On a day when senior quarterback Kevin Smith played Towson University's passing game like a maestro, he earned the right to sing at his Minnegan Stadium farewell.
Smith's flawless 315-yard passing performance inspired a 17-14 nonconference victory over visiting Drake yesterday and enabled Towson's outgoing class to celebrate senior day.
"I was close to the seniors last year," Smith said after Tigers improved to 4-4. "When we fell short against Bucknell [on senior day 1997], I saw how much it hurt them.
"This meant a lot, coming off the field singing the fight song, with Dr. Smith leading us."
With apologies to Towson president Hoke Smith, there was only one leader of the Tigers' band yesterday, and it was their gritty quarterback. Operating almost exclusively in a four-wide-out, spread offense, Smith carved up the Drake secondary for 36 completions in 48 attempts and one touchdown.
The name of this tune was ball control.
"They played ball control with the passing game," said Drake coach Rob Ash. "That was impressive.
"Kevin Smith is a great quarterback. We anticipated he'd be patient and be tough to track down. You hope the guy makes a mistake, but he didn't throw one away."
When Drake took away Jason Corle's inside running game (14 carries, 31 yards), Smith threw short hitch passes to his wide receivers. He used eight receivers, but fittingly found senior wide-out Anthony Maglionico 11 times for 80 yards.
In keeping with the theme of the week, the Tigers scored on their first three possessions of the game, including a 20-play, 74-yard field-goal drive to start the game.
"We talked all week about getting out [to a faster start]," Towson coach Gordy Combs said, "and we got out."
A 22-yard field goal by Ed Franco and two touchdowns by Corle (8-yard pass, 1-yard run) produced a 17-0 second-quarter lead just a week after the Tigers dug a 27-0 first-half hole at Dayton.
Towson's big-play defense spent the rest of the game protecting that lead. Defensive end Andrew Hollingsworth led a withering pass rush with four sacks, and Jabari Garrett and Donald Wood had interceptions.
"I pride myself on being in shape and playing all four quarters," Hollingsworth said after helping smother two final desperation Drake possessions.
This was a game that started out like a Towson rout but became a grind when the Tigers failed to take advantage of several opportunities.
