Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Travel to Eastern Michigan For Second Straight Friday Night Contest
November 06, 2007 | Football
Nov. 6, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
GAME #10
Bowling Green at Eastern Michigan
Nov. 9, 2007 • Rynearson Stadium, 7:30 p.m.
RECORDS: BGSU 5-4, 3-2 MAC // Eastern Michigan 3-7, 2-3 MAC
RADIO: BGSU Radio Network - Todd Walker and Cal Bowers
TV: ESPNU
For Tickets Call 1-877-BGSU-TICKET
Football Game Notes Versus Eastern Michigan
The Bowling Green State University football team will look for its second consecutive win as the Falcons travel to Ypsilani, Michigan. for a Friday night contest with the Eastern Michigan Eagles. The opening kickoff is set for 7:30, as the game will be carried live on ESPNU, the seventh time this season the Falcons have appeared in front of a national audience.
Falcons Roll Past Zips, 44-20
Bowling Green (5-4, 3-2 MAC) got back to their winning ways this past weekend with a 44-20 win over the Akron Zips. The Falcons scored on their first five possessions of the contest, connecting on three touchdowns and two field goals to post a 24-6 halftime lead. P.J. Mahone intercepted the first of his two passes on the Zips' first drive of the second half, returning it for a 51 yard touchdown. Tyler Sheehan finished the night 26-of-36 for 268 yards and two touchdowns, while the Falcons "other" quarterback, Anthony Turner, had a 33 yard passing touchdown, three receptions for 16 yards and 104 yards rushing on 12 carries and one score.
Mahone, Vrvilo Earn MAC Honors
Sophomore P.J. Mahone and junior Sinisa Vrvilo were honored by the Mid-American Conference this afternoon (Mon., Nov. 5) each earning MAC Player of the Week honors. Mahone was named MAC East Defensive Player of the Week, while Vrvilo earned MAC East Special Teams POW.
Mahone, an, Elyria, Ohio, native earned his first career MAC POW after recording 10 tackles (five solo) and two interceptions in the Falcons' 44-20 win over Akron last Friday night. The sophomore's first pick of the night went for a 51-yard touchdown on Akron's opening drive of the second half to give BGSU a 31-6 advantage.
On the year Mahone is sixth of the team with 51 tackles. He also has five interceptions, second-best in the MAC.
Vrvilo earns his first career MAC honor after nailing three-of-four field goal attempts this past weekend versus the Zips. He banged in kicks from 31, 28 and 25 yards, while making all five of his extra point attempts. His lone miss was a 52-yarder late in the second quarter that hit off the crossbar.
On the season the Zenica, Bosnia, native is 13-of-16 on field goal attempts and 33-of-33 on extra points. Two of his three misses on the year have come on 50-plus yard attempts.
Notes Following The 44-20 Win Over Akron
• The Falcons had a season-high 517 yards of total offense in the win, including 295 in the first half ... BGSU scored touchdowns on each of the team's first three possessions of the game.
• Anthony `Slash' Turner did a little bit of everything in last Friday's win. Turner carried the ball 12 times for a team-high 104 yards and a touchdown, and had three receptions for 16 yards. He also threw a 33-yard TD pass to Chris Wright on the Falcons' first drive of the game. He also recovered an Akron on-side kick attempt late in the fourth quarter.
• The Falcons had a season-high 216 yards on the ground.
• Turner saw action at running back, wide receiver and quarterback on the Falcons' opening drive alone. Turner's TD toss was his first of the season.
• That play also marked Wright's first collegiate touchdown. Wright had five receptions for 83 yards, setting career highs in both categories. Wright's previous bests were three catches and 40 yards, both set last week vs. Ohio. His TD catch of 33 yards marked the longest receptions of his career to date.
• Sheehan had a solid game, completing 26-of-36 passes for 268 yards and two TDs. The Falcon QB was 19-of-24 for 200 yards in the opening half as BGSU opened up a 24-6 lead at the intermission.
• In addition to Wright, two other Falcons scored their first career touchdowns in the game. P.J. Mahone returned an interception 51 yards for a score, and Jermiah Kelley caught a 15-yard pass from Sheehan for a third-quarter TD.
