Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Will Play Northwestern In Motor City Bowl
December 07, 2003 | Football
Dec. 7, 2003
Bowling Green, Ohio - A national television audience will see a rematch featuring teams that played in of the most exciting games in the history of the Bowling Green State University football program. The Falcons (10-3) will face Northwestern (6-6) from the Big Ten Conference in the Motor City Bowl. The game will be played at 5 p.m., Friday, December 26, at Ford Field in Detroit and will be shown on ESPN.
"I think it's a great matchup against a quality opponent," said BGSU Coach Gregg Brandon, who served as an assistant with the Wildcats from 1992-98.
The two teams first played each other on November 17, 2001 in Evanston, Ill. BGSU rallied from a 14-point deficit, scoring a then-NCAA record 29 -fourth quarter points (most points scored by a team trailing in the final quarter) and won the game, 43-42, on a two-point conversion by then-freshman Cole Magner with 36 seconds left in the game.
In the game, quarterback Josh Harris had a then-school record 498 yards of total offense in earning CNN/SI.com NCAA IA Player of the Week honors. Harris completed 30 of 47 passes for three TDs, rushed for 91 and two scores and caught a 14-yard TD pass from Magner.
Motor City Bowl Notes
This will be the sixth bowl game in BGSU history and first that is not held in the Pacific Time Zone. BGSU played once in Los Angeles (1961), three times in Fresno (1982, 1985 and 1991) and once in Las Vegas (1992).
BGSU will face a Big Ten foe in the postseason for the first time.
Coach Gregg Brandon (Receivers/Recruiting Coordinator) coached in two bowl games with Northwestern, the 1996 Rose Bowl and the 1997 Citrus Bowl.
Brandon's 10 wins are the most by any first-year coach at the NCAA IA level.
The game will be played in Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions, and is one of four that BGSU will have in NFL facilities or is scheduled to play in from 2002-2006. BGSU played last year at Raymond James Stadium (South Florida/Tampa Bay Buccaneers), and is scheduled to play in Lincoln Financial Park (Temple/Philadelphia Eagles) in 2004 and at Cleveland Browns Stadium (Wisconsin) in 2006.
In three games against the Big Ten (Northwestern/Purdue/Ohio State), Josh Harris completed 85-of-141 passes for 1,085 yards and eight TDs.
Four players (Harris, C Scott Mruczkowski, CB Janssen Patton, CB Keon Newson) started in the last meeting against Northwestern.
Despite just missing out of finishing in the AP or Coaches Top25, BGSU finished 24th in the final BCS Standings.
