HARRISONBURG, Va. – The No. 16/17 Towson University football team had an early 10-7 lead on the second-ranked team in FCS, and saw Tom Flacco earn his 5,000^th career passing yard with the Tigers, but the Black & Gold fell to No. 2 James Madison 27-10 in Harrisonburg on Saturday.
 
Towson (4-4, 1-3 CAA) had the lead midway through the second quarter off a 15-yard touchdown to Jason Epps.  JMU (8-1, 5-0 CAA) scored 20 unanswered points and held for the victory.
 
Flacco became the seventh Tiger to earn over 5,000 passing yards in a Towson career.
 
Key Game Stats:

• The Towson defense held James Madison to 27 points, the lowest amount scored by the Dukes against an FCS opponent this season.
• Epps's touchdown catch gave Towson a 10-7 advantage with 9:15 left in the second quarter.  JMU scored 17 points in the final five minutes of the second quarter and added a third quarter field goal.
• Towson had 210 yards in the air to JMU's 201.
• Tom Flacco threw 18-for-32 for 210 yards and a touchdown, also having an interception.  Caleb Smith had the most receiving yards for Towson with 69 on three receptions.
• On the ground, Yeedee Thaenrat averaged 8.1 yards per rush for a total of 65 yards on eight carries.
• Defensively, Coby Tippett tallied up six tackles, an interception and two broken-up passes.  S.J. Brown II was Towson's leader in tackles with 11 while Keon Paye finished with seven tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss.
• For JMU, Ben DiNucci was 14-for-25 for 201 yards, two scores and a pick.  Percy Agyei-Obese ran for 111 yards and a touchdown while Brandon Polk caught eight passes for 121 yards and a score.  John Daka tallied up seven tackles, 2.5 sacks and a fumble recovery on defense.

Postgame Quote:
Towson head coach Rob Ambrose: "Congratulations to James Madison's football team and their fans on getting the win on Homecoming. It was a hard-fought game in a tremendous venue against a great team. We played hard, fought hard, but we gave them to many extra opportunities with the them scoring 10 points off turnovers. We need to heal, regroup and get ready to face Delaware at home."
 
How it Happened:

• D'Ago Hunter returned the opening kickoff to the Towson 36 for a 31-yard return.  Tom Flacco tried a quarterback draw on third down to gain seven yards, coming up short and forcing a punt.  JMU converted a set of downs on a 14-yard pass towards the sideline, but later on third and short, Robert Heyward burst through the line and took down Percy Agyei-Obese for a loss, ending the drive.
• Despite a nine-yard bullet pass to Shane Leatherbury, Towson was three-and-out on the next drive and punted back to JMU.  A 28-yard punt return by D'Angelo Amos got JMU into Towson territory.  Two plays later, Coby Tippett snared a pass downfield for the interception to end the JMU chance.
• Towson got the train on the tracks on the next drive, converting a third down as Flacco escaped the pocket and found Adrian Feliz-Platt, then a face-mask penalty next play brought the Tigers to midfield.  Another diving catch by Darian Street brought the Tigers to the JMU 22, but two plays later, an interception by Adam Smith gave the ball back to the home team.
• A 37-yard rush from Agyei-Obese got JMU onto Towson's side of the field on the first play of the drive.  Towson's defense stacked up to get to third and three, but a 15-yard pass to Brandon Polk then an eight-yard rush by Agyei-Obese resulted in a touchdown.  JMU led 7-0 with 2:40 left in the 1^st.
• Towson pounded the ball on the ground to advance down field, with runs of 11 and 33 from Yeedee Theanrat pushing the Tigers to the JMU 28.  Towson got as close as the JMU 23 when a sack on third down forced a field goal attempt.  Aidan O'Neill knocked down the 49-yard field goal, pulling Towson within four at 7-3 with 14:14 left in the 2^nd quarter.
• The Towson defense forced a three-and-out on JMU to get the ball back.  Flacco began the drive with a 38-yard pass down the sideline to Caleb Smith to arrive at the JMU 38.  Towson faced fourth down on the next set: the Tigers went for it and saw Flacco roll out for 13 yards and the first.  Three plays later, Flacco threw down the middle to Jason Epps for the 15-yard touchdown, giving Flacco over 5,000 career yards and Towson a 10-7 lead with 9:15 left in the half.
• Next drive, JMU advanced with a pass interference and then, despite a Keon Paye sack on first down, a 14-yard completion to Riley Stapleton and a 28-yard rush by Latrele Palmer.  JMU would complete the drive with a nine-yard pass to Stapleton for the score, putting the home team ahead 14-10 with 4:56 left in the 2^nd.
• Hunter had another nice kickoff return to the Towson 42, but Towson was stopped on a three-and-out, punting back to the Dukes.  JMU scored on the second play of the drive with a 60-yard pass to Brandon Polk to go up 21-10 in the final minutes of the half.
• Towson completed three straight passes to move the ball, but just into JMU territory, a fumble forced on Flacco was recovered by the Dukes.  JMU had a 29-yard rush to put it on the Towson 3, where the Tigers walled up and did not allow a touchdown, with Bryce Carter and Tibo Debaillie making big tackles.  JMU converted the field goal and led 24-10 at half.
• JMU got the second half kickoff and marched downfield, including a 29-yard rush from Polk.  JMU got to the Towson 3-yard line, where again, the Tiger defense held the Dukes out of the end zone.  A JMU field goal made the score 27-10 Dukes, 9:40 in the third.
• Towson was held without a first down on its first drive of the second half.  JMU got the ball back and got into Towson territory, with the Tigers holding on a 3^rd and eight off an incompletion.
• Starting on the Towson 10, the Tigers used three straight rushes, capped by a power run up the gut by Thaenrat, to get a new set of downs.  Lining up to punt later, Shane McDonough faked and ran for it, but came up short as JMU took over on the Towson 35.  JMU converted a fourth down on a QB rollout.  Later, Paye had a sack on DiNucci to force a punt, giving the ball back to Towson on its own nine.
• Towson ran the hurry-up offense, throwing passes downfield to Darian Street, Smith and Jabari Allen to break into JMU territory.  Later, a pass towards the sideline to Ryan Rutkowski converted another third down, then a personal foul on JMU brought Towson another 15 yards.  Towson got in range for a 50-yard field goal attempt, but the try was missed.  JMU got the ball and ran out the clock on the next drive to win 27-10.

Inside the Numbers:

• Aidan O'Neill hit his 58^th career field goal, one away from tying the CAA all-time record.
• Tom Flacco surpassed the career 5,000-passing yard mark with the 15-yard touchdown to Jason Epps in the second quarter.

Up Next:
Towson returns home next week for a matchup against rival Delaware on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. at Johnny Unitas® Stadium.
 
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