Saturday, October 19
Towson, Md.
4 p.m.
Bucknell University
1-6
7
at
56
#20/18 Towson
4-3
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Bucknell
0
7
0
0
7
Towson
21
21
14
0
56
Photo by: Linda Naiman
No. 20/18 Towson Dispatches Bucknell Football
10/19/2019 6:54:00 PM | Football
TOWSON, Md. – No. 20/18 Towson dispatched the Bucknell football team, 56-7, on Saturday at Johnny Unitas Stadium.
The explosive Tigers, the Bison's third ranked opponent of the 2019 campaign, used record-setting performances by quarterback Tom Flacco and wide receiver Shane Leatherbury to cruise to their victory.
"Towson is a very good football team," said head coach Dave Cecchini. "To be successful, we had to have a good start, and that didn't happen. Towson was explosive and took advantage of our mistakes. From here on out, with it being Patriot League play, every game is an elimination game. We have to recover from this and turn our attention to correcting our mistakes."
At halftime, Towson (4-3, 1-2 CAA) held a sizable 42-7 advantage. Flacco threw for all of his touchdowns in the first half, connecting five times with Leatherbury. Though D'Ago Hunter opened the second half by returning the first kickoff 92 yards for a score, Bucknell (1-6, 1-1 PL) held the Tigers to a single touchdown the rest of the way.
The Bison's touchdown, a three-yard scamper by Jared Cooper at the second quarter's 8:25 mark, was set up by Dominic Lyles's 52-yard reception. After taking a screen pass from Logan Bitikofer on a 3rd and 8, Lyles broke two tackles en route to the Towson 21.
The Tigers finished the game with edges in total yards (560-161), first downs (28-8) and time of possession (35:27-24:33). They limited the Bison to just six rushing yards over the course of the contest, bolstered by making eight tackles for a loss of 31 yards.
For Bucknell, Bitikofer and John Chiarolanzio combined for 155 passing yards. Lyles led all Bison receivers with 52 yards on his single reception while Brandon Sanders added 37 on a team-best five catches. Defensively, Conner Romango paced all players with 10 tackles, nine of which were solo stops. Gerrit Van Itallie added nine tackles while Brent Jackson made seven in his first career start.
For Towson, Flacco completed 16 of 22 passes for 203 yards and a school-record six touchdowns; notably, Flacco played only one series in the second half, with three other Tigers seeing action at quarterback. Leatherbury made six catches for 84 yards and a school-record five touchdowns. Towson's ground game paved the way for its success; Yeedee Thaenrat (112) and Adrian Feliz-Platt (101) reached the triple digits in rushing yards, helping their team build a 328-6 advantage in that statistical category.
Bucknell, which wrapped up non-conference play with today's game, returns to Patriot League action on Saturday, Oct. 26 at Lafayette. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.
NOTES
This was the first meeting between the Bison and Tigers since 2003, Towson's final year as an affiliate member of the Patriot League. The Tigers took a 9-8 lead in the all-time series with today's victory.
All-American punter Alex Pechin had an impressive game, averaging 50.7 yards on a career-best 11 punts. He had six sail for at least 50 yards and four land inside the 20. His previous career high in punts was 10, set in the 2017 finale at Fordham.
Bitikofer surpassed 1,000 passing yards on the season; he now has 1,005.
Romango and Rick Mottram each exceeded 50 tackles on the season; each now has 53.
Freshman Ben Allen registered his first career sack, which went for a loss of eight yards and forced Towson to punt in the first quarter.
Jackson, who started at free safety, became the fourth freshman to start in 2019, joining WR Connor Holmes, CB Gavin Pringle and OL Zack Tarburton.
Towson was No. 20 in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll and No. 18 in the STATS FCS Top 25 this week. The Tigers, who were ranked in the top 10 from week two to week seven, have been slotted as high as fifth.
Bucknell's non-conference schedule in 2019 was grueling; the Bison faced three nationally ranked FCS squads (Villanova, Princeton and Towson) and an FBS team (Temple) that recently cracked the national rankings in its division.
The explosive Tigers, the Bison's third ranked opponent of the 2019 campaign, used record-setting performances by quarterback Tom Flacco and wide receiver Shane Leatherbury to cruise to their victory.
"Towson is a very good football team," said head coach Dave Cecchini. "To be successful, we had to have a good start, and that didn't happen. Towson was explosive and took advantage of our mistakes. From here on out, with it being Patriot League play, every game is an elimination game. We have to recover from this and turn our attention to correcting our mistakes."
At halftime, Towson (4-3, 1-2 CAA) held a sizable 42-7 advantage. Flacco threw for all of his touchdowns in the first half, connecting five times with Leatherbury. Though D'Ago Hunter opened the second half by returning the first kickoff 92 yards for a score, Bucknell (1-6, 1-1 PL) held the Tigers to a single touchdown the rest of the way.
