A limited number of tickets for the highly-anticipated season-opening football game between Towson University and Navy, set for August 30 in Annapolis, will go on sale at the Towson University ticket office, starting on Tuesday, July 1. The tickets, located in the Towson rooting section, are priced at $32 each and will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Located on the first floor of the University Union, the ticket office is open on Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Towson and Navy will open the 2008 season on Saturday, August 30 at 3:30 p.m. at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Opening their 40th season of college football, the Tigers will be facing an NCAA BCS (formerly 1-A) team for the first time ever when they visit Navy. Although Towson is playing Navy for the first time, many of the Tigers? Colonial Athletic Association rivals have visited Navy through the years. In fact, over the years, the Mids have played seven of the Tigers? CAA rivals, including Delaware (7-7), James Madison (1-2), Massachusetts (1-0), Northeastern (1-0), Richmond (2-0), Villanova (9-2) and William & Mary (35-6-1).
The Towson-Navy contest features an interesting matchup of head coaches. While Towson Coach Gordy Combs will be starting his 17th season as the Tigers? head coach, Navy Coach Ken Niumatalolo will be coaching his first home game on August 30. Niumatalolo, a long-time assistant at Navy, was named as the Mids? head coach prior to the Poinsettia Bowl in December. He took over for Paul Johnson, who was named as the head coach at Georgia Tech.
Like Niumatalolo, Combs was also a long-time assistant coach at Towson before being named as the head coach in 1992. Combs spent 19 seasons as a Tiger assistant coach while Niumatalolo was an assistant coach at Navy for 10 years before being promoted. He spent the last six years as the Mids? Assistant Head Coach and Offensive Line Coach.
Navy, the winner of five straight Commander-In-Chief trophies, posted an 8-5 record last season. Over the last five seasons, Navy has a 43-20 record and has played in five bowl games.
Led by senior quarterback Sean Schaefer (Northern H.S./Dunkirk, Md.), the Tigers have posted two winning seasons in the last three years. Schaefer enters his senior year as the NCAA FCS active leader with 8,358 career passing yards.
The Tigers? season opener at Navy marks the start of a challenging 12-game schedule. The Tigers open their home schedule on September 6 against Morgan State at Johnny Unitas ? Stadium. Towson also hosts Columbia on September 27, Northeastern on October 4, Rhode Island on October 11, William & Mary on November 1 and James Madison on November 22.
Season tickets for the six-game Tiger football home schedule are priced at $50 for adults and $30 for youth (17 and under).
For ticket information, call the Towson Ticket Office at (410) 704-2244.
