Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Host Northern Illinois In Televised Battle Of Nationally-Ranked Teams
October 20, 2003 | Football
Oct. 20, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
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#12/#14 NORTHERN ILLINOIS (7-0, 3-0)
at
#23 BOWLING GREEN (6-1, 3-0)
Sat., October 25, 4:00 p.m.
Doyt L. Perry Stadium (28,599)
Series Record: BGSU leads 9-4
Last Meeting: at NIU 26, BGSU 17 (11/9/02)
TV: ESPN2
(Jeff Hullinger, PBP; Andre Ware, Analyst; Jimmy Dykes, Sideline)
Two Top-25 teams will do battle Saturday afternoon at BGSU's Perry Stadium, as the Bowling Green State University football team hosts Northern Illinois University in the first nationally-televised home game in school history. Kickoff is 4:00 p.m. for the game, which will be broadcast on ESPN2. Jeff Hullinger has the play-by-play call, with Andre Ware and Jimmy Dykes handling analyst and sideline duties, respectively.
The national-TV spotlight will be on Perry Stadium all day, as the College GameDay crew of Lee Corso, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit visit a Mid-American Conference stadium for the first time. GameDay will broadcast live from 10:30 a.m. to noon, as well as updates throughout the afternoon and evening.
BRANDON TAKES OVER FALCONS
First-year head coach Gregg Brandon, the 16th head coach in the history of the BGSU football program, joined Don Nehlen and Urban Meyer as the only BGSU football coaches to begin their career with a 3-0 record. With the Falcons' 27-26 win at #16 Purdue, Brandon joined Nehlen as the only BGSU coaches to ever defeat a nationally-ranked opponent. Nehlen's 1972 squad defeated #18 Purdue, 17-14. Brandon has more than 22 years of coaching experience at the Division I level, including the last two years at BGSU where he served as assistant head coach and directed the Falcons' record-setting offensive attack.
Best Records Among 2003 First-time Head Coaches
Gregg Brandon, Bowling Green -- 6-1 Bill Doba, Washington State -- 6-1 Bobby Petrino, Louisville -- 6-1
FALCONS FACE TOUGH ROAD
The Falcons and Huskies are two of the four remaining unbeatens in MAC play. They join Miami and Toledo with 3-0 records in the league. The Falcons will visit Miami (Nov. 4, also on ESPN2) and host Toledo (Nov. 28) as they look to compete for their first MAC title since 1992.
NATIONAL STAGE COMES TO BG
This week's game with NIU, as mentioned, has been picked up as a national telecast by ESPN2, with Jeff Hullinger, Andre Ware and Jimmy Dykes calling the action. The Falcons, who also will appear on ESPN2 on Nov. 4 when they travel to Miami, will make its first national television appearance since the final game of the 2000 season when BGSU played at Toledo on Thanksgiving Eve. That game also marked Josh Harris' first collegiate start. In 24 career starts, Harris has a 19-5 record and is 11-0 at home as the Falcons' starting QB.This is the second regular-season MAC game between two nationally-ranked opponents. Miami (#17) and Kent State (#19) battled each other in 1973.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Falcons are rated 23rd in the Associated Press poll, 21st by The Sporting News, and 26th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
ONE STREAK HAS TO GIVE
The Falcons have the longest active MAC home winning streak at 10 games and have averaged 51.7 points per game on their home turf since beginning that streak on Nov. 23, 2001 with a 56-21 win against Toledo. The Huskies have won six-straight MAC road games and have not tasted a league setback in their white jerseys since losing 44-34 at Kent State on Oct. 13, 2001.
The Falcons have been especially tough against MAC West opposition posting an 11-1 record at home against the left side of the league since divisional play began in 1997 (WMU notched the lone visitor triumph, 31-24, in 1997). That year also marked the last NIU visit to BG with the Falcons taking a 35-10 decision.
HARRIS CLOSES IN ON MILESTONES
Senior QB Josh Harris ran for 96 yards and three touchdowns in the Falcons' 33-20 win at Eastern Michigan Saturday (Oct. 18) ... Harris now has a career total of 37 rushing TDs at BGSU and needs three more running scores to set a new school record.
RUSHING TDs IN A CAREER
39 - Dave Preston, 1973-76 37 - Josh Harris, 2000-SA
Harris now has a total of 40 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 40 - Josh Harris, 2000-SA
Additionally, Harris now has scored a total of 242 points as a Falcon, ranking him third on that BGSU career list (second among non-kickers).
POINTS IN A CAREER
247 - Brian Leaver, 1991-94 246 - Dave Preston, 1973-76 242 - Josh Harris, 2000-SA
With his 298 yards passing against Central Michigan, Harris surpassed the 5,000-yard plateau and currently has thrown for 5,537 yards. Only three players in school history have reached the 6,000-yard mark (Brian McClure-10,280; Rich Dackin-6,862; and Erik White- 6,072).
Harris' 38 career TD tosses rank him fourth on the BGSU all-time list. He needs one more to tie Erik White who had 39 from 1989-92.
With his 376 yards of total offense against CMU, Harris moved into second place on the school's all-time list and now has 7,481 career yards. Brian McClure is the all-time leader with 9,774 yards from 1982-85.
Harris also needs 56 yards rushing to become just the ninth player in school history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in his career. He has carried the ball 470 times for 1,944 yards (4.1 avg.) and 37 TDs.
MORE HARRIS NOTES
Harris is averaging a career-high 8.1 yards per pass, 263.9 passing yards per game, and 306 yards of total offense per game.
His completion percentage of 65.5 percent also is a career-best, a 9.4 percent improvement over his 56.1 percent mark of 2002.
THE NATION'S MOST BALANCED OFFENSES
BGSU is one of six schools in the country who are averaging more than 200 yards rushing and passing per game.
School Rushing Passing Total Bowling Green 202.6 312.0 514.6 Minnesota 279.3 202.9 482.3 Louisville 212.3 254.9 467.2 Oklahoma State 235.4 209.3 444.7 Arkansas 225.0 209.5 434.5 Texas A&M 205.6 207.7 413.3
Last year, the Falcons averaged 219.1 yards on the ground and 229.8 yards through the air and ranked eighth in the country in total offense (448.9)
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