The Bison's touchdown, a three-yard scamper by Jared Cooper at the second quarter's 8:25 mark, was set up by Dominic Lyles's 52-yard reception. After taking a screen pass from Logan Bitikofer on a 3rd and 8, Lyles broke two tackles en route to the Towson 21.
The Tigers finished the game with edges in total yards (560-161), first downs (28-8) and time of possession (35:27-24:33). They limited the Bison to just six rushing yards over the course of the contest, bolstered by making eight tackles for a loss of 31 yards.
For Bucknell, Bitikofer and John Chiarolanzio combined for 155 passing yards. Lyles led all Bison receivers with 52 yards on his single reception while Brandon Sanders added 37 on a team-best five catches. Defensively, Conner Romango paced all players with 10 tackles, nine of which were solo stops. Gerrit Van Itallie added nine tackles while Brent Jackson made seven in his first career start.
For Towson, Flacco completed 16 of 22 passes for 203 yards and a school-record six touchdowns; notably, Flacco played only one series in the second half, with three other Tigers seeing action at quarterback. Leatherbury made six catches for 84 yards and a school-record five touchdowns. Towson's ground game paved the way for its success; Yeedee Thaenrat (112) and Adrian Feliz-Platt (101) reached the triple digits in rushing yards, helping their team build a 328-6 advantage in that statistical category.
Bucknell, which wrapped up non-conference play with today's game, returns to Patriot League action on Saturday, Oct. 26 at Lafayette. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.
NOTES
This was the first meeting between the Bison and Tigers since 2003, Towson's final year as an affiliate member of the Patriot League. The Tigers took a 9-8 lead in the all-time series with today's victory.
All-American punter Alex Pechin had an impressive game, averaging 50.7 yards on a career-best 11 punts. He had six sail for at least 50 yards and four land inside the 20. His previous career high in punts was 10, set in the 2017 finale at Fordham.
Bitikofer surpassed 1,000 passing yards on the season; he now has 1,005.
Romango and Rick Mottram each exceeded 50 tackles on the season; each now has 53.
Freshman Ben Allen registered his first career sack, which went for a loss of eight yards and forced Towson to punt in the first quarter.
Jackson, who started at free safety, became the fourth freshman to start in 2019, joining WR Connor Holmes, CB Gavin Pringle and OL Zack Tarburton.
Towson was No. 20 in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll and No. 18 in the STATS FCS Top 25 this week. The Tigers, who were ranked in the top 10 from week two to week seven, have been slotted as high as fifth.
Bucknell's non-conference schedule in 2019 was grueling; the Bison faced three nationally ranked FCS squads (Villanova, Princeton and Towson) and an FBS team (Temple) that recently cracked the national rankings in its division.
Team Stats
BUCKNELL
TOWSON
Total Yards
161
560
Pass Yards
155
232
Rushing Yards
6
328
Penalty Yards
55
43
1st Downs
8
28
3rd Downs
3
5
4th Downs
0
1
TOP
24:33
35:27
1st Quarter
BUCKNELL 0, TOWSON 7
TOWSON - Clark,C. 12 yd pass from Flacco,T. (O'Neill,A. kick) 9 plays, 68 yards, TOP 3:40
BUCKNELL 0, TOWSON 14
TOWSON - Leatherbury,S. 16 yd pass from Flacco,T. (O'Neill,A. kick) 8 plays, 77 yards, TOP 3:27
BUCKNELL 0, TOWSON 21
TOWSON - Leatherbury,S. 8 yd pass from Flacco,T. (O'Neill,A. kick) 2 plays, 20 yards, TOP 0:23
2nd Quarter
BUCKNELL 0, TOWSON 28
TOWSON - Leatherbury,S. 7 yd pass from Flacco,T. (O'Neill,A. kick) 3 plays, 65 yards, TOP 1:10
BUCKNELL 7, TOWSON 28
BUCKNELL - Cooper, Jared 3 yd run (Torres, Ethan kick), 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:26
BUCKNELL 7, TOWSON 35
TOWSON - Leatherbury,S. 2 yd pass from Flacco,T. (O'Neill,A. kick) 5 plays, 67 yards, TOP 2:32
BUCKNELL 7, TOWSON 42
TOWSON - Leatherbury,S. 45 yd pass from Flacco,T. (O'Neill,A. kick) 1 plays, 45 yards, TOP 0:21
3rd Quarter
BUCKNELL 7, TOWSON 49
TOWSON - Hunter,D. 92 yd kickoff return (O'Neill,A. kick)
BUCKNELL 7, TOWSON 56
TOWSON - Speight,A. 1 yd run (O'Neill,A. kick), 13 plays, 91 yards, TOP 6:30
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
10
TD
0
YDS
100
INT
0
CMP
10
TD
0
YDS
55
INT
1
Players Mentioned
QB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
S
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
/ Football
P/K
/ Football
CB
/ Football
S
/ Football
WR
/ Football
OL
/ Football
LB
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