TOWSON, Md. – 372 yards passing from Tom Flacco was not enough as the No. 15/16 Towson University football team (7-4, 5-3 CAA) fell in the regular season finale to No. 7/8 James Madison (8-3, 6-2 CAA) 38-10.
 
Key Game Stats:

• Towson led 10-7 early in the second quarter with two consecutive scores, but fell victim to 31 straight points by JMU.  Towson had the final touchdown of the game.
• The total offense was close in the game, with Towson have 515 yards, including leading the passing yardage 372 to 181, while JMU had 576 yards, including 395 on the ground.
• Tom Flacco went 31-for-50 in the air for 372 yards and two touchdowns, his second game with over 30 completions this season.  He main two targets were Shane Leatherbury, who had a Towson season-high 10 receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown, and Jabari Allen, who led all players with 135 yards and a touchdown off six catches.
• Flacco also led Towson in rushing with 52 yards.  Kobe Young had 49 yards on the ground while Shane Simpson had 42.
• Monty Fenner led Towson's defense with 10 tackles, adding a pass break-up.  Ricky DeBerry had seven tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack.
• For JMU, three Dukes had at least 100 yards rushing, including quarterback Ben DiNucci with 181 yards passing, 104 yards rushing and three rushing touchdowns, while Cardon Johnson got 162 yards on the ground with a touchdown.  Dimitri Holloway had 14 tackles on defense.

Postgame Quotes:
Towson head coach Rob Ambrose:
"I'm very proud of our seniors.  Coming from where they came from to pull off the year that they did, considering where everyone believed they would be, I'm very, very proud of them.  I'm very proud of how they have represented themselves as student-athletes.  We played one of the best teams in the country today, they are the class of the league.  We just made way too many mistakes in this game."

How it Happened:

• Receiving the opening kickoff, Tom Flacco's arms and feet led to a couple of third down conversions, with a pass across the middle to Jabari Allen for 19 yards and a rush on the left side to convert a 3^rd and 1 inside JMU territory.  Towson's drive stalled and punted to the JMU 13.  JMU scored in three plays, capped by a 76-yard run by Cardon Johnson, to lead 7-0 with 8:27 left in the 1^st.
• On the fourth play of the drive, Flacco broke through the defense for 50 yards down the sideline to enter the red zone.  Kobe Young carried a couple of would-be tacklers to the JMU 3 to set up first down and goal.  On 3^rd down, Flacco found Shane Leatherbury in the corner of the end zone for the touchdown, tying the game at 7-7 with 5:01 to go in the 1^st.
• A 40-yard catch for Kyndel Dean put JMU in Towson territory, then later, Terrill Gillette pushed Jake Brown out of bounds to set up a 4^th down.  JMU punted to the Towson 5.
• Flacco continued to move the ball down field, finding Chris Clark twice, then found Jabari Allen wide open for a 68-yard completion.  Aidan O'Neill converted the 26-yard field goal to send Towson ahead 10-7 seconds into the second quarter.
• JMU was pinned into its own 3 after a penalty on the kickoff.  JMU came down the field in nine plays for the touchdown, finishing the drive with a Ben DiNucci run into the end zone to make it 14-10 JMU, 11:41 to go in the 2^nd quarter.
• Towson got one new set of downs on a Flacco completion across the middle to Leatherbury, but had to punt later.  JMU returned to Towson territory with a DiNucci 31-yard rush, then converted a third and short on a pass completion to Riley Stapleton for 18 yards.  Eventually, JMU rushed four straight times to end on a touchdown, sending the Dukes up 21-10 with 4:51 left in the first half.
• Following a Towson three and out, JMU returned to the Towson red zone, then missed a 34-yard field goal attempt.  Flacco connected a number of short passes to Leatherbury and Jabari Allen, but a fumble ended the drive.  JMU got down to the Towson 20 and kicked a field goal with the first half expiring as JMU led 24-10 at the break.
• The Towson defense forced a three and out on the JMU opening drive out of the locker room to get the ball back quickly.  Flacco long passes to Clark and Leatherbury brought the Tigers across midfield, but a 4^th and five attempt to convert fell incomplete.
• Brandon Shuman broke up a long pass on 1^st down to begin for the Towson defense on the next drive, then Malik Tyne and Ricky DeBerry finishing it with a sack deep in the backfield.  But, Towson was three and out the next drive.
• On 3^rd and nine from the Towson 31, DiNucci was sacked in the backfield again by Tyne and DeBerry to push the Dukes out of field goal range.  Following a touchback, Towson got started with a 23-yard run by Shane Simpson to the left, but the drive finished at midfield with a punt.
• Using primarily rushing, including finishing the drive with a DiNucci 31-yard run and a Trai Sharp 15-yard rush into the end zone, to score a touchdown and make it 31-10 JMU with 1:22 left in the 3^rd.
• Towson converted a big third down to Brent Richardson to nearly get to midfield, but was held up after that.  The Towson defense held JMU to one first down on the next drive and got the ball back on its own 19.
• Facing 4^th and two, Flacco found Leatherbury for a sprint down the right side and 28 yards to keep the game alive, then later, got a pass to Simpson to run down the sideline and get back to the red zone.  Towson needed four yards on 4^th down but only got three and turned it over on downs at the JMU 6.
• JMU added another touchdown from a DiNucci run, making it 38-10 Dukes with 4:12 left. 
• Towson had one final drive down the field, with a number of Young runs and passes to Gallhan getting Towson in striking distance.  Flacco found Jabari Allen for a 26-yard catch and a touchdown to make it 38-17 JMU with 1:07 left, the eventual final score.

Inside the Numbers:

• The attendance was 7,208, making this the fourth home game for Towson with at least 7,000 fans.
• Towson's 7-4 record ties its best regular season record, with 2015, since the 2013 year, when the Tigers finished the regular season at 9-2.
• With two passing touchdowns today and 27 this season, Tom Flacco is just one touchdown away from the Towson single season record held by Dan Crowley, who had 28 in 1994.
• Flacco has moved into fourth all-time in Towson single season history with 3,124 passing yards.  He is also fourth with 259 completions and fourth in attempts with 406.
• Shane Leatherbury now has 66 receptions this season, tied for third all-time in Towson single season history. 

Up Next:
Towson will await its fate in the NCAA Selection Show tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. on ESPNU.  At 7-4 overall, the Tigers are hoping for their first NCAA Tournament selection since 2013.
 
- TowsonTigers.com –