Redhawks Escape Fog, Down Falcons 24-21 on Final Play

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Bowling Green, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University Falcons fell 24-21 on Wednesday night to the Miami Redhawks on the final play of a game dominated by weather more than anything else.

The game began with clear skies, but as the evening progressed, fog developed over the field. The weather got progressively worse until it became a thick soup during the fourth quarter, making the field almost impossible to see except on ground level.

Wednesday's game was the first nationally televised game between the two teams since the famous 2006 “Mud Bowl” at Doyt L. Perry Stadium.

Miami (6-4, 5-1 MAC) used a strong rushing attack to build a 21-7 lead over the Falcons (2-8, 1-5 MAC) by the end of the third quarter. Bowling Green capitalized on a turnover and a long Schilz-to-Jorden pass to tie the game in the fourth quarter.

However, a Schilz interception with just over two minutes to play put the ball on the Falcon side of the field for Miami, and the Redhawks drove for a game-winning 33-yard field goal as time expired.

The final-play loss was the fourth such defeat suffered by Bowling Green this season.

In the first quarter, Miami held the ball for 11:23 of the 15 minutes and rushed for 84 of their game-high 156 yards rushing.

On their first drive, they drove to the BGSU 12 yard line before Thomas Merriweather fumbled and Aunre' Davis recovered for the Falcons. After a BGSU three-and-out, Miami scored on a two-play, 59-yard drive culminated by an 18 yard run by Merriweather.

Down 7-0, the Falcons again went three-and-out. However, they held Miami on the next drive and forced a punt early in the second quarter.

Following the punt, Bowling Green traveled 42 yards in nine plays before facing a 4th-and-1 at the Miami 37-yard line. Playing quarterback, Calvin Wiley swept left for 25 yards to put the ball at the Redhawk 12. On the following play, Matt Schilz hit tight end Alex Bayer over the middle for a 12-yard touchdown pass to tie the game.

The Falcons forced a Miami punt on the ensuing drive, but after three plays failed to net a first down, Bryan Wright fumbled the snap and could not get a punt away. Miami recovered on the Falcons' 15 and scored four plays later on a Zac Dysert one-yard run.

Despite outgaining Miami 94-51 and doubling their time of possession in the second quarter, Bowling Green went to the half down, 14-7.

Bowling Green received the second-half kickoff but went three-and-out. On the punt, Miami muffed the catch and Jerry “Boo Boo” Gates recovered for BGSU at the Miami 24.

The Falcons failed to score when Kyle Burkhardt missed a 43-yard field goal attempt, but after a Miami punt, the Falcons again drove into Miami territory for another scoring chance. With the fog becoming more dense, Schilz threw four straight incompletions from Miami's 34 to turn the ball over on downs.

On the following possession, Miami drove 66 yards in ten plays and scored on a 22 yard Dysert pass to Nick Harwell. The score gave Miami a 21-7 lead with 2:40 left in the third quarter.

Schilz was intercepted on the next play, but Miami missed a field goal of 41 yards on the first play of the fourth quarter. With new life, Schilz hit Kamar Jorden over the middle for a 76-yard pass on third-and-11 to put the ball at the Miami 1. Schilz dove into the line on 1st and goal but failed to score. On each of those two plays, officials initially ruled touchdown but were overturned by replay.

Finally, Willie Geter scored from a yard out to cut the lead to 21-14 with 13:27 to play.

The kickoff buried Miami deep in their own territory, and they ultimately had to punt from their own 12. A personal foul penalty on the Redhawks gave the Falcons possession on the Miami 34. Eight plays later, Geter scored his second touchdown, this time to the right from two yards out. The extra point tied the game at 21 with 6:59 left.

Overall, the Falcons had 220 yards of offense. Geter led the team with 34 rushing yards. Jorden had 95 receiving yards with four receptions, and Schilz had 176 yards passing and a touchdown.

The Falcons next game will be next Wednesday night (Nov. 17) at Toledo. The game will be at 8:00 p.m. and will again be nationally televised by ESPN...

FALCON NOTES
* Freshman Boo Boo Gates made his first career start

* The Falcon defense entered the game second in the MAC with 26 takeaways ... BGSU forced three Miami turnovers, all fumbles, on Wednesday night.

* Miami's long opening drive ended with a fumble by Thomas Merriweather in the red zone, which was recovered by BGSU redshirt freshman Aunre' Davis ... for Davis, the fumble recovery was the first of his BGSU career.

* Sophomore MLB Dwayne Woods entered the week with 98 tackles, the top total in the MAC and the sixth-highest total in the nation ... Woods had four tackles on the RedHawks' opening drive, and ended the night with a game-high total of 13 stops.

* Woods went over the 100-tackle mark for the season on that opening Miami drive, and ended the game with a total of 111 tackles in 2010.

* Redshirt junior Kevin Alvarado and fifth-year senior Darius Smith teamed up for a sack of MU quarterback Zac Dysert on the RedHawks' third drive of the game.

* BGSU was held without a first down in the opening quarter ... but, the Falcons' first drive of the second quarter produced five first downs, including passes by redshirt freshman QB Matt Schilz to junior Eugene Cooper and redshirt freshman Alex Bayer, and a run by senior Willie Geter.

* On that second-quarter drive, Geter moved past Courtney Davis (1993-96) into 10th place on the BGSU career rushing list ... Geter ended the game with 2,038 yards in his Falcon career ... he is only six yards behind ninth-place Zeb Jackson (2,044 yards from 1990-93).

* On that same drive, sixth-year senior Calvin Wiley lined up at quarterback and ran for 25 yards to the MU 12, the Falcons' fourth first down of the drive.

* Then, on the very next play, Schilz hit Bayer for a 12-yard TD on a catch and run ... Bayer broke several tackles on his way to the end zone ... Kyle Burkhardt's extra point tied the game at 7-7 with 8:28 left in the first half ... that drive was 79 yards on 11 plays.

* Geter had two rushing touchdowns in the game, giving him a team-leading seven TDs this season and 19 in his career.

* Miami scored in the last two minutes of the opening half on a 1-yard run by Dysert ... in the second half, As the fog rolled in, the RedHawks moved down the field and took a 21-7 lead on a 22-yard Dysert pass to Nick Harwell.

* Early in the fourth quarter, Schilz hit redshirt junior Kamar Jordan for a 76-yard pass down to the Miami 1-yard line ... originally, the play was ruled a touchdown, but it was reviewed and reversed ... the play was the third-longest non-scoring pass play in BGSU history.

* On the very next play, Schilz went in from a yard out, but that play was reviewed and overturned as well ... finally, on the next play, Geter scored to cut the Miami lead to a touchdown.

* BGSU forced a Miami punt on the next drive, and Geter scored on a two-yard run on the Falcons' next drive ... Burkhardt's kick tied the score with 6:59 remaining.

* On the next Miami drive, junior Adrien Spencer forced a fumble, and senior Champ Fells recovered ... it was the first fumble forced by Spencer of the season and the third of his career ... for Fells, it was his team-leading third fumble recovery in 2010, and also was the third of his career.

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