Oct. 25, 2003
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
The Bowling Green State University football team remained undefeated in Mid-American Conference play with a Saturday (Oct. 25) win over Northern Illinois University, 34-18. Some notes and numbers from the game...
With the victory, the Falcons are now 4-0 in the MAC, and BGSU is in sole possession of first place in the MAC's West Division ... NIU dropped from the ranks of the MAC unbeaten, and Ball State defeated UT for the Rockets' first conference loss of the season.
The Falcon defense posted their best effort of the season holding the Huskies to just 227 yards overall, while offensively, BGSU racked up 634. The Falcons ran 93 plays, while NIU ran just 57.
The attendance of 31,007 was the second-largest crowd ever to witness a game at Doyt Perry Stadium ... the top attendance figure ever at Perry Stadium was 33,527, set in the Toledo game of Oct. 8, 1983. It's also the fourth time in school history that a capacity crowd attended a Falcon home game and the first to see a win in front of a full house. In 1971, Toledo defeated BGSU, 24-7 in front of 26,860 fans and in 1975 Miami defeated the Falcons 20-17 before a crowd of 24,409. From 1966 to 1982, the stadium capacity was 23,272. From 1983-2002, it was 30,599. This past year, 2,000 seats were removed from the south end zone.
Many bowl representatives were on hand to attend this crucial MAC West showdown. The Motor City Bowl, GMAC Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Tangerine Bowl and Orange Bowl all had staffers in attendance.
Senior QB Josh Harris threw for a Perry Stadium record 438 yards in the victory, completing 27 of his 43 attempts through the air ... the old stadium record of 437 yards was set by Ball State's Neil Britt nearly two decades ago (Nov. 5, 1983) ... Brian McClure held the stadium mark for a BGSU quarterback, with 407 yards in the Central Michigan game the week prior (Oct. 29, 1983).
Harris' passing yardage total was a career high ... he surpassed the 300-yard mark for the third time this year, and the fifth time in his career ... Harris has thrown for 400-plus yards twice in his career ... his previous career high was 402 yards, set in the Falcons' 2001 win at Northwestern (Nov. 17, 2001) ... vs. the Huskies, Harris threw for 405 yards in the first three quarters ... in fact, Harris had 148 passing yards in the first three minutes of the game, leading the Falcons to two quick scoring drives ... he was 5-of-6 through the air on those two drives.
Harris also broke his own school record for total offense in a game ... in addition to his passing prowess, Harris had 89 yards rushing, for 527 yards of total offense ... his old school record was 498 yards in the win at Northwestern two years ago. His 527 yards of total offense was the second-highest total in MAC history (534, Jose Davis, Kent State vs. Central Florida, 1997)
Senior Janssen Patton tied the school record with three interceptions in the win ... a Falcon player has now had three picks in a game on nine different occasions, with Patton being the lone Falcon to have turned the trick on more than more occasion ... Patton's three-INT game was his second of the year (at Western Michigan; Oct. 11, 2003) and the third of his career (at Kent State; Sept. 30, 2000).
Patton now has 18 career interceptions, ranking him second in school history ... Martin Bayless (27 from 1980-83) holds the school record ... additionally, Patton is now tied for third in MAC history in career picks ... Bayless holds the MAC mark, followed by Kent State's Lou Harris (19 from 1965-67) ... Ohio's Joe Callan (1976-79) also had 18 picks in his career.
Patton's multi-INT game was the fourth of his Falcon career ... as mentioned, he had three vs. both KSU in 2000 and WMU earlier this season ... Patton had two picks at Missouri in 2001.
The Falcons posted a season-high six sacks against the Huskies...Mitch Crossley had 2.5 sacks and now has a team-leading 10 on the season...sophomore Mike Thaler assisted on two sacks, junior linebacker Jovon Burkes had one sack, sophomore Monty Cooley had a sack, and sophomore Matt Leininger had one sack assist.
The Falcons have beaten a nationally-ranked team for the second time this season and the third time in school history ... Purdue was ranked #16 in the nation when BGSU picked up a 27-26 road win on Sept. 6 ... BG's other win over a ranked team also came at Purdue, as Don Nehlen's Falcons picked up a 17-14 win over the #18 Boilermakers in 1972 ... Nehlen was in attendance at Saturday's NIU game.
BGSU is 3-0 at home when the Falcons are nationally ranked ... last year, BG defeated Western Michigan and Ball State during the Falcons' five-week stay in the top 25.
Charles Sharon had six receptions for a game-high 123 yards ... Sharon's yardage total established a career high ... Sharon also caught two touchdown passes for the first time in his BGSU career.
P.J. Pope had a career-long 46-yard reception in the win ... Pope had a career-high 82 yards receiving in the game.
Craig Jarrett had a career-long 44-yard catch in the game.
Harris threw three TD passes in the win, moving his career total to 41 ... Harris has moved past Erik White (39 TD passes from 1989-92) into third place on the BGSU career list ... Brian McClure (1982-85) holds the school mark with 63 career touchdown tosses, while Ryan Henry (1992-95) ranks second with 46.
BGSU extended the MAC's longest active home winning streak to 11 games ... the Falcons have averaged 50.1 points per game since beginning that streak on Nov. 23, 2001, with a 56-21 win over Toledo.
The Falcons have posted a 12-1 record at home against MAC West teams since divisional play began in 1997 ... Western Michigan notched the lone visitor triumph with a 34-21 win in that '97 season ... that year also marked the last NIU visit to BG prior to Saturday, with the Falcons taking a 35-10 decision in that season.
Harris surpassed the 2,000-yard mark in career rushing, and now has 2,033 yards on the ground ... he is nearing the 6,000-yard plateau through the air, with 5,975 career passing yards through the NIU game.
BGSU held Northern Illinois to 62 yards rushing as a team ... BGSU has now won the last 10 games when holding the opponent under the century mark.
The Falcons racked up 634 yards of total offense to the Huskies' 227 ... BGSU has won all 10 games since 2001 when amassing 500 yards or more of total offense.
BGSU has won 19 of the last 23 games since late in the 2001 season.
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