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Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Notes From GMAC Bowl
January 06, 2008 | Football
Jan. 6, 2008
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MOBILE, Ala. (BGSUFalcons.com) - Notes from Sunday night's (Jan. 6) GMAC Bowl, pitting the Bowling Green State University football team vs. the University of Tulsa at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. This page will be updated periodically throughout the game ...
* The Falcons were playing a game for the first time in 43 days, since a 37-10 win over Toledo on Nov. 23 ... Tulsa last played 35 days ago.
* The game is being televised nationally by ESPN ... Anthony Turner introduced the Falcons' starting lineup as the BGSU offense took the field on the opening possession ... Sean O'Drobinak provided the introductions for the Falcon defense.
* In a game that many people predicted would be a high-scoring affair, the defenses had the best of the early going ... the Falcons, after receiving the opening kickoff, were forced to punt, but the BGSU defense held Tulsa to a three-and-out on the opening possession for the Golden Hurricane.
* On BGSU's second possession, a passing play from Tyler Sheehan to Freddie Barnes was ruled a completion and a fumble, giving Tulsa the ball at the Falcons' 28-yard line ... nine plays later, the Golden Hurricane's Tarrion Adams scored on a one-yard run ... the point-after try was good, giving Tulsa a 7-0 lead with 7:55 left in the first quarter.
* On the third play of BGSU's next drive, Sheehan ran for 19 yards and a first down at the Tulsa 40 ... on the next play, however, another fumble gave the ball back to the Golden Hurricane ... Tulsa would take advantage for the second-straight drive, as Paul Smith threw a 13-yard touchdown strike to Trae Johnson ... Tulsa took a 14-0 lead with 5:36 left in the first quarter.
* At that point, Tulsa only had a slim 68-38 advantage in total yardage ... but, the two Falcon fumbles and the resulting field position for Tulsa led to the Golden Hurricane taking the two-TD lead.
* Sheehan very nearly connected on a pass with a diving Corey Partridge on the Falcons' next drive ... Partridge was seeing his first game action since the Ohio contest of Oct. 27.
* BG was forced to punt, but the Brown and Orange forced Tulsa to punt on the next possession ... things continued to go Tulsa's way, however, as punt returner Antonio Smith fumbled the ball to give the ball right back to the Golden Hurricane at BGSU's 19-yard line ... it took UT just one play to score, as a running play resulted in a 21-0 Falcon deficit.
* The first quarter ended with the score 21-0, Tulsa ... the Golden Hurricane have only 104 total yards to BGSU's 46, but again, the turnovers and the average starting field possession certainly have been in Tulsa's favor through the first 15 minutes.
END OF FIRST QUARTER: Tulsa 21, BGSU 0
* It was all Tulsa as the second quarter began ... Paul Smith rushed 13 yards to the BG 4-yard line, setting up a TD catch by Kyle Grooms on the next play ... with just 1:05 elapsed in the second quarter, BGSU was in a 28-0 hole.
* Tulsa's scoring drive took eight plays -- and used just 56 seconds.
* On the opening play of the next drive, Sheehan found Partridge for a 20-yard completion to put the Falcons at the Tulsa 42-yard line ... a sack knocked the Brown and Orange back over the midfield line briefly, but Sheehan found Pete Winovich for an 11-yard completion.
* On the following play, Sheehan scrambled for a career-long 23-yard run, and a 14-yard completion to Anthony Turner put the ball at the Tulsa 6-yard line ... but, yet another Falcon fumble gave the ball back to the Golden Hurricane.
* With 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter, Erique Dozier already has made nine tackles in the game.
 Tulsa's Terrian Adams had a rushing, passing and a receiving TD in the first half (AP Photo)  |
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* Sheehan, who had been limited to completions for very little yardage over the first quarter-and-a-half, found several receivers downfield on the ensuing drive ... he spotted Barnes on a 12-yard completion to the Falcon 44-yard line, then found Anthony Turner on a slant play for 14 yards.
* A 32-yard Sheehan-to-Barnes pass put the Falcons at the Tulsa 11 ... the Brown and Orange got to the 3-yard line, but a fourth-down passing play was incomplete and BG gave up the ball on downs.
* The Falcons stopped Tulsa on their next two possessions, but BG was unable to cut into the Tulsa lead before halftime ... with 25 seconds remaining before halftime, Sheehan left the game due to injury ... Anthony Glaud came into the game for the final play of the first half.