• Mahone had two interceptions in the game. After the 51-yard TD return on Akron's opening drive of the second half, he added another pick midway through the third quarter. Mahone's two-INT game was his second of the season, as he also had a pair of interceptions in the win over Western Kentucky on Sept. 29.
• Mahone now has a team-high five interceptions this season, and has returned them for 51, 44, 43, 35 and nine yards, a 36.4 yard average.
• Marques Parks caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Sheehan on the Falcons' third drive of the night. The catch marked his fifth TD reception of the year. That total is as many catches as he had in all of 2006.
• Kenny Lewis stripped an Akron receiver midway through the second quarter, recovering the ball himself. It marked the fifth forced fumble and third fumble recovery as a Falcon.
• Following the Lewis recovery junior Sinisa Vrvilo connected on a 31 yard field goal, giving him 10 straight makes ... his streak was snapped late in the second quarter, when his 52-yard attempt hit off the crossbar. Vrvilo was 3-for-4 on the night, and is 13-for-16 on the season.
• BGSU is now 23-2 since 2001 when going over 500 yards of total offense.
Falcons Find Their Ground Game
Despite still leading the MAC with just over 300 yards a game through the air, the BGSU ground attack the last three games has given the Falcons a new dimension to their high powered offense.
First Six Games........Category.........Last Three Games 456......................Yards.................571 155.....................Attempts...............107 2.9....................Yards/Carry.............5.3 76.0.....................Ave/Game............190.3
So Many Different Leading Rushers
Through nine games the Falcons have been led by four different rushers this season, and only twice has the same leading rusher been in back-to-back games.
Opponent...........Leading Rusher.....Att........Yards Minnesota...........Chris Bullock......9..........47 Michigan State.......Willie Geter......3..........31 Temple...............Tyler Sheehan.....7..........38 Western Kentucky.....Chris Bullock.....11.........56 Boston College.......Chris Bullock.....7..........27 Miami................Anthony Turner....6..........33 Kent State............Willie Geter.....22........203 Ohio..................Willie Geter.....14.........90 Akron................Anthony Turner....12........104Fast Willie Geter
So what has helped the Falcon ground game? Freshman Willie Geter. Geter, a native of Miami, Fla. entered the contest with Kent State back on Oct. 20 with just 87 yards rushing in his first six games. In his past two games the freshman has ran for 293 yards on 36 carries, an 8.1 yard average. Geter missed the contest with Akron due to an ankle injury.
Sheehan Impressive In His First Year
Making just nine career starts, Tyler Sheehan is having an impressive start to his Falcon career. The sophomore quarterback is completing 63.3% (229-362) of his passes for 2,420 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also has two rushing touchdowns and even has one 24-yard catch for a touchdown as well. He opened the season (his first career start) with a fourth quarter comeback win over Minnesota, tossing two touchdowns and throwing for 388 yards. The following week he was 32-of-50 for 295 yards versus Michigan State, throwing for one touchdown and rushing for another. He had a career-high four touchdown passes in a win over Temple (also threw for 351 yards). He also had 270 yards and three touchdowns in three quarters of action versus Western Kentucky.
• His 2,420 yards passing are just 259 yards shy of cracking the Falcons' top five passing years in school history.
• His 229 completions are fifth in school history.
• His 362 pass attempts are 32 attempts shy of fifth all-time in school history.
• His 17 touchdowns are four shy of fifth all-time in school history.
• His 63.2% completion percentage is fifth all-time.
Fastest Show on Turf
With the installation of FieldTurf at Doyt Perry Stadium, the Falcons have played eight of their nine games on artificial surfaces, after hosting Temple, Western Kentucky, Ohio, Akron and road contests with Minnesota, Boston College, Miami and Kent State. In those eight games the Falcons have scored 261 points (32.6/game) and have posted 3,386 yards of offense (423.2/game), including 2,406 yards through the air (300.8/game). From here-on-out the Falcons will play on some sort of artificial surface the rest of the season.
When the Falcons...
• record at least 500 yards of total offense the Falcons are 2-0 this year.
• throw zero interceptions in a contest they are 4-0 this year.
