MAC CHAMPS!!!!!! Johnson, Falcons Soar Past NIU, 47-27, in Championship Game

The Bowling Green State University football team rolled up nearly 600 yards of total offense on Friday night (Dec. 6) en route to a Mid-American Conference championship. Sophomore Matt Johnson threw for almost 400 yards and five touchdowns as the Falcons defeated No. 14 Northern Illinois, 47-27, to capture the school's first league crown in 21 years. The league championship game was held at Ford Field in downtown Detroit.

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With the victory, the Falcons improve to 10-3 on the season. NIU, one of just three undefeated teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision entering the game, dropped to 12-1.

Johnson threw for 393 yards and the five scores, setting career bests in both categories. He found five different receivers on those five TD tosses, with four coming before halftime as the Brown and Orange rolled up 31 first-half points.

Alex Bayer caught seven of Johnson's passes for 124 yards, while Ronnie Moore had 145 yards receiving on four catches. Heath Jackson caught six passes on the night.

Bayer, Jackson, Moore, Tyler Beck and Travis Greene each caught a TD pass, and Greene capped the win with a fourth-quarter rushing touchdown. Tyler Tate's two field goals included a career-long 52-yarder early in the fourth quarter.

Each team scored on its opening drive of the night, but the Falcons then took a 17-7 lead and never trailed thereafter. The Falcons led by a 31-13 count at the half, and NIU could not draw closer than 11 points in the second period

The Falcons drove right down the field for a touchdown on the game's opening drive. Moore accounted for 34 yards on the first two plays, with a 23-yard reception followed by an 11-yard run. On the fifth play of the drove, Johnson rolled to his right and found tight end Beck for a nifty catch-and-run. The 28-yard play gave BGSU an early lead, and Tate made it a 7-0 game with the point-after touchdown.

The Huskies answered, as quarterback Jordan Lynch found Juwan Brescacin for a 14-yard score. Brescacin made a one-handed grab in the left corner of the end zone, and a Mathew Sims PAT tied the score with just over five minutes gone.

Johnson hooked up with Moore for a 61-yard pass down the left sideline on the first play of the next drive, giving BG a first down at the NIU 14-yard line. The Huskies held, however, and Tate's 26-yard field goal put the Brown and Orange ahead by a 10-7 score.

The Falcons held Northern to a three-and-out on the next drive, as Jairus Campbell and Ryland Ward stopped Lynch for a one-yard gain on a third-and-2 play. NIU punted the ball back to BG, and the Falcons went on a 76-yard drive to take a 10-point lead. That drive saw Moore account for the final 61 yards, including a 25-yard catch that gave the Falcons a first down at the Northern 36-yard line. On the next play, Johnson lofted the ball down the center of the field to a wide-open Moore, who trotted into the end zone. Tate's PAT put BG up, 17-7, late in the first quarter.

Prior to Moore's back-to-back catches to end that drive, Greene set the BGSU single-season rushing record, breaking the mark of 1,444 yards set by Fred Durig in the 1951 season.

Greene ended the night with a game-high 133 yards rushing on 26 carries.

On the ensuing drive, NIU drove to the BG 34, but the Falcons held, and Sims hit a 51-yard field goal on the second play of the second quarter, cutting the Falcons' lead to seven points.

Northern's defense forced a three-and-out, and the Huskies gained a combined 36 yards on the first two plays of the next drive. The Falcons held, however, and Sims hit a 45-yard field goal to make it a 17-13 game.

The Huskies then attempted an onside kick, and NIU recovered, But, Northern was called for multiple fouls on the play, and the Huskies were forced to re-kick. This time, a holding penalty by BGSU on the return forced the Falcons to start the drive from the BG 12-yard line.

Undaunted, Johnson and the Falcons proceeded to go on a nine-play, 88-yard drive to take an 11-point lead. Jackson caught three passes on that drive, including a 22-yard grab on a post route on the final play. Jackson was wide open as he caught the ball in the end zone for Johnson's third TD pass of the night. On that drive, Johnson was 5-for-5 for 71 yards, giving him 252 yards through the air at that point. After the Johnson-to-Jackson TD connection, Tate's third PAT of the game gave the Falcons a 24-13 advantage with 5:39 left in the half.

