TOWSON, Md. – The No. 18/20 Towson University football team had a dominant performance on each side of the ball for Homecoming, taking down Bucknell 56-7 on Saturday night.
 
Towson (4-3) scored touchdowns on six of its first seven drives and never looked back against former Patriot League rival Bucknell (1-6), putting up 42 points in the first half en route to the victory.  All six touchdowns in the first half were thrown by Tom Flacco, who set a program record for passing touchdowns in a game.  Five of those touchdowns were to Shane Leatherbury, who tied a program single game record for receiving touchdowns by a Towson player.
 
On the defensive side, Towson held Bucknell to one touchdown, the second time the Tigers kept an opponent in single digit scoring this year.
 
Key Game Stats:

• Towson scored touchdowns on six of its first seven drives and eight of its opening 11.
• The Tigers totaled 328 yards on the ground, allowing just six to Bucknell.  Towson totaled 560 yards of total offense, averaging 7.2 yards a play, keeping the Bison to 161.
• The defense allowed seven points, its second-lowest of the year.  Towson held N.C. Central to three points on Sept. 7.  The defense kept Bucknell to eight first downs and 3-for-15 on third downs.
• Tom Flacco went 16-for-22 for 203 yards and six touchdowns.  Towson used five different quarterbacks in the game, with Ryan Stover and Jeff Miller each completing passes.  Shane Leatherbury caught six passes for 84 yards and five touchdowns while Chris Clark also had six receptions, finishing with 47 yards and a touchdown.
• The Tigers had two players finish with over 100 yards rushing.  Yeedee Thaenrat averaged 14 yards a carry, totaling 112 yards on eight rushes.  Adrian Feliz-Platt ran the ball 14 times and tallied 101 yards, getting 7.2 yards a rush.  Aaron Speight earned his first touchdown as a Tiger, running 11 times for 43 yards.
• On special teams, D'Ago Hunter earned the team's first special teams touchdown with a 92-yard kickoff return, totaling 183 all-purpose yards.
• On defense, Bryce Carter totaled up five tackles, a sack, three tackles for loss and a forced fumble.  Mantriel Reaves had three tackles and a sack while Marcel Allen earned an interception, returning the ball 34 yards.
• For Bucknell, two quarterbacks combined for 155 yards on 20-for-38 passing, adding an interception.  Dominic Lyles was the leading receiver with a 52-yard catch, with Jared Cooper having 10 rushing yards and a touchdown.  Connor Romango was the defensive leader with 10 tackles and two broken-up passes.

Postgame Quote:
Towson head coach Rob Ambrose: "A huge thank you to the Towson faithful who came home this weekend, Thank you for the energy you brought that helped make a difference in the game. We hope we made you proud. It was good to play football the way we know how to play. Tonight we brought our "A" game in all three phases and played to win."
 
How it Happened:

• Towson's defense, helped by a strong pass rush, forced a three and out for a punt.  Towson charged down the field, with Yeedee Thaenrat using a pair of 10+ yard runs to get into Bucknell territory.  Tom Flacco found Ryan Rutkowski for 27 yards to make it first and goal, then on 3^rd down, Flacco fired to Chris Clark for the touchdown, giving Towson a 7-0 lead in the first four minutes.
• Each side exchanged a drive, with both getting a first down but being stopped.  Towson stopped Bucknell a third time to force another punt.  Towson again went to the run game primarily with a combination of Flacco, Thaenrat and Adrian Feliz-Platt getting the Tigers to the red zone.  After a timeout, Flacco threw down the middle to an open Shane Leatherbury for a 16-yard score, making it 14-0 Towson with 1:24 left in the quarter.
• Next possession on 3^rd down, Bryce Carter forced a fumble in the backfield on the quarterback, with Malik Tyne recovering on the Bucknell 20.  Two plays later, Flacco found Leatherbury again in the end zone.  Towson led 21-0 at the end of the first quarter.
• After another three-and-out by the Towson defense, the Tigers quickly charged down the field in three plays: a pass to Clark for 14 yards, a burst run from Thaenrat for 44 and another score on a pass to Leatherbury for a 28-0 Towson advantage shortly into the second.
• Bucknell got a score back in the next drive, spearheaded by a 52-yard pass to Dominic Lyles to get just outside the red zone.  Later, Jared Cooper scored on a three-yard run up the middle of third down to put the Bison on the scoreboard as Towson led 28-7 with 8:25 left in the half.
• Towson wasted little time getting that touchdown back, beginning with a 45-yard run by Feliz-Platt.  Two rushes and two catches later, Towson found the end zone with another Flacco to Leatherbury connection for two yards.  Towson led 35-7, 5:44 to go in the half.
• The defense held again, ending the drive with a Carter seven-yard loss on a tackle.  Following a 25-yard punt return by D'Ago Hunter, Flacco heaved the ball 45 yards to Leatherbury in the end zone for their fifth touchdown together.  Towson was now up 42-7. 
• After another Bucknell three-and-out, Towson tried to go downfield again, getting into Bucknell territory following a Bison personal foul.  Aidan O'Neill attempted a 60-yard field goal, hitting the crossbar to narrowly miss.  Towson went into halftime up 42-7.
• On the second half opening play, Hunter juked and moved his way downfield on the kickoff for 92 yards and the touchdown, giving the Black & Gold a 49-7 advantage.
• As both sides started to use reserves, both defenses kept the other in check.  Shane McDonough punted the ball after a drive that was downed at the Bucknell 6, where the Bison got to the 37 but was stalled.
• Ryan Stover entered and took Towson on a 91-yard drive, rushing along with Feliz-Platt and Aaron Speight.  A 25-yard pass from Stover to Hunter got Towson into Bucknell territory, then rushes from the quarterback and Speight went the rest of the way.  Speight pounded the rock into the end zone for one-yard and the score for a 56-7 Towson lead seconds away from the end of the third quarter.
• A Mantriel Reaves sack of the quarterback brought another three-and-out for the Towson defense.  Triston Harris, Jeff Miller, and Tyler Raines all played at quarterback the rest of the way as Speight and Sean Bryan ran the ball to run out the clock during drives.  Towson took the victory 56-7.

Inside the Numbers:

• Tom Flacco set a Towson University single game record with six touchdown passes.  Shane Leatherbury tied the Towson single game record with five receiving touchdowns, tying the record with Andrae Brown, who had five receiving touchdowns on Sept. 24, 2005 vs. Northeastern.  Each also tied CAA records in that same category.
• This is the first game where two Towson players had at least 100 yards rushing since Oct. 27, 2012.  Terrance West (144) and Grant Enders (122) each had 100+ yards rushing vs. Villanova.
• Flacco is now tied for fifth in Towson history in passing touchdowns with 42.
• With 17 career receiving touchdowns, Leatherbury is now tied for fifth in Towson history in that category.
• 49 points is the biggest margin of victory for Towson since Sept. 7, 2005, when the Tigers defeated Lock Haven 70-0.
• 42 points is the most points scored in a half for Towson this season.
• Towson had an attendance of 6,114, the third game with at least 6,000 people in attendance.

Up Next:
Towson hits the road next weekend to challenge No. 2 James Madison on Saturday, Oct. 26^th at 3:30 p.m. in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
 
Purchase Single Game Tickets 
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