• run for over 100 yards they are 4-1 on the year.
• win the turnover margin they are 5-0.
Passing, Rushing and Receiving Record
After much research, and several discussions with all Division I schools, the Falcons are the lone school to have three players on their team that have recorded a passing, rushing and receiving touchdown in their career. Freddie Barnes (1 pass, 6 receiving and 9 rushing), Tyler Sheehan (17 pass, 2 rush, 1 receiving) and Anthony Turner (14 pass, 13 rush and 1 receiving) have accomplished this feat, making them the lone trio in the nation with this record. In fact, prior to the contest with Kent State, Sheehan and Barnes were the lone duo in the country with this feat. Turner joined the duo after catching a throw-back pass from Sheehan for a 31-yard touchdown versus the Flashes.
Vrvilo's Streak Snapped, but Not His Confidence
Junior Sinisa Vrvilo had made 10 straight field goals until his 52-yard attempt this past weekend versus Akron hit off the crossbar at the end of the first half. On the year the Zenica, Bosnia, native has made 13-of-16 kicks, with two of his three misses coming from 55 and 52 yards. The junior is a perfect 9-of-9 from kicks under 40 yards in his career.
Barnes Catching On
Sophomore Freddie Barnes opened the 2006 season as the Falcons starting quarterback versus Wisconsin. Just over a year later, the now converted wide receiver is one of the most feared pass catchers in the Mid-American Conference. Barnes ranks fifth in the MAC with 6.67 catches a game and sixth with 74.7 yards a game. The Chicago Heights, Ill., native has had at least six catches in seven of his nine games and at least 70 yards receiving in six of his nine contests.
Show Me The Money
The money catch is defined as catching a first down or touchdown, and Freddie Barnes is "showing the money." Of Barnes' 60 catches, 40 (34 first downs and six touchdowns) of them have either resulted in a Falcon first down or touchdown.
Pass Defense Puts Clamps Down In First Half
Bowling Green, who owns the second-best pass defense in the MAC at 209.7 yards game, has really played the pass well in the first half of their last three games. Versus Kent State they allowed no yards passing in the first half (0-of-1), gave up 73 versus Ohio (7-of-10) and just 70 yards (5-of-11) this past weekend versus the Zips for a total of 143 yards, a 47.7 average.
Anthony Turner = Slash?
While seeing most of his 2006 action as the Falcon starting quarterback, the emergence of Tyler Sheehan has forced Anthony Turner into a much different role this season. While still playing some quarterback, the junior has also lined up at running back and wide receiver on numerous plays. This past weekend the junior threw one pass, a 33-yard touchdown on the Falcons' opening drive, while also leading the team in rushing with 104 yards on 12 carries and one touchdown. Turner also recorded three receptions for 16 yards and even grabbed an Akron on-side kick attempt late in the fourth quarter. On the year, the Dayton, Ohio, native is 1-of-2 passing for 33 yards and a touchdown, is second on the team with 259 yards rushing (leads the team with five rushing TDs) and has four receptions for 47 yards and one TD.
Mahone Making Moves
As mentioned earlier, sophomore P.J. Mahone was named MAC East Defensive Player of the Week after recording 10 tackles and two INTs in the win over Akron, but it is not the first time he has done that this year. The sophomore has five picks on the year, including two versus Temple and the two this past weekend versus Akron. He also had one INT versus Minnesota to start the season. His five interceptions rank second in the MAC, while his .62 INTs per game are tops in the MAC. In fact, that same .62 ranks fourth in the nation.
Red "Hot" Zone
BGSU is 28-of-31 (90.3%) in redzone opportunities this season, scoring 19 touchdowns, second in the MAC. Bowling Green is a perfect 11-of-11 in their past four games when entering the redzone, recording at least three points.
Big Play Kenny
If you need a big play on defense look no further than junior defensive back Kenny Lewis. In 29 career games Lewis has 112 tackles, but also has five pass breakups, six interceptions, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and has blocked three kicks.
This season alone...
• Recorded an interception versus Minnesota.
• Had two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery (for a touchdown) versus Temple.
• Had a forced fumble and fumble recovery versus Miami.
• Had three pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery versus Akron.
