Flacco’s 297 total yards lead Towson to win
TIGERS, Flacco, the brother of Ravens quarterback Joe, led the Tigers with 188 passing yards and 109 rushing yards. He passed for one touchdown. Redshirt junior linebacker Robert Heyward paced Towson with 13 tackles while redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Bryce Carter made two sacks.
Towson’s winning streak appeared to be in jeopardy after the first two quarters when the Tribe (2-4, 1-2) took a 13-10 lead into halftime. The Tigers’ previous halftime deficit came Sept. 8 when they trailed Wake Forest, 38-20, en route to a 51-20 loss — their lone setback of the season.
But coach Rob Ambrose said he was confident the team would rally in the final two quarters.
“My only concern would have been if our team decided not show up in the second half, and we did,” he said. “It’s who we are and who we worked to be and who we said we want to be. We just decided to be more of that in the second half, and it showed. No, it wasn’t a concern at all.”
One week after returning the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown in a 52-28 victory over then-No. 13 Stony Brook, redshirt junior Shane Simpson returned a punt 28 yards to set up the offense at William & Mary’s 42-yard line early in the third quarter. Six plays later, Simpson rushed 9 yards off left tackle into the end zone. The extra point gave Towson a 17-13 lead.
After a three-and-out by the Tribe, the Tigers went for it on fourth-and-2 at William & Mary’s 15, but junior running back Yeedee Thaenrat’s carry ended 1 yard short. After another Tribe punt, Towson went 75 yards in nine plays and capped the drive on a 5-yard lob from Flacco to sophomore wide receiver Jabari Allen in the back right corner of the end zone.
An official review confirmed the on-field ruling, and the Tigers owned a 23-13 advantage after a blocked extra point.
“I just went up and made a play,” said Allen, who caught three passes for 22 yards. “I just knew I had it. I knew I was inbounds. It wasn’t much thinking. I just caught it, and I knew I was in.”
Towson then put the game out of reach on Thaenrat’s 53-yard rumble up the middle for a 29-13 lead.
Flacco, who completed 17 of 26 passes, said the team’s effort in the second half affirmed what he had learned about his teammates.
“We respond well to adversity,” he said. “We were down 14-0 at Villanova, and the guys, they just kind of shake it off. That’s what our team is. As an offense, you need to have a quiet confidence, just a quiet confidence in yourself and your unit, and that’s what we have right now. That’s something we take pride in as an offense and as a defense and as a team.”
The Tigers opened the game with a slight hiccup when junior kicker Aidan O’Neill hooked a field-goal attempt from 38 yards wide left with 7:55 remaining in the first quarter. But after the defense forced a three-and-out by William & Mary, the offense needed only five plays to march 52 yards and score on a 2-yard run by sophomore running back Kobe Young with 4:07 left in the quarter.
That marked the third consecutive game in which Towson scored the first touchdown.