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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Football Completes 81st Collegiate Season
December 20, 1999 | Football
Nov. 22, 1999
The Falcons closed the season winning its last three games, including a pair of Mid-American Conference contests. The Falcons win over Central Florida was its first this season on the road.
LAST WEEK: The Falcons closed out the 1999 season with a come-from-behind 33-30 overtime victory at Central Florida. The Falcons fell behind early as UCF scored the first 10 points of the game in the first quarter even though BG ran 17 plays to 13 for the Golden Knights and had over a three-minute edge in time of possession. BG trailed 17-6 at halftime as Jason Strasser kicked a pair of field goals (36 and 40 yards) in the second stanza. The Falcons got the only score of the third quarter, a one-yard run by Andy Sahm, to close to within 17-12, but UCF blocked a BG punt on the third play of the fourth quarter to take a 24-12 lead. But, a pair of BG touchdowns sandwiched around a UCF field goal sent the game to overtime. The final BG score came with just 2:11 left as Sahm scored another time from one-yard out completing a 59-yard, 12-play drive. BG converted on fourth down twice to keep the drive alive. BG converted on all four of its fourth-down tries in the final stanza and all five in the game. BG then won the toss for the overtime period and elected to play defense first holding UCF to one first down and a 28-yard field goal. The Falcons then won the game four plays into their drive as Joe Alls ran around right end for an eight-yard score. All four plays of the drive were running plays - a seven-yard Alls run, a four-yard Brent Martin run, an Alls six-yard scamper, and the deciding run. Alls led the Falcons with 81 yards on the ground on 23 carries while Sahm completed 12-of-24 passes for 176 yards with most of the damage done by Kurt Gerling who caught seven passes for 119 yards. BG ran 77 plays in the game to 63 for UCF, but the Golden Knights had a 424-342 edge in the total offense, 374 of their yards through the air.
BGSU FOOTBALL BANQUET: The annual football banquet to honor the 1999 squad will be held Saturday, Dec. 11 at Olscamp Hall on the BGSU campus. The banquet will begin at 2 p.m. with the doors opening at 1:30. For information, call the BGSU football office at (419) 372-7083.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Falcons have enjoyed a great deal of success at home under head coach Gary Blackney posting a 33-10-1 mark, a 27-8-1 mark in MAC games. Despite a 15-10 mark in their last 25 games at home, BG has averaged 30.5 points (1341 pts.) at home over the last 44 contests while allowing just 18.5 points (815 pts.). In MAC play at home, BG has averaged 30.4 points (1095 pts.) and allowed an average of just 17.8 points (640 pts.). Over the last 17 seasons, BG has compiled a 65-18-4 (.770) record and in the 34 seasons Perry Stadium has been the home of Falcon football, BG has a 109-52-6 (.671) mark. BG has won eight of its last 10 home games.
A HELPING HAND: The Bowling Green football team and the athletic department have joined forces with the Fifth Third Bank in Bowling Green to assist the United Way of Wood County. The bank has agreed to donate $100 for each touchdown the Falcons score at their five home games this season and $50 for each field goal. This season BGSU scored 22 touchdowns and six field goals in their five home games to put the total at $2,500.
Winningest Active Coaches
(Div. I-A, By Winning Percentage) 1. Phillip Fulmer (Tennessee) .852 (75-13) 2. Joe Paterno (Penn State) .790 (316-83-3) 3. Steve Spurrier (Florida) .783 (122-33-2) 4. Bobby Bowden (Florida St.) .779 (304-85-4) 5. R.C. Slocum (Texas A&M) .761 (101-31-2) 6. Dennis Erickson (Oregon St.) .730 (120-44-1) 7. Lavell Edwards (BYU) .726 (251-94-3) 8. John Robinson (UNLV) .712 (107-42-4) 9. Paul Pasqualoni (Syracuse) .696 (108-47-1) 10. John Cooper (Ohio State) .693 (184-80-6) 11. Bill Snyder (Kansas State) .684 (87-40-1) 12. Lou Holtz (South Carolina) .667 (216-106-7) 13. Dennis Franchione (TCU) .661 (126-64-2) 14. Fisher DeBerry (Air Force) .649 (126-68-1) 15. Jackie Sherrill (Miss. St.) .643 (162-89-4) 16. Gary Pinkel (Toledo) .632 (63-36-3) 17. Sonny Lubick (Colorado St.) .628 (76-45) 18. Nick Saban (Michigan State) .621 (43-26-1) 19. Frank Beamer (Va. Tech) .609 (129-82-4) 20. Don Nehlen (West Virginia) .609 (194-123-8) 21. Joe Tiller (Purdue) .608 (64-41-1) 22. Barry Alvarez (Wisconsin) .606 (69-44-4) 23. Ron McBride (Utah) .603 (70-46) 24. Ken Hatfield (Rice) .598 (144-96-4) 25. Dick Tomey (Arizona) .595 (153-103-7) 26. George O'Leary (Ga. Tech) .593 (35-24) 27. George Welsh (Virginia) .593 (183-125-4) 28. Randy Walker (Northw'n) .586 (62-43-5) 29. Gary Blackney (BGSU) .584 (58-41-2) (minimum five years as I-A head coach)
FALCONS WIN LAST THREE: Bowling Green ended the season with wins in each of their last three games to finish the season with a 5-6 overall mark. In those three wins, the Falcons picked up two much-needed Mid-American Conference victories and their only road win of the season. BG ended last season winning four of its last five contests to also finish with a 5-6 mark.
