BGSU Wins Motor City Bowl, 28-24

Dec. 26, 2003

DETROIT, Mich. - The Bowling Green State University football team picked up a come-from-behind win over Northwestern, 28-24, in Friday's (Dec. 26) Motor City Bowl at Ford Field in downtown Detroit. Some notes and numbers from the game...

The Falcons finish the 2003 season with a record of 11-3 ... the total of 11 wins ties the school record, which was set in 1985 (11-1) and matched in 1991 (also 11-1).

The Brown and Orange improved to 3-3 all-time in bowl games, and the Falcons now have a three-game bowl winning streak.

BGSU IN BOWL GAMES
1961 - Fresno State 36, BGSU 6
     (Mercy Bowl; Los Angeles, Calif.)
1982 - Fresno State 29, BGSU 28
     (California Bowl; Fresno, Calif.)
1985 - Fresno State 51, BGSU 7
     (California Bowl; Fresno, Calif.)
1991 - BGSU 28, Fresno State 21
     (California Raisin Bowl; Fresno, Calif.)
1992 - BGSU 35, Nevada 34
     (Las Vegas Bowl; Las Vegas, Nev.)
2003 - BGSU 28, Northwestern 24
     (Motor City Bowl; Detroit, Mich.)

Falcon senior QB Josh Harris had a four-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, extending a number of his own school records ... the TD was his 47th career score, and 43rd on the ground ... it also increased his school-record career total to 284 points.

Harris threw a seven-yard TD pass to junior Cole Magner in the third quarter ... for Harris, it increased his school-record total of touchdowns responsible for to an even 100 ... Harris increased that total to 102 with fourth-quarter TD passes to both Steve Sanders and Magner.

For Sanders, the TD catch was his first of the season.

That TD toss to Sanders also enabled Harris to break the BGSU single-season record ... Ryan Henry had 25 touchdown passes in 1994 ... Harris ended the season with a total of 27 TD throws.

Harris set the Mid-American Conference single-season record for total offense with 4,691 yards in 2003 ... Miami's Ben Roethlisberger had set the record eight days ago in the GMAC Bowl, and finished the 2003 season with a total of 4,597 yards this year ... Harris entered the Motor City Bowl with a total of 4,237 yards, 360 shy of the mark, and had 454 yards of total offense vs. Northwestern.

Magner set a Motor City Bowl record with 12 receptions, breaking the old record of 10 (set by Carl Ford of Toledo in last year's game) ... Magner totalled 97 receiving yards in the game, giving him the school single-season record in that category ... Magner finished the season with a school-record 99 catches for 1,138 yards ... he had surpassed the record for catches in a season several games ago, and moved past Stan Hunter (1,107 yards in 1983) in the Northwestern game.

BGSU now leads Northwestern, 2-0, in the all-time series between the teams.

The game marked the third time (in four opportunities) that Harris engineered a fourth-quarter comeback against a Big Ten Conference foe ... Harris and the Falcons used a 29-point fourth quarter to beat Northwestern, 43-42, in a 2001 game in Evanston, Ill. ... and, Harris connected with Charles Sharon on a late TD pass for a 27-26 road win over Purdue earlier this season.

Junior Keon Newson had his MAC-leading fifth forced fumble of the season late in the second quarter ... then, in the third quarter, Newson forced his second fumble of the game and the sixth of the season ... his two forced fumbles set a Motor City Bowl record.

Junior Jovon Burkes blocked a Northwestern field-goal attempt with nine seconds left in the first half ... it marked his first career block, and the Falcons' third blocked kick of the season.

Sophomore P.J. Pope became the 10th player in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, and the first in a decade ... Zeb Jackson was the most recent in that category, having run for 1,016 yards in 1993 ... Pope ended the season with a total of 1,005 rushing yards.

Harris completed 38 passes in 50 attempts for 386 yards in the game ... his completions total set a MCB record (35 by Louisville's Chris Redman in 1998).

Additionally, Harris set school seasonal records for completions (325), attempts (494) and yards (3,813) through the air in 2003 ... his attempts total fell just one shy of the MAC record, set by Miami's Roethlisberger this season.

MOTOR CITY BOWL RECORDS SET

INDIVIDUAL
(old record in parentheses)
Rushing
Most Yards: 237, Jason Wright, NU
  (190, Chester Taylor, Toledo vs. Cincinnati, 2001)
Best Avg. per Carry (min. 10 attempts): 11.3, Wright
  (9.5, Doug Chapman, Marshall vs. BYU, 1999)

Passing
Most Completions: 35, Josh Harris, BGSU
  (35, Chris Redman, Louisville vs. Marshall, 1998)
Highest Completion Pct.: .760, Harris (38-of-50)
  (.750, Chad Pennington, Marshall vs. Louisville, 1998)

Receiving
Most Receptions: 12, Cole Magner, BGSU
  (10, Carl Ford, Toledo vs. Boston College, 2002)

Defensive
Fumbles Forced:  2, Keon Newson, BGSU
  (1, numerous times)

Longest Plays
Kickoff Return: 88, Jason Wright, NU
  (35, Donta Greene, Toledo vs. Boston College, 2002)

Scoring
Most Points Receiving: 12, Cole Magner, BGSU *
  (12, James Williams, Marshall vs. Louisville, 1998)
  (12, Grant Adams, Boston College vs. Toledo, 2002)
Most TD Receiving:  2, Magner *
  (2, Williams & Adams)

Total Offense
Most Total Yards:  454, Josh Harris, BGSU
  (445, Chad Pennington, Marshall vs. Louisville, 1998)

TEAM
Rushing
Most Yards:  385, Northwestern
  (322, Toledo vs. Cincinnati, 2001)

Passing
Most Completions:  38, BGSU
  (35, Louisville vs. Marshall, 1998)

Total Offense
Most Plays:  88, BGSU
  (87, Ole Miss vs. Marshall, 1997)

Scoring
Most TDs Rushing:  3, Northwestern *
  (3, Louisville vs. Marshall, 1998)
  (3, Boston College vs. Toledo, 2002)
Most Points Scored in Fourth Quarter:  14, BGSU *
  (14, Marshall vs. Ole Miss, 1997)

First Downs
Most First Downs:  30, BGSU *
  (30, Boston College vs. Toledo, 2002)

* tied record

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BGSU Wins Motor City Bowl, 28-24

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