GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 10 Towson University football team had some strong early offensive drives against Southeastern Conference power No. 9/8 Florida but fell to the Gators 38-0 in Gainesville on Saturday afternoon.

Key Game Stats:

·       Towson reached Florida territory in all three of its first half drives and five total, getting to at least the Florida 30 in a trio of them.

·       Tom Flacco finished 16-for-27 with 157 yards passing, 15 yards on the ground and a pair of interceptions in the third quarter.  He had three receivers make four receptions, led by Shane Leatherbury, who combined for 65 yards.  Yeedee Thaenrat was Towson's leading rusher, averaging 4.4 yards a carry for 35 yards.

·       On the defensive end, Steven Brown led the Tigers in tackles with 11, adding a pass breakup.  Christian Dixon combined for nine tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble while Bryce Carter had five tackles, 2.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks.

·       For Florida, quarterback Kyle Trask threw 18-for-20 with two touchdowns and 188 yards, with Dameon Pierce running for 84 yards and a score.  Amari Burney led the Gators in tackles with eight.

Postgame Quotes:

Towson head coach Rob Ambrose: "Hats off to Coach Mullen and his team, they are a very quality football team and there is a reason they are ranked #9 in the country.  I'm extremely proud of our guys, there is no quit in them.  We made too many mistakes to win a ball game against a quality opponent....of this caliber...but we learned a lot about ourselves. It tells us who we can be verses who we play for the rest of the season."

How it Happened:

·       Florida received the opening kickoff and relied on a no-huddle that primarily passed.  The Gators came down the field and got inside the Towson 10.  On 2^nd and goal from the Towson 2, Bryce Carter broke through the line and stopped the runner for a three-yard loss, but Florida scored on the next play on a Kyle Trask five-yard pass to Kyle Pitts in the end zone.  Florida led 7-0 with 9:28 remaining in the 1^st.

·       Towson began its first drive with a breakout run by Tom Flacco out of the pocket for 22 yards, then later, Flacco converted a third down by getting out of the pocket and running nine yards into Florida territory.  Flacco continued to lead the Tigers, finding Ryan Rutkowski for a 20-yard gain, then later, breaking through the middle on an 11-yard run to get just outside the red zone.  On third down, a bad snap was recovered by Florida, ending Towson's drive.

·       Lamical Perine led the rushing attack for Florida the next drive, but a pass to Tyrie Cleveland for 32 yards got the Gators into Towson territory.  On 3^rd and seven, Christian Dixon hit the quarterback for a sack and forced a fumble, recovered by Florida, to set up fourth down.  Florida converted a 42-yard field goal in the opening seconds of the second quarter to lead 10-0.

·       Towson went downfield on the next drive, using a Florida pass interference, a 23-yard pass down the sideline to Shane Leatherbury and a couple of rushes from Yeedee Thaenrat to get back onto Florida's side of the field.  Flacco found Jason Epps on first down to for eight yards and an appearance in the red zone, but a later field goal attempt missed wide.

·       Towson started the next Florida drive with a Robert Heyward hit two yards behind the line of scrimmage on the runner.  Florida relied on short passes and runs after the catch to go down the field, adding a 31-yard run to the right side by Pierce.  The home team got to the goal line and scored on a QB run by Trask to lead 17-0 with 3:46 left in the half.

·       The Tigers went for a final drive to end the first half as Flacco found Caleb Smith and Darian Street for completions to get a next set of downs, then extending with a great breakout run for 15 yards by Adrian Feliz-Platt to reach midfield.  Towson got into Florida territory but was halted after a sack, and punted back to Florida with 1:11 left in the half.  A big sack by Bryce Carter prevented Florida from driving in the closing minute, putting the halftime score at 17-0 Florida.

·       Into the second half, Flacco heaved a deep pass on 3^rd and long and was intercepted by Florida.  The Gators got into Towson territory, then the Towson defense halted the advance with a Carter sack, then Dixon and John Lambert taking down the runner behind the line of scrimmage.  A Florida punt was fair caught at the Towson 10.  Towson got a first down following an over-the-shoulder catch by Leatherbury and a four-yard burst by Thaenrat, but an ensuing interception gave the ball back to the home team on the Towson 7.  Two plays later, a pass to the back of the end zone by Pitts made it 24-0 Florida with 9:19 to go in the third quarter.

·       Towson went three-and-out on the next drive and had to punt back to Florida.  After a couple of short gains, a Pierce run to the left side for 37 yards resulted in a touchdown as Florida led 31-0 with 4:50 remaining in the 3^rd quarter.

·       The Tigers went back to the air in an attempt to get their first points, with passes down to Leatherbury and Daniel Thompson IV bringing Towson back into Florida territory for the first time of the half.  On third down, Flacco found Street between the numbers for a 10-yard gain to continue the drive.  Into the fourth quarter, Towson was on the red zone, but a sack resulted in a field goal attempt, which was blocked by the Gators.

·       Florida scored another touchdown on a 69-yard drive, including a 29-yard run by quarterback Emory Jones, for a 38-0 lead with 9:47 to play.

·       Ryan Stover entered at quarterback for the Tigers and led Towson on a drive, starting with a seven-yard run then following with a 15-yard completion to Smith.  Towson would eventually punt: Shane McDonough got a punt downed at the Florida 3.

·       Florida got the ball and ran the clock down to under two minutes as Chizurum Umunakwe stopped the runner on 4^th and three to give the ball back to Towson.  Towson got back into Florida territory one last time, but does not score.  Florida wins 38-0.

Inside the Numbers:

·       With a 23-yard catch in the second quarter, Shane Leatherbury surpassed the 1,500-yard receiving mark for his Towson career.

·       Tom Flacco moved into eighth all-time in passing yards in Towson history.

·       Eight different Tigers earned receptions, with five gaining at least 20 yards each.

Up Next:

Towson has a bye week, then will host UAlbany for a CAA battle at Johnny Unitas® Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 4 p.m.

Purchase Single Game Tickets 

Tickets to Towson home games are available now by calling 1-855-TU-TIGER or email 4tigertix@towson.edu.

- TowsonTigers.com –