Spartan Echo

Mike Vick on the sideline of the first game (Alauna Marable/Spartan Echo)

College football is back, and the Spartans are off to a rocky start. Mike Vick and Spartan’s football lost their first game of the season 7-27 against the Towson University Tigers on August 28th at the William “Dick” Price Stadium.

 

“We could’ve done a lot of things better. We shot ourselves in the foot in a lot of situations –we gave up some big plays early,” said Vick. “We’re going to own it, accept it, and keep it pushing.”

 

The stadium was packed out with fans wearing Vick jerseys, including old Virginia Tech Hoosier jerseys and Philadelphia Eagles jerseys. There were even fans wearing the new Spartan Vick jerseys, and a portion of the proceeds go towards the Spartan football program. 

 

The Spartans started the game receiving the ball and had Israel Carter as the starting quarterback. Once the ball was in the Tiger’s hands, they were on a roll making plays down the field until Spartans running back Jaylen Laudermilk deflected an attempted pass.

 

The Tigers responded with quarterback Andrew Indorf and wide receiver John Dunmore connecting for a 26-yard pass, which later led to their first touchdown of the game with a 33-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jaceon Doss.

 

After Townsend made their point-after-kick to advance their score 0-7, the Spartans were still unable to get their footing on the game and punted the ball away soon after starting their second drive of the game.

 

With the momentum still on the Tiger’s side, they brought the ball down the field ending their 11-play drive with a 24-yard field goal from Caden Williams. Neither team scored for the remainder of the quarter, leaving the Tigers to end the quarter with this lead 0-10.

 

The Tigers started the second quarter the same way they ended the first with a 50-yard-field goal 0-13, the Spartans did things differently and changed their lineup. Veteran quarterback Otto Kuhns gave Spartans hope during their drive, and almost received their first touchdown of the game with a pass to Spartan wide receiver Taron Biles-Walker, but a false start from the offense cancelled the play.

 

Followed was a short two-minute and four-play drive from the Tigers, and the Spartans finished the last 2:48 of the half with 13-plays and no points on the board to end the half 0-13.

 

“It’s a lot of areas we got to get better in. It’s the first game, and we got to find a way to make the corrections,” said Vick. “Back to the drawing board tomorrow, but that’s what it’s all about.”

 

Coming out of half time, both teams had a slow start and no points were added to the score in the third quarter. When the Tigers started their drive with 1:31 left, Tigers running back AI Wooten fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Spartans linebacker Terique Miles, which closed out the quarter with this possession leaving the score 0-13.

 

Using the events from the last quarter, the Spartans got their first touchdown of the game within the first minute of the fourth quarter after Laudermilk rushed eight-yards into the end zone. Evan Helfrich’s kick attempt was good and put the Spartans on the board 7-13.

 

Although it was a moment of excitement for the Spartans, the Tigers shut it down quickly with Indorf throwing a deep 36-yard pass to Perkins, who ran a yard into the end-zone to complete the touchdown and a kick from Williams followed to finish the drive 7-20.

 

For the Tigers’ last drive of the game, they made six-plays and ended their drive with Indorf meeting Dunmore for a 15-yard touchdown pass and another good kick from Williams. With 3:15 left in the matchup, the Spartans started their drive, but finished leaving the score untouched to end the game 7-27

 

“We battled, we fought, but obviously we can’t rush for 39-yards and think that you’re going to win a lot of football games,” said Vick. “We’re going to keep that championship mindset. I’m proud of the guys, proud of the way they battled.

Battle of the States is the Spartans’ next game against the Virginia State University Trojans. The game takes place on September 6, 2025 at 6pm. You can catch the game in person at the William “Dick” Price stadium or streaming on ESPN Plus.