks on Saturday night. However, last week against Navy, when Towson was struggling to run the ball, he did move to a more pass-based attack. This leads me to the conclusion that if we can stop the run, he will quickly abandon it and become very one-dimensional.
One thing that can be very frustrating for a defense against an Air Raid offense is how quickly the offense gets the ball out to basically prevent the pass rush from impacting the QB. However, this offense likes to take deep shots throughout the game. Against Maine in Week 1, they had two TDs that were off of 50+ yard passes, and they had 3 passes of over 40 yards against Navy last week. So, they will take deep shots, which means that gives our DL or blitzers time to get to the QB.
They really like pre-snap motions and trades to force the defense to communicate the changes. They will use an empty backfield a lot (QB by himself in shotgun) and will motion a back into the backfield or play with 5 WRs. When the offense starts with a back in the backfield, they are a big fan of the pistol formation. Their main run play is inside zone. They will use an H-Back (or Wing Back if you are old-school) a lot and have him block the backside of the play in a split zone concept. If you are unfamiliar with the split zone concept, here is a quick overview:
In a traditional zone run play, the OL is moving as a unit in one direction. Each of the linemen is responsible for a zone (or area), not necessarily a certain defender. The OL will often work in pairs to attack a zone, with two offensive linemen being responsible for one DL and one LB. When a lot of offenses do this, they leave the DE to the backside of the play unblocked, and the QB reads what that DE does to decide if he is going to hand the ball to the RB for the zone play or if he wants to pull the ball and run himself. (Think Connor Shaw in the run game) In split zone, the offense will send an H back that was on the front side of the play to kick out that DE so there isn't a read on that play. The reason teams do this is they will set up a fake where the H back doesn't block the end, and he will continue out to the flats for a quick pass in the flats. Now, Towson has a wrinkle off this setup, where the H back will not block the DE and will continue up to block the "alley defender" (typically a LB or Safety) and set up an RPO or true screen from a WR to the backside. This is also a big part of Indiana's offense. It allows the offense to have a "read" play without putting the QB in a situation where he can take a big hit.
Best Offensive Players
The first thing to know about this defense is that it returns ZERO starters from last season. That's right, not one starter is back. That is tough for any DC to overcome. This was really exposed against Navy's option attack last week, when the Midshipmen rushed for 506 yards in the game. Our OL and RB rooms should be licking their chops, as they are getting ready to play this defense.
Before Dulin was a DC, he spent most of his career coaching the secondary, and as you would expect, the strength of his defense is that group. His defense focuses on getting pressure on the QB, creating takeaways, and being aggressive in the secondary. He likes to play a lot of man coverages, but I could see him backing off that some against our WR group.
This is a true "multiple front" defense. They will adjust their front group several times throughout the game to try and create confusion among the OL. They will play in a four-down front a good bit, but they move guys around along the line based on the offense's formation.
I watched a replay of their game against Maine. The thing that stood out to me was that their linebackers flow to the ball well, but can be overaggressive, leaving them susceptible to the play-action passing game. Their safeties typically do a good job of seeing the whole field and playing their responsibilities. But when a defense wants to be aggressive in the secondary, I would use a lot of double-move concepts in the passing game. I am willing to bet we see Nyck Harbor catch a few of his routes in the flats, as he did in the first game, and then KB dials up an out-and-up route for him with Sellers pump-faking the out to get the DBs to bite on the fake to set up the deep ball.
Best Defensive Players
Let's be honest here, this should be an easy win for the Gamecocks. Towson comes in at 0-2 and returned ZERO starters on defense from last season. This is another game where you want to see the offense have a big night, the defense be extremely disruptive, and for the entire team to play with focus and discipline. Maybe it's the Gamecock in me, but I will be really focused on the first few drives for the Gamecocks. Will we come out and try to go through the motions, expecting an easy win? A good football team comes out and puts these guys away early, and we see the backups and walk-ons in the game early in the 2nd half. The question is: are we that football team?
Coach Shinnick started his head coaching career in Division II. Before coming to Towson, he was the head coach at West Florida when they started their program in 2016. While at West Florida, he won the DII National Championship in 2019.
Offensive Coordinator: Adam Neugebauer (2nd year as OC)
Neugebauer's offense is best described as a spread, Air Raid-inspired offense, with more of a vertical passing element. Now, this doesn't mean Towson will throw the ball 50 times against the Gamecocks on Saturday night. However, last week against Navy, when Towson was struggling to run the ball, he did move to a more pass-based attack. This leads me to the conclusion that if we can stop the run, he will quickly abandon it and become very one-dimensional.
