Sept. 21, 2002
Notes
LAWRENCE, Kansas -
The Bowling Green State University football team posted a 39-16 victory over the University of Kansas Saturday night (Sept. 21). Some notes and numbers from the win...
With the win, the Falcons moved to 3-0 on the season for the second consecutive season ... the last time BGSU opened with three wins in two-straight years was 1963-64.
BGSU has won six consecutive games dating to last season ... the current win streak is the longest since the 1994 season when the Falcons captured nine-straight contests.
BGSU's six-game win streak is also the third-longest current streak in the nation, trailing only Miami (Fla.) and Oregon.
The Falcons are now 5-0 against schools from BCS conferences during the Urban Meyer Era ... those five wins include three on the road.
BGSU has now won four consecutive road games -- Akron, Ohio and Northwestern last season, and Kansas this year.
The Falcons' fell one point shy of scoring 40 or more points for the fifth consecutive game ... the four-game streak, which came to an end, is a school record.
Although the Brown and Orange did not hit the 40-point plateau, BGSU's 23-point margin of victory ties the Falcons' largest over a Big 12 (or Big Eight) Conference member in school history ... BG had set the mark seven days earlier, in the 51-28 victory over Missouri.
Falcon head coach Urban Meyer has a perfect 3-0 record vs. Big 12 Conference foes ... prior to Meyer's arrival on campus, the Brown and Orange had gone 1-8 all-time vs. schools from the Big Eight/Big 12.
Senior RB Joe Alls had a career-high 161 yards rushing, eclipsing his previous best of 155 yards (vs. Ball State, 1999) ... for Alls, the game was his second-straight contest of over 100 yards on the ground, and the sixth of his career ... as if that weren't enough, he threw his first career touchdown pass to junior QB Josh Harris in the win over the Jayhawks.
For Harris, the TD catch was the third of his career, and the second in as many weeks ... Harris also had two rushing TDs for the fifth consecutive game.
Senior QB Andy Sahm, who came on in the fourth quarter, had a career-long 65-yard run ... the play marked the longest non-scoring run in school history (old mark: 64 yards, Jeff Davis vs. Richmond, 1984).
BGSU's 22 points in the second quarter set a season high.
Junior LB Mitch Hewitt, who had his first career touchdown in last week's win over Missouri, scored his second TD in as many weeks, recovering a fumble in the end zone late in the second quarter.
That TD, and the subsequent extra point, gave the Falcons the lead for good at 14-9 ... BGSU recovered the ensuing kickoff, which led to the Alls TD pass to Harris and moved the lead to double digits ... the Falcons then scored on a four-play, 80-yard drive to open the third quarter, gaining double digits on all four plays ... that drive consisted of three rushes by Alls and a 39-yard pass from Harris to senior WR Robert Redd ... that scoring drive put the Falcons ahead by a 29-9 score, and KU never got closer than 20 points again.
BGSU had the second two-point conversion in the Meyer Era on a Harris pass to Redd.
Redshirt freshman WR Charles Sharon had a 44-yard reception, the longeset of his brief collegiate career.
Senior Pat Fleming had 6 punts for an average of 48.5 yards.
BGSU is now 6-0 since Harris took over the starting quarterback job late last season ... during that time, Harris has 10 rushing touchdowns, 10 passing TDs and three receiving scores.
The Falcons entered the KU game averaging 484 yards of total offense and 41.6 points per game since Harris took over the starting duties ... against the Jayhawks, BGSU rolled up 503 yards of total offense and, of course, the 39 points.
The Falcons limited the Jayhawks to 89 yards rushing on 34 attempts ... BGSU has held the opponent to fewer than 100 yards on the ground 11 times in the last 14 games, including in each of the last four contests.
Meyer now has a record of 11-3 with the Falcons.
In the entire 2000 season, the most points the Falcons scored in a game was 21 ... since Meyer's debut, BGSU has scored at least 21 points in 11 of the 14 games ... BG has scored at least 35 points in seven of those 14 contests, including in each of the last five games ... interestingly, the Falcons are 3-0 when scoring fewer than 21 points during the Meyer Era (20-13 at Missouri, 16-11 at Akron, 17-0 at Ohio; all during the 2001 season).
Prior to BGSU's win, Kansas had won 17 of the last 19 home games against non-conference opponents.
BG is idle until Saturday, Oct. 5 ... on that date, the Falcons will host Ohio University ... that game, the Homecoming contest, begins at 4:00 at Doyt Perry Stadium.