FALCON RUSH DEFENSE STINGY IN LAST THREE: One of the reasons the Falcons finished the year with three wins was the play of the defense, especially against the run. In each of those three contests, BG did not give up more than a total of 53 yards on the ground - 43 to Central Michigan, 53 to Ball State, and 50 to Central Florida. With their performance in the last three games, BG ended the season allowing an average of 149.9 yards per game on the ground, fourth-best in the MAC. One other time this season the Falcons allowed less than 50 yards on the ground - 37 to Tennessee Tech - and Pittsburgh barely made it into triple figures in the season opener gaining a total of 107 yards.
TEAM FAST FACTS: Bowling Green has 37 blocked kicks since 1991 (17 punts, nine field goals, 11 extra points)...BG has scored 13 touchdowns and recorded two safeties as a direct result of the kick block or on its ensuing possession...BG had seven kick blocks in 1991, six in 1992 and 1993, four in 1994, one in 1995, six in 1996, one in 1997, two last season, and five this season (four punts, one extra point), two in the Tennessee Tech game one against Ball State, and two in the Central Florida game...BG is 8-1 in MAC openers under head coach Gary Blackney...the Falcons are 18-17-1 on the road under head coach Gary Blackney in MAC play...overall on the road during Blackney's tenure the Falcons are 23-31-2 and they have a 5-13 mark in non-league road contests with the wins coming against Central Florida (1999), Temple (1995), Cincinnati (1994), Navy (1994), and Missouri (1995)...after compiling a 14-1-1 mark on the road in conference play between 1991 and 1994, BG has struggled to a 4-16 mark in their last 20 MAC road games...BG has posted a 6-3 mark against non-league schools at home during the tenure of head coach Gary Blackney...the Falcons have posted a 22-33 overall record the last five seasons after BG teams posted a record of 36-8-2 the previous four years...BG has held 21 of 36 MAC foes to two touchdowns or less at home since 1991, while in all MAC games, BG defensive units have held 39 of 72 league foes to two touchdowns or less...BG has a 579-358 edge in points off of turnovers over the last nine seasons...BG has had fewer turnovers than its opponent in 49 of the 101 games played since 1991, and in only 34 of those contests have they committed more turnovers than their opponent...BG is 36-13 in the 49 games in which they have had fewer turnovers than the opposition since 1991...over the last nine seasons, BG has not had a turnover in 21 games and has committed just one in 30 others...BG has lost more than one fumble only eight times in the last 86 games (a total of 46 lost fumbles in those 86 games)...BG has lost the ball via fumble in just 34 of their last 77 games...dating back to the beginning of the 1998 season, BG has scored on 74 of its last 85 possessions in the red zone (20-yard line or inside) with 57 of the 74 conversions touchdowns...for the second successive year, Bowling Green was recognized by the American Football Coaches Association for its high graduation rate...the Falcon program was one of 26 programs in Div. I-A from across the country with a 70% or higher rate for the 1993-94 freshman class.
