Falcons Ride Balanced Offense To 37-12 Drubbing of Miami

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The Bowling Green State University football team ended a 15-year drought at home against Miami and improved to 2-1 in the Mid-American Conference by cruising to a 37-12 win over the Redhawks at Doyt Perry Stadium on Saturday (Oct. 13).

The Falcons dominated on both sides of the ball. On offense, Bowling Green notched 486 yards of offense, which was split nearly evenly (251 rushing, 235 passing) and was an efficient 9-for-14 on third down.

On the other side of the ball, the Falcons' defense created three turnovers and six sacks. It held Miami's rushing attack to only three net yards on 20 carries and only 256 yards overall.

The game began well enough for Miami, who took the opening kickoff and drove 56 yards on 11 plays in 4:36 before having to settle for a 36-yard Kaleb Patterson field goal.

Bowling Green responded immediately withThe an 11-play drive of their own. Matt Schilz deftly guided the Falcons for 61 yards, 12 of which came on a key third-and-ten pass to Shaun Joplin.

The drive culminated with a two-yard touchdown run by John Pettigrew. The extra point by Stephen Stein gave BGSU a 7-3 lead they would never relinquish.

The teams traded until Bowling Green took over at midfield with 28 seconds left in the first quarter. From there, Schilz again used a mix of run and pass to drive the Falcons to another touchdown. He finished the six play drive with a seven yard touchdown pass to Anthon Samuel on third down.

After forcing Miami into a third consecutive three-and-out series, the Falcons went on a 14-play run dominated drive that took 8:12 off the game clock. Stein kicked a 26-yard field goal to give BGSU a 17-3 lead with 3:27 left in the first half.

Miami responded with a drive for a field goal to close the first half and a touchdown drive early in the third quarter. However, the Redhawks failed on a two-point conversion attempt after the touchdown, and BGSU maintained a 17-12 lead with nine minutes left in the third quarter.

After a pair of punts, Bowling Green went on a 72-yard drive to put the game away. Schilz threw passes of 25 and 21 yards to get the Falcons downfield, then threw a 13-yard scoring pass to Chris Gallon for his second touchdown of the day.

On the ensuing kickoff, Miami's returner muffed the ball and knocked it into the end zone, where he recovered the ball and was tackled. BGSU believed it had scored a safety, but officials ruled a touchback because Miami never established possession outside of the end zone.

That ruling worked in Bowling Green's favor. On the next play, Zac Dysert's pass fell into the hands of Jerry "Boo Boo" Gates, who raced 25 yards for another Falcon touchdown. With the extra point, the lead was extended to 31-12 late in the third quarter.

The final touchdown of the game was recorded by Pettigrew, who burst through the line and dashed 29 yards for a 37-12 lead with 9:49 left in the game.

Individually, Schilz was 20-for-27 and totaled 235 yards and two touchdowns to go along with a late interception. Ryan Burbrink led BGSU with five catches for 49 yards, as eight different players caught a Schilz pass.

Samuel ran for a career-best 171 yards on 22 carries. He earned 196 all-purpose yards on 25 touches to go along with his second quarter touchdown. Pettigrew added 53 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries.

On defense, Chris Jones was a monster. He recorded 2.5 sacks and had an additional tackle for loss. Bryan Baird added two sacks, and five different players took part in BGSU's six sacks. Baird also recovered a fumble that was forced by Gabe Martin.

Gates' interception was one of two for BGSU against Miami's Zac Dysert. The other was snagged by Jude Adjei-Barimah, which was the first of his career.

For Miami, Dysert was 17-for-31 for 198 yards, one touchdown and two interceptionis. Nick Harwell led the Redhawks with seven receptions for 117 yards, with 64 of those yards coming on one pass.

Bowling Green improves to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the MAC, while Miami falls to 3-4 and 2-1 in the MAC.

The Falcons next two opponents are both currently 0-6 with 0-3 records in the conference. First, BGSU travels to Foxboro, Mass. for a matchup with Massachusetts. Game time for that tilt is noon on Oct. 20th. The team then returns home for a battle with Eastern Michigan that kicks off at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 27th.

Notes
* The win was the Falcons' first at home over the RedHawks since 1997.

* Anthon Samuel posted a career-high 171 rushing yards and now has nine 100-yard games in his career.

* BGSU has three consecutive 200-plus yard rushing games. Prior to this stretch, the Falcons had just one 200-yard game in the Clawson era. The Falcons have posted 206 versus Rhode Island, 292 at Akron and 251 this week versus Miami.

* Chris Jones now has 24.5 career sacks.

* BooBoo Gates now has five career touchdowns with two coming via interception return and kick return and has one punt return for a score.

* Dwayne Woods missed the game due to injury, snapping a streak of 30 straight starts.

Highlights

BGSU Celebrates 500 wins

Dave Clawson Interview

BooBoo Gates, Paul Swan, Anthon Samuel Interview

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