HALFTIME: Tulsa 35, BGSU 0
* At the half, Tulsa has 267 yards of total offense to the Falcons' 183, and the Golden Hurricane have a 15-7 advantage in first downs ... BGSU has had the ball for 16:17 to Tulsa's 13:43.
* Individually, Sheehan completed 14 passes in 19 attempts for 141 yards ... Barnes and Turner each had five receptions, for 71 and 35 yards, respectively.
* Paul Smith is 11-for-23 through the air, for 126 yards and two TDs ... Charles Clay has 44 yards rushing to lead all players, while Tulsa has seen eight different receivers catch at least one pass.
* Defensively, Dozier has a game-high nine tackles, while P.J. Mahone has six tackles and has broken up a pass.
* Tulsa picked up right where they left off, taking the second-half kickoff and driving right down the field for another TD ... the Golden Hurricane are a perfect 6-for-6 in the red zone.
* This time, however, the Falcons answered Tulsa's score with a score of their own ... Roger Williams returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards for a touchdown, and Sinisa Vrvilo's PAT made the score 42-7.
* For Williams, the return was a career long, as his previous best was a 56-yarder in this season's Miami game ... the touchdown was the first of his Falcon career.
* Additionally, the return marked the Falcons' first KOR for a touchdown since the 2004 season, when B.J. Lane had a 93-yard return vs. Ball State (Oct. 16, '04).
* Williams' return was the first KOR for a touchdown in GMAC Bowl history.
* On Tulsa's next drive, Jacob Hardwick got to Paul Smith for a sack on a third-down play, forcing a Tulsa punt.
* On the Falcons' first offensive play of the second half, Glaud found Jermiah Kelley for a completion of approximately nine yards, two feet and 11 inches.
* The Golden Hurricane extended the lead to 49-7 with a time-consuming drive that culminated in a Smith TD run with 4:41 left in the third quarter ... Tulsa had the ball deep in BG territory as the quarter came to an end.
END OF THIRD QUARTER: Tulsa 49, BGSU 7
* Tulsa increased the lead to 56-7 on a TD pass in the opening minute of the fourth period ... the Golden Hurricane, still throwing the football late in the game, completed another TD pass with under four minutes remaining ... that scoring toss was the fifth of the night for Tulsa starting QB Paul Smith.
* After that inexplicable TD, Kenny Lewis returned the ensuing kickoff 29 yards into Tulsa territory ... the final drive of the game saw Glaud find Tyrone Pronty on an 11-yard completion, and the QB also had a 13-yard run, the longest of his career ... the Falcons got inside the red zone before the clock ran out.
FINAL: Tulsa 63, BGSU 7
A FEW POSTGAME NOTES
* The Falcons end the 2007 season with a record of 8-5 ... BGSU, picked to finish fifth in the MAC's East Division in the preseason poll, tied for the division title.
* BGSU's total of eight wins ties the most of any MAC school this season, and the Falcons' six MAC wins also tied for most in the conference (Central Michigan).
* The loss to Tulsa gives the Falcons an overall record of 4-4 in bowl games, and snapped a four-game bowl winning streak ... BG was playing in a bowl game for the third time in five seasons, having won the 2003 Motor City Bowl and the 2004 GMAC Bowl.
* Erique Dozier led the Falcons with 11 tackles on the night, while P.J. Mahone had 10 stops and a PBU ... both Dozier and Mahone had seven solo tackles.
* Tyler Sheehan was 14-for-19 through the air for 141 yards, before leaving the game just before halftime ... Anthony Glaud was 6-for-8 for 42 yards.
* Sheehan ended the season, his first as the starter, with 303 completions in 476 attempts ... his completion total ranks third on the BGSU single-season list, while his attempts are the second-most in a season in BG history ... Sheehan's completion percentage of .637 ranks him fourth on that school list.
* Sheehan ends the year with 3,264 yards, tying him for the third-highest seasonal total in school history.
* Roger Williams entered the game needing one kickoff return to set the school single-season record for returns in a season ... Williams returned four kicks, including one for a 78-yard touchdown, the first score of his career ... Williams, who entered the game already owning the school single-season record for kickoff return yards, ends the season with a total of 954 yards.
* Freddie Barnes finished the game with five receptions for a team-leading 71 yards ... Barnes had totals of 82 catches and 962 receiving yards on the year.