ON THE MARK: Senior place-kicker Jason Strasser (Toledo, Ohio/St. Francis) was fourth in the nation last season in field goal accuracy converting 11-of-12 attempts for a 91.7 percentage and he picked up this season where he left off in 1998. Strasser made two of his three attempts in the Central Florida game hitting 13-of-16 for the season. Strasser hit 19 of his last 22 field goal tries, and 24 of his last 28. He hit field goals from 43, 40, 37, 36, 35, 32, 31, 27 (2), 26, 22, 21, and 19 yards this season. He missed from 45, 43, and 38 yards. He was tied for third in the MAC averaging 1.18 field goals per game this season. He had his streak of 13 straight made field goals come to an end in the Toledo game when he missed from 45 yards. His streak fell one shy of the MAC record set in 1993-94 by former Falcon place-kicker Brian Leaver of 14 straight made field goals. He puts his name second on that list with another former BG player, John Spengler, third on the list making 12 straight in 1979-80. His three field goals in the Marshall game equalled his career high set first in the 1997 game vs. Louisiana Tech. He joins eight other Falcon kickers who have hit three field goals in a game, which is third on the BG single-game list. Strasser scored 66 points this season to lead the team. His 39 career field goals ranks fourth on the BG all-time list while his 216 career points ranks fourth on the all-time list, third among kickers.
RECEIVERS PLAYED WELL: Sophomore split end Robert Redd (Dayton, Ohio/Wayne) and sophomore flanker Kurt Gerling (Sterling Heights, Mich./Henry Ford) gave the Falcons one of the best combinations in the MAC. Redd became the first Bowling Green receiver to catch passes for 100 or more yards in three straight games with a 115-yard day against Miami after a 128-yard day against Toledo the week before, and a 126-yard game the previous week against Kent. In those three games, Redd had 22 receptions for 369 yards (123.0/game) and five touchdowns. Redd was second on the team with 39 receptions for 552 yards (14.2 avg.) and six touchdowns this season. His 36 points this season was second on the team to place-kicker Jason Strasser. He also led the team averaging 91.4 all-purpose yards per game. He had a reception in every game this season in which he played and 15 of the 16 games in his career. Redd did not play in the final two games this season after being suspended for missing practice during BG's idle week. Gerling ran his string to 22 games in which he has a reception in a contest with seven catches for 119 yards in the Central Florida game. His nine-catch, 183-yard day against Akron earlier this season established career highs in both categories with his yardage total third on the all-time BG single-game list, just six yards shy of the school record. The MAC Freshman of the Year last season led the team with 53 receptions for 775 yards (14.6 avg.) and five touchdowns this year. Gerling became the 19th player in school history to catch passes for 1,000 yards in the Akron game and now ranks 10th on the career list with 1,431 receiving yards after just two seasons. A third BG receiver, red-shirt sophomore Aaron Alexander (Kokomo, Ind.) had his break-out game with eight receptions, his career high, for 87 yards in the Miami contest, and he came back to catch seven passes for 105 yards, his career high, in the Akron game. Alexander and Gerling are only the fifth BG receiving combo to catch passes for 100 or more yards in a game with both topping the century mark in the Akron contest. Alexander had 12 receptions for 195 yards in his career prior to his performance in the Miami game. He had 35 catches for 462 yards (13.2 avg.) and one score this season, 27 of his receptions coming in the last six contests. This season was also the first since 1994 in which BG had three players top the 30-catch barrier and it was the first time since 1977 that all three were wide receivers.
ALLS EMERGES: With strong performances in each of his last four games, red-shirt freshman Joe Alls (Sterling Heights, Mich./Stevenson) has taken over as the top player at the tailback spot. He led the team with 592 yards on 117 carries this season for a team-best 5.1 average while rushing for four scores. He also returned kickoffs averaging 19.2 yards on 14 efforts. His 945 all-purpose yards led the team. Alls rushed for a career high 155 yards on 25 carries in the win over Ball State which came after he had rushed for 134 yards on 29 carries in the previous contest against Central Michigan. He also led the team with 91 yards on 11 carries in the loss at Ohio. He ran for 467 yards in the last four games (116.8 avg.) averaging 5.3 yards per carry with a pair of touchdowns. Alls rushed for 125 yards (4.3 avg.) in the first seven games of the season.
