The master plan at Towson State was for running back Jason Corle, a true freshman, to be redshirted this season.
Why waste a year of Corle's eligibility? Because, without Corle, this might have been a wasted season for the Tigers.
A native of Barnegat, N.J., Corle has emerged as Towson's leading rusher with 557 yards, second to Brian Kirchoff (611 in 1981) on the school's all-time freshman single-season list. Twice, he has set the school record for single-game yardage by a rookie, most recently on Oct. 19, when he shredded Monmouth's defense for 192 yards in the pouring rain.
In last weekend's 54-14 homecoming romp over St. Francis (Pa.), which enabled the Tigers to reach the .500 mark, Corle ran for 63 yards on his first carry, starting down the left sideline, then cutting across the middle and dodging a host of would-be tacklers. He finished with 150 yards on only 11 attempts.
"We wanted to keep him out all year, but he did tremendous in the preseason," said coach Gordy Combs. "We made the decision during the Bucknell game (a 44-7 loss Sept. 14), when we couldn't run the football."
He's been a major component of the offense since then, though senior tailback Maurice Sydnor and sophomore fullback Kevyn Dodson (Arundel) continue to log a lot of playing time.
Corle, 6 feet 1, 200 pounds, is the all-time leading rusher at Southern Regional High (N.J.) with 1,859 yards.
Tigers inspire themselves
St. Louis Rams punter Sean Landeta had his Towson State number retired at halftime of Saturday's homecoming game at Minnegan Stadium, but that was the extent of his involvement in the proceedings. The Tigers looked inspired during their 54-14 rout of St. Francis (Pa.), but it wasn't because of any fiery pre-game speech by Landeta, a graduate of Loch Raven High.
"He did that three years ago for us against Hofstra and we lost," said Combs, smiling. "We were playing Hofstra up there and he (( was still with the Giants. He came over and talked to the team before the game. I said, 'I'm not doing that again.' "
Included in Saturday's win was a goal-line interception by senior cornerback Brad Friedman, who raced 41 yards down the sideline before tripping.
"Sniper got me," he said, laughing. "I'd like to have that one back."
He later returned a punt a school-record 94 yards for a touchdown.
