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Towson is 0-4 and it isn't because they can't move the ball

Towson comes to Dover on Saturday at 0-4, which is the kind of record that makes a team sound like a get-right game. Look at how they got there and it stops sounding that way.

In two of those four losses, Towson had more yards than the team that beat them.

The Morgan State game is the one to study

Last Saturday a MEAC team walked into Johnny Unitas Stadium and won by 15. Morgan State 41, Towson 26.

Towson outgained them 426 to 369. Andrew Indorf went 33-of-43 for 365 yards and three touchdowns. Aaron Enterline caught seven for 92 and two scores. By almost every measure of moving the football, Towson had the better afternoon.

They lost by 15 because Morgan State scored on a 95-yard kickoff return, because Towson settled for field goals twice in the first half while Morgan State was scoring touchdowns, and because of the number underneath all of it: Towson ran 32 times for 61 yards. That's 1.9 a carry.

The Tigers cannot run it, and it is not close

Towson's rushing totals by game: 112 against Maine, 39 at Navy, 21 at South Carolina, 61 against Morgan State.

Twenty-one yards. That one came on 29 carries.

So this is a one-dimensional offense, and everybody Towson plays knows it. Indorf is a real quarterback who has thrown for 267, 208, 171 and 365, and he has been given almost no help. Delaware State will know exactly what is coming on Saturday, which is a luxury most defenses don't get.

One caution on the other side of the ball, because the raw numbers lie here. Towson has given up 506 rushing yards to Navy and 405 to South Carolina, and those look like the stats of a defense that cannot stop anybody. Navy and South Carolina are two of the most run-committed teams in the country. Against FCS opponents, Towson has allowed 130 rushing yards to Maine and 123 to Morgan State. That is a normal defense having two very bad afternoons against a style it doesn't see often.

Delaware State should not walk in expecting the Navy tape.

Delaware State's problem is the opposite one

The Hornets are 2-2 and they have moved the ball all season: 514 yards against Stony Brook, 366 at William & Mary, 391 against Bowie State, 353 at South Florida.

They lost at William & Mary anyway, and that game is still the most instructive one on their schedule. Delaware State outgained the Tribe 366 to 187. That is a 179-yard advantage. They lost 22-15, because they turned it over six times and did not score a point until the fourth quarter.

Ui Ale has been the story either way. He threw for 259 and ran for 82 against Stony Brook, had his worst day in Williamsburg at 15-of-31 with two interceptions, and then went 16-of-22 for 249 and two touchdowns in Tampa, including a 90-yard touchdown to Nathan Stewart that is the longest play anybody on this beat has produced this year.

The run game is the reliable part. Delaware State has rushed for 255, 174, 224 and 103, and the 103 came against an FBS team that scored 59.

Two teams that keep winning the yards

Put those together and Saturday is a game between two teams with the same habit. Both of them have outgained opponents and lost. Towson has done it twice. Delaware State did it by 179 yards in Williamsburg.

Neither of these teams loses because it gets outplayed for sixty minutes. They lose in bursts: six giveaways, a kickoff return, a quarter where nothing happens. The margin is going to come from a small number of moments rather than a gradual pulling away.

What decides it

Delaware State runs it and Towson has to throw it.

If the Hornets hold onto the football, they should win. They are the more complete team, they are at home, and their opponent has one way to move the ball. DeSean Jackson's second season has them at 2-2 with both losses coming to teams they had no business beating on paper, and this is a game a program on the way up should win.

If they give it away the way they did at Zable, Indorf is good enough to make them pay for it. Morgan State just showed what this Towson team looks like when it gets a short field and a lead, and that was on the road.

Kickoff is 6pm at Alumni Stadium in Dover on MEAC Network. We'll be there. Recap to follow.