Flacco wins in Towson debut, 36-10 over Morgan State

BALTIMORE -- Tom Flacco had two short touchdown passes in his first start, leading Towson to a 36-10 win over Morgan State on Saturday.

The Rutgers transfer and younger brother of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco had two 1-yard touchdown passes to give the Tigers their 19th win in the 25-game Battle for Greater Baltimore series and spoil the debut of Ernest Jones in his first game as head coach of the Bears. It was the third straight win for Towson in the rivalry.

Morgan State opened the scoring when long snapper Zach Castano recovered a muffed punt in the end zone and led 7-3 after one quarter. The field goal by Towson's Aidan O'Neill, the first of four, tied him for the school's career record with 33.

Flacco's dump off to Shane Simpson put the Tigers on top midway through the second quarter. Flacco's pass to Shane Leatherbury for the conversion made it 14-7. However, Flacco was sacked on fourth-and-goal from the Morgan State 1 with two seconds left in the first half to keep the score at 17-7. The Tigers dominated in total offense with 223 yards while holding Morgan State to 45.

Flacco's second TD pass, this time to tight end Chris Clark, gave Towson a 24-7 lead after the opening drive of the second half. After a Morgan State field goal, the Bears botched an onside kick and had a penalty that the Tigers turned into a three-play, 34-yard drive, capped by Kobe Young's 5-yard run.

Flacco, a redshirt junior, started ahead of redshirt sophomore Ryan Stover, who led the Tigers in rushing last year with 335 yards.