INDIVIDUAL FAST FACTS: Red-shirt freshman quarterback Andy Sahm (Indianapolis, Ind./Chatard) started each of the last seven games of the season after bursting onto the scene with 302 yards passing against Toledo in his first career start...he was the first BG quarterback to throw for 300 or more yards since 1994 while becoming only the fifth quarterback at BG to top 300 yards in a game...his yardage total was the best by any BG quarterback in school history in their first start...he completed the season hitting 50.7% (77-of-152) of his passes for 1,088 yards...his 122.03 passing efficiency rating ranked fifth in the MAC...senior linebacker Joe O'Neill (Twinsburg, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) ended the season second on the team in tackles with 90 giving him 358 for his career...O'Neill was second on the team this season with 12 tackles for a loss...sophomore defensive back Chad Long (Clyde, Ohio) led the team with 111 tackles giving him 216 for his career...Long was second to O'Neill last season with 93 stops...junior defensive lineman Brandon Hicks (Fairborn, Ohio) led the team with 14 tackles for a loss and he was third in overall tackles with 53...his four sacks also led the squad.
BG PLAYERS AMONG MAC LEADERS: Rushing - 9. Joe Alls (53.8/game), Passing Efficiency - 6. Andy Sahm (122.0), Receptions - 8. Kurt Gerling (4.82/game), Receiving Yards - 8. Kurt Gerling (70.5/game), Punt Returns - 10. Robert Redd (5.8 avg.), Punting - 5. Pat Fleming (40.3 avg.), Kick Scoring - 6. Jason Strasser (6.0/game), Field Goals - t-3. Jason Strasser (1.18/game).
A LOOK AHEAD
On Offense: The Falcons return 16 of the top 22 players on their final depth chart next season...the unit loses three offensive linemen and tight end Kevin Steinke along with fullback Brent Martin, who was one of the co-captains this season...the three departing offensive linemen are left guard Mark Kautzman (35 career starts), center Doug Dorley (22 career starts), and right tackle Chad McCarthy (started 43 of 44 career games including the last 35 in succession)...Steinke played in all 44 games of his career and made 19 starts)...Martin rushed for 508 yards in his career and was one of the leaders of the team...the Falcons return two offensive linemen, right guard Eric Curl and left tackle Rob Fehrman, along with players at many of the skilled positions, including quarterback Andy Sahm and his entire contingent of wide receivers (Kurt Gerling, Robert Redd, Aaron Alexander)...those three accounted for 74% (127 of 172 receptions) of the catches this season and 81% (1789 of 2209) of the receiving yards...the top two running backs, Godfrey Lewis (five starts) and Joe Alls (three starts), also return after combining for 1,092 yards and 10 touchdowns in 1999.
On Defense: The unit loses only two players, linebacker Joe O'Neill and cornerback Will Sullivan...O'Neill has been a mainstay on defense throughout his career while Sullivan was solid this season, his first on defense after coming to the program as a wide receiver, making 40 tackles and leading the team with seven pass break ups...the defense will return four of its top six tacklers including leader Chad Long in the secondary...noseguard Brandon Hicks emerged as the leader along the line with co-captain D.J. Durkin, who struggled with injuries most of the season...sophomores Khary Campbell and Garry Fisher along with red-shirt freshman Chris Haneline and Geno Burden will lead the linebacking corp.
Special Teams: The Falcons will need to replace place-kicker Jason Strasser who completed his career fourth on the BG career scoring list, third among kickers...freshman Pat Fleming was fifth in the MAC in punting giving the Falcons a strong returning player...the Falcons also return their top punt returner, Robert Redd, while Joe Alls returns to handle the kickoff return chores...junior Ryan Diepenbrock also returns to handle the long-snapping duties.
The Schedule: The Falcons open the season at Michigan on Sept. 2 and follow with the remainder of their non-league schedule as they host Pittsburgh on Sept. 9 and will travel to Philadelphia on Sept. 16 to battle Temple. The Mid-American Conference schedule is expected to be released sometime in the near future.
MAC Team Rankings
BGSU Total Offense: 351.3 (8) Rushing Offense: 150.5 (5) Passing Offense: 200.8 (6) Scoring Offense: 26.9 (5) Total Defense: 374.5 (6) Rushing Defense: 149.9 (4) Passing Defense: 224.5 (10) Scoring Defense: 28.4 (7) Turnover Margin: -0.82 (t-11) 3rd Down (Off.) - 65/174 (7) 3rd Down (Def.) - 53/156 (3) 4th Down (Off.) - 14/22 Avg. Time of Poss. - 31:52 (3) Kickoff Return - 19.2 (10) Punt Return - 8.5 (7) Net Punting - 34.1 (7)
