WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The No. 20/21 Towson University football team outscored William & Mary by 28 points in the opening three quarters to win its third game in a row, defeating the Tribe 31-10 for its seventh victory of the year.
 
Towson (7-4, 4-3 CAA) outgained W&M (4-7, 2-5 CAA) 299-97 in total yards in the first half and outscored its opponent 31-3 in the opening three quarters.
 
This victory ensures a second consecutive winning season for Towson, with the Tigers going 7-5 in 2018.
 
Key Game Stats:

• Towson finished with 428 yards of total offense, including 237 on the ground and 191 in the air, holding possession for 39:18 compared to 20:42 for W&M.  Towson had 29 first downs compared to 13 for William & Mary.
• The Towson defense did not allow an offensive touchdown, the second game this season the Tigers achieved such a feat.  Towson allowed 276 total yards of offense to W&M, with the Tribe converting only three of its 11 third downs.
• The Tigers scored points on five of its first six drives, including four touchdowns and a field goal.  The defense allowed only one score on the first eight drives by the Tribe, including an interception and twice turning the ball over on downs.
• On the ground, Yeedee Thaenrat earned a career-best 158 yards on the ground on 24 carries, averaging 6.6 yards a rush, adding his 14^th touchdown of the season.  His rush of 51 yards is the longest for a Tiger in 2019.  Adrian Feliz-Platt ran for 51 yards off 14 carries, scoring his first touchdown of the season.
• In the air, Tom Flacco was 20-for-29 for 191 yards and two touchdowns, notching his 20^th passing touchdown of the year.  His primary target was Shane Leatherbury, who made five receptions for 49 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
• Robert Heyward led a Towson defense that allowed a total of three offensive points, having nine tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss.  Coby Tippett had seven tackles and two broken-up passes while two Tigers, S.J. Brown II on an interception and Malik Tyne on a fumble recovery, forced turnovers.
• For W&M, Hollis Mathis threw 10-for-22 for 127 yards with an interception, also running for 25 yards.  Kane Everson caught six passes for 109 yards.  Isaiah Laster led the Tribe with 13 tackles, with the team's lone touchdown coming on a fumble recovery by Tyler Crist.

Postgame Quote:
Towson head coach Rob Ambrose: "This was a great team win. We keep improving in the month of November. To shut down their running game after their performance last week was impressive. We went on the road and accomplished out goal. To win. Not an easy thing to do in this league. I'm very proud of our guys and we are looking forward to playing at home, sending the seniors out on the right note."
 
How it Happened:

