TU football: Frequent national champs, Baltimore rivals on schedule for Tigers
Tigers ready to take the field, inspire campus during 2021 season
By Kyle Hobstetter on August 18, 2021
The 2021 Towson University football team will host one of the nation's best programs at Johnny Unitas® Stadium this season and head coach Rob Ambrose isn't taking the chance for granted.
“North Dakota State is pretty much like saying Alabama or Clemson is coming to campus,” Ambrose says. “They have won more national championships in the last 10 years than any school in any sport, and they are coming to play here."
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Students, faculty and staff receive free entry to all TU-sponsored sporting events. This year it’s easier than ever to get tickets through the Towson Gameday app. Students can receive their tickets by downloading the app, clicking Menu, Student Entry and Sign in to Towson Gameday before accessing their tickets with a student email address.
For non-Towson University students, faculty and staff, tickets for all home games can be purchased through the special Towson University football ticket website.
Before that showdown with North Dakota State, however, Ambrose's team had to come together and form an identity. The Tigers returned Aug. 6 for their annual fall camp in preparation for the 2021 season. Ambrose, now in his 13th year at TU, watched his team finish a full-pad practice that Friday. Despite sweat dripping from his face, it was hard for him not to keep smiling.
After months of virtual meetings with his team, he admitted it was a monumental moment to be in front of his players.
“This first day back, outside the birth of my children, I don’t think I could have been more moved,” Ambrose says. “The gratitude to be back doing what we do and what we love, it’s incredible. I’ve never seen a group of kids happier to be out in the heat and sweating.
“It’s joy. Some of it is painful joy, but it’s for the love of the game. And when you don’t have this for so long, and you finally get it back, I don’t know if there is a better feeling.”
Starting early each morning, the team does various position workouts, 7-on-7 drills, full intrasquad scrimmages and other formation sets until Aug. 27. The players are also working on their strength and conditioning.
“There is definitely a difference between being in shape and being in game shape,” says senior safety S.J. Brown II. “Everyone is getting used to being back out there and running in pads, running with a helmet on and getting used to that extra weight. But there is a lot of energy, and it’s just fun to be back out there with my brothers.”
During the pandemic, the team held full team and position meetings on Zoom. Over the spring, the team returned to the field but followed strict protocols to stay safe.
But the Aug. 6 intrasquad scrimmage often overflowed with intensity. With every play made, there was excitement and loud ovations coming from the sidelines.
“It’s great getting to play football again and coming out here and forgetting everything,” senior offensive lineman Aaron Grzymkowski says. “The hardest part was being isolated from your team. To finally be away from the computer, it’s so nice.
“There is so much energy on this field; it really feels like we’re at where we left
off back in 2019,” added Grzymkowski, an All-Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) pre-season
third team selection.
Senior linebacker Christian Dixon—who was also named to Phil Steele’s All-CAA preseason third team—says in-person comradery is hard to replicate. And, of course, as a linebacker, he’s missed hitting people too.
“Being with everybody, competing with each other, talking trash to each other, it’s basically just having fun. And who wouldn’t want to have fun with their brothers?” Dixon laughs. “There is so much excitement, not just from me but from the whole team and the coaching staff. We’re ready for this season.”
The Tigers open on Saturday, Sept. 4, traveling to Morgan State and renewing “The Battle for Greater Baltimore.” The Office of Student Activities will be offering a bus for fans. Further details on events.towson.edu will be available soon.
For the first home game, the Tigers welcome NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) powerhouse North Dakota State. The Bison have won eight of the past 10 FCS national titles.
The game will be a rematch of the 2013 FCS National Championship game, which saw the Tigers lose 35-7. Ambrose has been waiting for this moment for eight years and is ready to show the Bison how tough a venue Unitas Stadium is for visitors.
“[The path to] winning the national championship goes through North Dakota State. I’m ready for our students to tailgate, have fun, be smart then come in here and raise some hell.”