The Florida Gators are back in the Swamp for another FCS non-conference match-up. The Florida Gators will be hosting the Towson Tigers. This is the first time ever these two programs have played against each other. Florida is coming a comfortable 34-3 win over the Tennessee Volunteers. Towson comes into the Swamp after losing their first game of the season as they lost to the Villanova Wildcats 52-45 in overtime. Towson isn’t your ordinary FCS football program as they are the tenth ranked FCS team in the country. Here is the preview for the Florida Gators vs. Towson Tigers game.
Towson Tigers
The Towson Tigers come to Gainesville, Florida led by their head coach, Rob Ambrose, who’s in his tenth season as the Tigers head coach. The Tigers will be led by their quarterback Tom Flacco. The redshirt-senior is one of the younger brothers of Super Bowl MVP and Denver Broncos QB Joe Flacco. The Rutgers transfer has had a solid start to the season as he’s completed 57.5% of his passes for 1,092 yards, six touchdowns and an interception. Flacco also leads the team in rushing with 227 yards on 34 carries and two touchdowns. Yeedee Thaenrat leads the Tigers in rushing touchdowns as he has eight on the year with 89 rushing yards. Shane Leatherbury leads Towson in receiving as he has 19 receptions for 299 yards and three touchdowns.
On defense, the Towson Tigers have allowed 24.75 points per game. Redshirt-senior linebacker Robert Heyward leads the team in tackling with 35 tackles on the year. He also has 3.5 tackles for loss and two interceptions. Christian Dixon leads the Tigers in sacks as he has two out of the four team’s sacks this season. Dixon also leads the team in tackles for loss with four on the season. Keon Paye and Coby Tippett are both tied for first on the team in interceptions with three.
Florida Gators
The Florida Gators offense will look to stay hot after a nice performance against the Tennessee Volunteers. Kyle Trask had a terrific first start for the Gators as he completed 20 out of 28 passes for 293 yards and two touchdowns. Even with Feleipe Franks out for the season, it seems like the Florida offense will still be in good hands. Senior running back Lamical Perine hasn’t had the season he hoped for but this could be the game to get him back on track. Perine leads the team in rushing with 182 yards and three touchdowns. The receiving game as he been huge for Florida’s offense. Redshirt-senior Van Jefferson leads the team in receiving with 16 receptions for 232 yards and a touchdown. Tight end Kyle Pitts was terrific versus Tennessee as he has 13 catches for 161 and a touchdown this season.
The Florida Gators defense is coming off an awesome performance in which they forced four turnovers versus Tennessee. Senior linebacker David Reese leads the team in tackles with 28 tackles on the season. Louisville graduate transfer Jon Greenard continues to dominate the line of scrimmage with 3.5 sacks, three pass breakups and a forced fumble. Marco Wilson started to look like his old self again as everything thrown in his direction last week was either incomplete or picked off. Shawn Davis and Kaiir Elam both lead the team in interceptions with two on the season. Senior DE Jabari Zuniga and junior cornerback C.J. Henderson may still be out for this week’s game. Other defensive players to watch for are Jeremiah Moon, Ventrell Miller, Amari Burney and Kyree Campbell.
5 Players to Watch: Towson Tigers
- LB Robert Heyward
- QB Tom Flacco
- LB Christian Dixon
- WR Shane Leatherbury
- DB Coby Tippett
5 Players to Watch: Florida Gators
- WR Van Jefferson
- DE Jon Greenard
- QB Kyle Trask
- CB Marco Wilson
- WR Josh Hammond
5 Predictions:
- Kyle Trask throws for over 250 yards and has three touchdowns.
- Tom Flacco has for over 225 all-purpose yards.
- Florida’s defense forces at least two turnovers.
- Robert Heyward leads both teams in tackles.
- Florida Gators beats Towson Tigers 45-10.
