Oct. 11, 2003
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KALAMAZOO, Mich. -
The Bowling Green State University football team moved to 5-1 on the season with a 32-21 victory at Western Michigan University Saturday afternoon (Oct. 11). Some notes and numbers from the game ...
The Falcons move to 2-0 in Mid-American Conference play for the second consecutive season ... last year's team won the first five MAC games of the year en route to an 8-0 start overall.
BGSU now leads the all-time series with Western Michigan, 30-14-3, and the Falcons have won the last two overall series meetings (48-45 in OT at Perry Stadium in 2002) ... the win, however, was the Falcons' first at WMU's Waldo Stadium since the 1991 season.
Bowling Green entered Saturday's game with a team total of one interception through the first five games of the 2003 season ... the Falcons, however, picked off four passes vs. the Broncos.
Senior Janssen Patton had three of BGSU's four interceptions, tying a school single-game record ... the game markeed the second multiple-pick and second three-INT game of his Falcon career ... Patton also had three interceptions, returning one for a touchdown, in BGSU's win at Kent State during his freshman year (Sept. 30, 2000).
Patton becomes the first Falcon in school history to have two games of three interceptions.
INTERCEPTIONS IN A GAME
3 - Janssen Patton at Western Michigan, 10/11/03
3 - Janssen Patton at Kent State, 2000
3 - Carlos Brooks vs. Kent State, 1992
3 - Martin Bayless vs. Ball State, 1983
3 - Shawn Simms vs. Toledo, 1981
3 - Jac Tomasello vs. Kent State, 1981
3 - Arch Tunnell vs. Cal Poly SLO, 1960
3 - Jack Harbaugh vs. Delaware, 1959
Patton now has four interceptions this season, and a total of 15 in his career ... in the WMU game, he moved from a fourth-place tie into sole possession of second place on the BGSU career interception list.
INTERCEPTIONS IN A CAREER
27 - Martin Bayless, 1980-83
15 - Janssen Patton, 2000-SA
14 - Dave Bielinski, 1989-92
13 - Jac Tomasello, 1978-82
Redshirt sophomore Mike Thaler had the Falcons' other interception in the win at Western Michigan ... the pick was the first of his BGSU career.
Senior QB Josh Harris ran for 57 yards and two touchdowns in the game ... Harris now has a career total of 34 rushing TDs at BGSU, moving him into sole possession of second place on that Falcon list.
itRUSHING TDs IN A CAREER
39 - Dave Preston, 1973-76
34 - Josh Harris, 2000-SA
33 - Bernard White, 1984-85
Harris now has a total of 37 touchdowns (three receiving) in his BGSU tenure, and also ranks second on that Falcon career list.
TOTAL TDs IN A CAREER
41 - Dave Preston, 1973-76
37 - Josh Harris, 2000-SA
Additionally, Harris now has scored a total of 224 points as a Falcon, ranking him fourth on that BGSU career list (second among non-kickers).
POINTS IN A CAREER
247 - Brian Leaver, 1991-94
246 - Dave Preston, 1973-76
231 - Gehad Youssef, 1981-84
224 - Josh Harris, 2000-SA
Harris rushed for at least two touchdowns in a game for the first time this season, but the 11th time in his BGSU career.
Junior Cole Magner caught a game-high 11 passes for a total of 140 yards and a pair of touchdowns ... the two-TD game was Magner's second of the season and the second of his career ... Magner also caught two passes for scores in BGSU's win over Liberty on Sept. 13.
Magner's 100-yard receiving game was the third of his career ... all three have come on the road this season ... he had 168 yards at Ohio State and 127 in the Falcons' win at Purdue.
Magner now has surpassed 1,000 receiving yards for his career ... he now has caught 85 passes for 1,132 career yards.
Two other Falcons reached the 1,000-yard mark for their careers ... sophomore P.J. Pope rushed for 99 yards in the win at WMU, and now has carried the ball 191 times for 1,072 career yards ... junior James Hawkins caught four passes for 52 yards against the Broncos, and now has 72 career catches for exactly 1,000 yards as a Falcon.
The Falcons held a 29-13 advantage in first downs for the game, and BGSU rolled up 518 yards of total offense to the Broncos' 387 ... BGSU had a huge advantage in time of possession, holding the ball for 40:38 to WMU's 19:22 ... the Falcons were 8-of-17 on third-down conversions to the hosts' 1-for-10.
Over the last 20 games, dating to the final two contests of the 2001 season, the Falcons have had nine efforts of 500 yards or better of total offense.
Sophomore Nate Fry had a career-long 71-yard punt.
Junior Cornelius McGrady blocked a punt in the third quarter. It was the third blocked punt of his career.