• Towson started with the opening kickoff and slowly moved downfield with a couple of short pass first down conversions to Shane Leatherbury and Darian Street.  On a 3^rd and one, Yeedee Thaenrat broke through the middle and sprinted 51 yards for the first and goal.  Next play, Theanrat finished the drive with a three-yard blast for the touchdown, giving Towson a 7-0 early lead with 12:18 left in the 1^st.
• On W&M's first drive, a flea flicker pass was complete for 62 yards to Kane Everson to get the Tribe in the red zone.  Towson's defense held them from there and forced a field goal attempt.  W&M converted to make it 7-3 Towson, just over five minutes through.
• Facing 3^rd and 17, Tom Flacco found his target across the middle to Street for the first down.  Towson methodically came down the field primarily with runs, adding an 11-yard catch by Jason Epps by jumping over a defender near the sideline.  After a 14-yard rush by Flacco, Adrian Feliz-Platt powered into the end zone for the 1-yard touchdown, making it 14-3 Towson with 3:39 left in the 1^st.
• A start at its own 35 and short rushes got W&M down to the Towson 36.  On 3^rd and three, Robert Heyward tracked down Hollis Mathis for a six-yard loss to effectively end the drive.  The first quarter ended with Towson leading 14-3.
• The Tigers jump started the next drive with a 10-yard catch by Caleb Smith then a 14-yard burst up the gut by Thaenrat.  Two more rushes by Thaenrat stocked up seven yards, but W&M stopped Towson on 3^rd and three.  Shane McDonough's punt was returned to the W&M 17; the Towson defense held strong with a three and out and had a punt downed on the Towson 46.
• The Tigers stayed on the ground on this drive early on with a 14-yard run by Feliz-Platt then a seven-yard rush by D'Ago Hunter.  Later on third down, Flacco found Shane Leatherbury for 18 yards along the sideline for a first down, then Towson got another extension off a pass interference penalty by W&M in the endzone.   Two plays later, Flacco found a diving Leatherbury six yards out on the side of the endzone for the score.  Towson led 21-3 with 4:20 left in the 2^nd.
• The Towson pass rush affected the next drive as Christian Dixon forced a bad pass and incompletion, then next play, a deep pass was deflected by Terrill Gillette-Rodgers and intercepted by S.J. Brown II.  With four minutes left, Thaenrat first got a first down on a couple rushes for a combined 13 yards, then Flacco went to work, completing passes and running down the first half clock.  He found Feliz-Platt for 15 yards, then Smith for another 15 to get to the five-yard line of W&M.  Aidan O'Neill knocked down the 38-yard field goal with 11 seconds left to give Towson a 24-3 advantage, the eventual halftime score.
• Some early rushes and passes by Hollis got W&M a yard inside Towson's side of the field, but the Towson defense held from there as Gillette-Rodgers hit a receiver three yards behind the line of scrimmage, then Dixon and John Lambert reached the quarterback out of the pocket for the sack.  A punt resulted in a touchback.
• The offense went back to work, grinding out a drive with several rushes, holding the ball nearly seven minutes.  This drive included a fourth down conversion in Towson territory by Thaenrat on a five-yard gain.  20 more yards rushing by Thaenrat and 13 more by Feliz-Platt set up first and goal, where Flacco found Leatherbury in the flat for a five-yard touchdown.  Towson led 31-3 with 4:58 left in the third quarter.
• W&M continued its rushing attack, including a couple of plays intended for passing that resulted in rushes.  W&M converted a fourth and short from its own 44 on a Bronson Yoder four-yard rush.  Later with fourth and four, W&M went for it again: Heyward forced a throw on a pass rush, falling incomplete.  Towson took over on downs late in the third quarter.
• Into the fourth, a fumble by Towson was recovered by W&M on its own 46.  Several more rushes got the Tribe inside the red zone, eventually setting up fourth and five.  An incomplete pass towards the end zone resulted in a turnover on downs.
• Ryan Stover took over at quarterback and had a couple of rushes for a combined 20 yards in the first three plays.  Later on third down, while Stover was being sacked he lost possession, with Tyler Crist picking up the ball and running into the end zone for a touchdown.  Towson still led 31-10 with 9:58 left.
• Towson went three and out on the next drive and punted back to W&M.  A pair of 20+ yard passes got the home team to the Towson 3, where W&M pounded away towards the goal line.  On 3^rd and goal, a forced fumble in a pileup by Christian Dixon was recovered by Malik Tyne, ending the drive with no points.  Each side had one more drive with no points as Towson won 31-10.

Inside the Numbers:

• Yeedee Thaenrat earned his 14^th rushing touchdown, tying for seventh in Towson single season history.
• Shane Leatherbury caught his 10^th and 11^th receiving touchdowns, moving into second in Towson single season history, and tying for fourth in program history with 20 career touchdowns.  He also moved into eighth in Towson history with 146 career receptions, making five catches today, and 10^th in career receiving yards with 1,831.
• Aidan O'Neill increased his career CAA, and Towson, field goals record to 61 conversions with a make in the second quarter.
• Tom Flacco has 2,617 passing yards on the year, ranking 10^th in Towson single season history.
• This is the first conference game this season where Towson scored two first quarter touchdowns.
• This is the second game this season where the Towson defense did not allow an offensive touchdown, the other being on Sept. 7^th in a 42-3 victory vs. North Carolina Central.
• Allowing three points in the first half, this is the second time this season where the Towson defense has held a CAA opponent to three points in a half.  Towson allowed just three points to James Madison in the second half on Oct. 26^th.
• 237 rushing yards is the second-highest amount for Towson in a game this year, only surpassed during the game vs. Bucknell (328).
• This is the second three-game winning streak for Towson this season, beginning the year at 3-0.

Up Next:
Towson comes home for Senior Day on Saturday, Nov. 23 to take on Elon at 2 p.m. at Johnny Unitas® Stadium.
 
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