Nov. 29, 2003
Recap|
Box Score|
Quotes|
Photo Gallery
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
The Bowling Green State University football team posted a 31-23 victory over the arch-rival University of Toledo Saturday afternoon (Nov. 29) at Perry Stadium. Some notes and numbers from the game...
BOWLING GREEN NOTES
The Falcons have won the Mid-American Conference's West Division and have earned the right to host the MAC Championship Game ... BGSU will face East Division winner Miami on Thursday (Dec. 4) at 7:00 p.m. at Perry Stadium ... the division title is the Falcons' first since the MAC began divisional play prior to the 1997 season ... overall, the Falcons' last MAC title came in 1992.
The Falcons have reached double digits in wins for only the fourth time in school history ... the 1985 and 1991 teams (both 11-1-0) both won 11 games, while the '92 squad had 10 wins (10-2-0).
Senior Josh Harris completed over 80 percent of his passes in the win, going 21-of-26 for 256 yards through the air ... he threw for three touchdowns without suffering a sack or an interception ... additionally, Harris caught a TD pass.
Junior Cole Magner threw that TD pass, a 48-yard strike to Harris to open the scoring early in the second quarter ... the play marked Magner's fifth career touchdown pass, and it was the fourth career TD catch for Harris ... for Harris, the 48-yard reception was his career long ... and, it was a career-long throw from Magner ... for both players, the previous career long came when Magner found Harris on a 34-yard TD play in last year's win over Missouri.
Harris now has a total of 3,167 yards passing this season, making him only the second player in BGSU history to eclipse the 3,000-yard plateau for a season ... Brian McClure holds the school record with 3,264 yards passing in 1983.
Magner caught four passes in the UT game, giving him 82 this season ... Magner is just one shy of Robert Redd's school record of 83, set last season ... Magner now has 1,004 receiving yards, making him only the second Falcon to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark for a season ... Stan Hunter holds that record with 1,107 yards receiving in 1983.
Harris has now participated in a total of 572 plays this season, a new MAC record ... he broke the old record that he shared with former Marshall QB Byron Leftwich (539 plays; Harris in 2002, Leftwich in 2001).
The Falcons scored on all four drives in the second half, prior to running out the clock on the game's final dive ... Harris led the Brown and Orange on an eight-play, 71-yard drive for a touchdown on BG's opening drive after halftime, then guided the Falcons on a 40-yard drive that culminated in a field goal ... the Falcons got the ball back after a UT punt on the final play of the third quarter, and Harris led BG on a 12-play, 92-yard TD drive ... then, on BG's next possession, the Falcons went 51 yards in 10 plays for another TD ... BGSU was 3-for-3 in the red zone in the win.
Charles Sharon had eight receptions for 120 yards in the game ... it marked his third game of 100-plus yards receiving, both this season and in his career ... he has amassed thos three 100-yard games in his last four contests.
Sharon, who missed the Ball State game due to a family funeral, caught a career-high three touchdown passes in the game ... he now has caught at least one TD pass in each of his last four games, and has nine TD catches this year.
Fifth-year senior defensive lineman Will Teague had his first career interception in the win.
Shaun Suisham drilled a 41-yard field goal to tie the score at 17-17 late in the third quarter ... Suisham now has 14 field goals this year, ranking him third on the BGSU single-season list ... the junior now has 29 field goals in his Falcon career, placing him sixth in school history.
A sellout crowd of 29,724 saw the game ... it marked the second time this season, and the fifth time in the 38-year history of Perry Stadium that a sellout crowd witnessed the Falcons.
The attendance was the third-highest total in stadium history ... the largest crowd was 33,527 vs. Toledo in 1983, and the second-highest total came earlier this season in the Northern Illinois game (31,007) ... seven of the top-eight attendance figures in stadium history have come in BG-UT games.
TOLEDO NOTES
Andrew Clarke's touchdown catch in the second quarter was the 18th of his career ... he assumes sole possession of second place on the UT career list ... Mel Long, Jr. (1997-2000) holds the school record with 21 career TD catches.
Lance Moore had seven receptions for 113 yards and two TDs ... he extended his own record, and has tied the Mid-American Conference record for catches in a season, with 103 ... Kent State's Eugene Baker originally set the record, in 1997.
Moore's two TD catches up his season total to nine, tying the school record held by Don Seymour (1973) and Carl Ford (2002) ... Clarke's TD grab give him eight on the year.
BGSU-TOLEDO SERIES NOTES
The Falcons now lead the all-time series with the Rockets by a 36-28-4 margin ... the home team has won each of the last six meetings in the series ... Saturday's game marked the first time in the 68 series meetings that the winner was guaranteed an outright conference or division championship ... it marked the third time in the series that Perry Stadium was the site of a sellout crowd (1971 and 1983).
MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE NOTE
The 2003 season marks the first time the MAC has had three 10-win teams ... BGSU improved to 10-2 with Saturday's win, joining Miami (11-1) and Northern Illinois (10-2).