One thing that can be very frustrating for a defense against an Air Raid offense is how quickly the offense gets the ball out to basically prevent the pass rush from impacting the QB. However, this offense likes to take deep shots throughout the game. Against Maine in Week 1, they had two TDs that were off of 50+ yard passes, and they had 3 passes of over 40 yards against Navy last week. So, they will take deep shots, which means that gives our DL or blitzers time to get to the QB.
They really like pre-snap motions and trades to force the defense to communicate the changes. They will use an empty backfield a lot (QB by himself in shotgun) and will motion a back into the backfield or play with 5 WRs. When the offense starts with a back in the backfield, they are a big fan of the pistol formation. Their main run play is inside zone. They will use an H-Back (or Wing Back if you are old-school) a lot and have him block the backside of the play in a split zone concept. If you are unfamiliar with the split zone concept, here is a quick overview:
In a traditional zone run play, the OL is moving as a unit in one direction. Each of the linemen is responsible for a zone (or area), not necessarily a certain defender. The OL will often work in pairs to attack a zone, with two offensive linemen being responsible for one DL and one LB. When a lot of offenses do this, they leave the DE to the backside of the play unblocked, and the QB reads what that DE does to decide if he is going to hand the ball to the RB for the zone play or if he wants to pull the ball and run himself. (Think Connor Shaw in the run game) In split zone, the offense will send an H back that was on the front side of the play to kick out that DE so there isn't a read on that play. The reason teams do this is they will set up a fake where the H back doesn't block the end, and he will continue out to the flats for a quick pass in the flats. Now, Towson has a wrinkle off this setup, where the H back will not block the DE and will continue up to block the "alley defender" (typically a LB or Safety) and set up an RPO or true screen from a WR to the backside. This is also a big part of Indiana's offense. It allows the offense to have a "read" play without putting the QB in a situation where he can take a big hit.
Best Offensive Players
- Andrew Indorf - QB #13 - Indorf was the Co-Rookie of the Year in the CAA and was a Jerry Rice Award finalist last season. He is their key player on offense. Like most offenses, their success stems from him.
- Cleveland Charlton - WR # 2 - Charlton is a 6'5 sophomore who had a huge game in Week 1 against Maine: 4 catches for 136 yards and 1 TD, so he is someone to keep an eye on. While he certainly has a lot of height, he is lacking in size. He is listed on the roster at 160 pounds.
- KJ Brooks - OL #74 - Brooks is a senior and their best offensive lineman. He is a former FCS Freshman All-American. He is listed at 6-3, 290. They have played him at different spots along the line during his career, but he has mostly been at Right Tackle.
The first thing to know about this defense is that it returns ZERO starters from last season. That's right, not one starter is back. That is tough for any DC to overcome. This was really exposed against Navy's option attack last week, when the Midshipmen rushed for 506 yards in the game. Our OL and RB rooms should be licking their chops, as they are getting ready to play this defense.
Before Dulin was a DC, he spent most of his career coaching the secondary, and as you would expect, the strength of his defense is that group. His defense focuses on getting pressure on the QB, creating takeaways, and being aggressive in the secondary. He likes to play a lot of man coverages, but I could see him backing off that some against our WR group.
This is a true "multiple front" defense. They will adjust their front group several times throughout the game to try and create confusion among the OL. They will play in a four-down front a good bit, but they move guys around along the line based on the offense's formation.
I watched a replay of their game against Maine. The thing that stood out to me was that their linebackers flow to the ball well, but can be overaggressive, leaving them susceptible to the play-action passing game. Their safeties typically do a good job of seeing the whole field and playing their responsibilities. But when a defense wants to be aggressive in the secondary, I would use a lot of double-move concepts in the passing game. I am willing to bet we see Nyck Harbor catch a few of his routes in the flats, as he did in the first game, and then KB dials up an out-and-up route for him with Sellers pump-faking the out to get the DBs to bite on the fake to set up the deep ball.
Best Defensive Players
- Ben Kumpson - LB #0 - He is the leading returning tackler (with only 33 tackles), he plays aggressively and is a very reliable tackler in space. He had 11 tackles against Navy and was really their only bright spot on defense in that game.
- Bryan Lodge - DB #3 - Another very good tackler in space.
Let's be honest here, this should be an easy win for the Gamecocks. Towson comes in at 0-2 and returned ZERO starters on defense from last season. This is another game where you want to see the offense have a big night, the defense be extremely disruptive, and for the entire team to play with focus and discipline. Maybe it's the Gamecock in me, but I will be really focused on the first few drives for the Gamecocks. Will we come out and try to go through the motions, expecting an easy win? A good football team comes out and puts these guys away early, and we see the backups and walk-ons in the game early in the 2nd half. The question is: are we that football team?