The next drive saw the Falcons force a third-and-10, but Lynch, the MAC Player of the Year, made a nice play to keep the drive alive. The NIU QB scrambled away from the BG pressure and found James Spencer for a 13-yard gain and a first down near midfield. Lynch then rushed for six yards and hit Matt Williams for eight more yards and a first down at the Falcons' 38-yard line. But, three passing plays resulted in a loss of three yards, as Lynch threw incomplete on both first and third down, while BG's D.J. Lynch blew up a second-down screen pass with a tackle for loss.

Sims, having made field goals of 51 and 45 yards, respectively, came on to attempt a 58-yarder. The kick appeared to have the distance, but was wide left, and the Falcons took over with 2:32 left in the half.

On the next drive, BG quickly faced a second-down-and-22 situation after a short loss and a penalty. Greene gained 20 of that 22 yards back, but was hit and fumbled near midfield. The Huskies recovered at the Falcons' 49-yard line with 1:22 left before halftime.

On the very next play, Lynch – who hadn't thrown an interception since mid-October – nearly gave the ball back to the Falcons. But, D.J. Lynch could not hold on to a deflected pass. Two plays later, though, Brian Sutton batted a Lynch pass into the air and Ted Ouellet picked it off at the BG 49 with 65 seconds left in the period.

And, Johnson and the Falcons used those 65 seconds to perfection, with 13 seconds to spare. The Falcons needed just 52 seconds to score on an eight-play drive. Johnson found Bayer for completions on three of those eight plays, with the first two picking up a combined 17 yards and two first downs. And, just as importantly, Bayer got out of bounds to stop the clock on each of those two receptions.

The third Johnson-to-Bayer completion of the drive resulted in a 12-yard touchdown, and Tate's kick made it a 31-13 game. Johnson's four touchdowns set a new career standard before the teams had left the field at the half.

In that first half, the Falcon sophomore completed 16-of-19 passes for 294 yards and the four scores. Three Falcons had at least four catches before halftime, with Jackson grabbing six passes and Bayer and Moore four apiece.

The Huskies took the second-half kickoff and marched down the field for a touchdown. Lynch picked up the final eight of Northern's 64 yards on the drive, scampering into the end zone. After Sims' PAT, the Huskies had cut BG's lead to 31-20 with just 2:37 gone in the second half.

The Falcons got a 44-yard completion from Johnson to Bayer on the first play of the next drive, though, giving BG the ball at the Huskies' 31-yard line. The Brown and Orange picked up another first down on the drive, as Johnson hit Shaun Joplin for 15 yards on a third-and-7 play. BG got to the NIU 8-yard line, but the drive stalled there, and Tate's 26-yard field-goal try went wide left with 8:42 left in the period.

NIU took over at the 20-yard line and rumbled downfield. The Huskies kept the ball on the ground, with Lynch gaining a total of 12 yards on the first two plays, and Cameron Stingily picking up 36 total yards on back-to-back-to-back carries. Northern had a first down at the Falcons' 32-yard line, but the BG defense held, and Sims missed a 44-yard field-goal attempt with 5:22 left in the third quarter.

The Falcons moved into Huskie territory on the next drive, with a 20-yard Johnson-to-Bayer pass the big play. BG converted a fourth-down play, as Johnson scrambled for five yards when his team needed four. A holding penalty on the next play, coupled with an intentional grounding call, moved the ball back to the NIU 37 and set up a fourth and long. But, Tate proceeded to drill a career-long 52-yard field goal, giving the Falcons a 34-20 lead in the first minute of the fourth quarter.

The next drive saw the Falcon defense step up, as Aaron Foster picked off a Lynch pass and returned it 37 yards with 12:58 left in the period. Foster's first career interception set his team up at the NIU 20-yard line, and Johnson hit Bayer at the six-yard line on the next play.

