Bowling Green State University Athletics
Game #5 - Oct. 2 - at Bowling Green 34, Toledo 23
December 19, 1999 | Football
Oct. 2, 1999
In only the fifth night game in stadium history, the Falcons made the first run scoring the first 10 points on a Jason Strasser field goal capping a 70-yard drive on the first possession of the game, and a Godfrey Lewis five-yard run which capped a 30-yard drive.
BG had the ball for 11:06 of the first quarter and had a 159 to 85 edge in total offense.
The Toledo took its turn scoring the next 16 points, 13 of those on a pair of Chester Taylor long runs to paydirt.
In the second quarter, UT outgaine the Falcons by a 133-3 margin.
Toledo then drove 62 yards in 11 plays to start the second half capping the drive with a field goal to take a 16-10 lead.
From there it was all Falcons.
BG took the lead for good answering Toledo drive to start the second half with their own of 85 yards in 11 plays with Lewis collecting his second scoring run, this time of one yard.
Then the Falcons took a 24-16 lead as Andy Sahm connected with Aaron Alexander for 36 yards and two plays later with Robert Redd from 15 yards to finish off the scoring drive.
The Falcons put the game away with a 12-play, 74-yard drive in which Sahm hit Kurt Gerling for the final 13 yards with 11:21 left in the game.
Toledo got a score with 4:32 left to close the gap to 31-23, but Sahm connected with Redd for 41 yards on the first play after the kickoff and then the Falcons ran off all but the final 45 seconds putting the final nail in coffin with the second Strasser field goal.
BG had 155 yards of total offense in the third quarter, 121 of that through the air.
Sahm made his first career start when starter Ricky Schneider was demoted for being late to meeting this week. Sahm was only scheduled to play the first drive, but he was 4-5 for 32 yards in the opening drive and the coaching staff decided to stick with him. Sahm a red-shirt freshman who had completed 1-of-2 passes this season for 25 yards, that coming in the Tennessee Tech game. He had also played in the Marshall game, but did not throw a pass. He is the first BG quarterback to throw for 300 or more yards in a game since Ryan Henry did it in early November of 1994, and just the fifth quarterback in school history to throw for 300 or more in a game.
Sahm's favorite target, Robert Redd, topped the 100-yard barrier in the second successive game with eight receptions for 128 yards. Senior field goal kicker Jason Strasser missed from 45 yards in between his makes seeing his string of consecutive field goals end at 13, one shy of the MAC record.
Toledo 6 7 3 7 - 23 Bowling Green 10 0 14 10 - 34 BG - Jason Strasser 27 field goal, 9:26, 1st qtr. BG - Godfrey Lewis 5 run (Strasser kick), 1:36, 1st qtr. UT - Chester Taylor 55 run (Todd France kick failed), 0:45, 1st qtr. UT - Taylor 72 run (France kick), 10:20, 2nd qtr. UT - France 35 field goal, 10:15, 3rd qtr. BG - Lewis 1 run (Strasser kick), 6:21, 3rd qtr. BG - Robert Redd 15 pass from Andy Sahm (Strasser kick), 3:21, 3rd qtr. BG - Kurt Gerling 13 pass from Sahm (Strasser kick), 11:21, 4th qtr. UT - Donta Greene 16 pass from Dan Cole (France kick), 4:32, 4th qtr. BG - Strasser 27 field goal, 0:45, 4th qtr. Attendance - 23,918
Team Statistics - First Downs (UT 16, BG 24), Rushes-Yards (UT 34-224, BG 51-145), Passing Yardage (UT 162, BG 302), Completions-Attempts-Interceptions (UT 16-31-1, BG 20-30-0), Punts-Avg. (UT 7-34.7, BG 6-42.2), Fumbles-Lost (UT 3-1, BG 0-0), Penalties-Yards (UT 4-28, BG 2-15), Time of Possession (UT 25:32, BG 34:28).
Individual Leaders - Toledo - Rushing (Chester Taylor 18-209), Passing (Dan Cole 16-31-162), Receiving (Mel Long 4-31, Donta Greene 3-36, Carl Ford 3-23). Bowling Green - Rushing (Godfrey Lewis 31-124), Passing (Andy Sahm 20-30-302), Receiving (Robert Redd 8-128, Kurt Gerling 5-79).