After a penalty moved the ball back to the 11, the Falcons were stopped for no gain on the next play. But, on second down, Greene slipped a would-be tackle, gaining five yards after it appeared he would be tackled at the line of scrimmage. Then, Johnson rushed left and whipped a shovel pass to Greene for a six-yard touchdown. Tate's point-after try was blocked, but the Falcons had a 40-20 lead with 10:17 on the clock.

NIU slowly moved the ball over midfield on the following drive, but Cameron Truss forced Lynch out of bounds on a third-down rush, bringing up fourth-and-8 at the BG 41 with 8:10 to go. The Huskies went for it on fourth down, but Lynch, hurried by D.J. Lynch, threw incomplete, and the Falcons took over.

BGSU proceeded to go on a game-clinching drive, with Greene carrying the mail. BG kept the ball on the ground exclusively, and on a fourth-and-13 play, Greene removed any remaining doubt about the outcome with a 16-yard scoring run, and Tate's PAT made it a 47-20 game with 2:44 remaining. The Huskies got a final touchdown with just 14 seconds left to provide the final margin.

The Falcons had 574 yards of total offense to the Huskies' 454. BGSU averaged 8.6 yards per play, and the Brown and Orange picked up 27 first downs in the win.

Jordan Lynch ran for 126 yards and two touchdowns, and threw for 219 yards, completing 21-of-40 passes on the night. Brescacin and Tommylee Lewis each had six receptions for the Huskies.

The Falcons have won 10 games for the first time since the 2003 season. That '03 campaign was the last time BG had appeared in the MAC Championship game. BGSU's MAC championship, as mentioned, is the program's first since 1992.

FALCON NOTES
• The win is the Falcon's first-ever win in a MAC Championship game.

• The win marks the 11th MAC Championship for Bowling Green.

• The MAC Championship is the first league title for Bowling Green since 1992.

• The win pushes the Falcons to 10-3 on the season, marking the program's first double-digit win total since the 2003 season.

• The Bowling Green win over No. 14 Northern Illinois is the first victory for the program over a ranked team this season.

• The 47-27 victory snaps a three-game losing streak to Northern Illinois and is the first BGSU win over NIU since the 2003 season, when the Huskies were ranked 12th.

• Bowling Green improves to 2-0 overall at Ford Field with the win having defeated Northwestern 28-24 in the Motor City Bowl back on Dec. 26, 2003.

• Quarterback Matt Johnson set a career-high with five touchdown passes.

• Matt Johnson's five touchdown passes set a new MAC Championship Game record for the most touchdowns thrown.

• Matt Johnson's 393 passing yards, a career-high, also ranks as the fifth most passing yards by a quarterback in a MAC Championship game.

• Matt Johnson surpassed the 3,000 yard mark on the season in the win, as he has amassed 3,195 yards on the year.

• Running back Travis Greene became the single season rushing leader for Bowling Green, as his 133 yards gives him 1,575 yards on the season surpassing Fred Durig's mark of 1,444 yards set in 1951, which held up for 62 seasons.

• The 100-yard game was Travis Greene's ninth of the season, a Bowling Green single season record.

• Running back Travis Greene's 133 yards are the sixth most rushing yards in a MAC Championship game.

• Travis Greene's 26 rushing attempts ranks as the eighth most in by an individual in a MAC Championship game.

• With his 156 all-purpose yards in the MAC Championship game, Travis Greene increased his season total to 1,700 yards which ranks second in Bowling Green single season history behind only Freddie Barnes' 1,965 yards in 2009.

• Tight end Alex Bayer had a career night, as he recorded a career-high in both receptions with seven and in receiving yards with 124.

• Wide receiver Ronnie Moore totaled 145 receiving yards, which ranks fifth all-time in a MAC Championship game.

• Place kicker Tyler Tate's 52-yard field goal to start the fourth quarter was a career-long and ties the MAC Championship record for the longest field goal in a title game.

• Cornerback Aaron Foster's 37-yard interception return in the fourth quarter was his first career pick.

• Linebacker D.J. Lynch set a new career-high with 11.0 total tackles in the win.

• Cornerback Ryland Ward also set a new career-high in stops, as he posted 11.0 total tackles on the night.

• The 47 points scored by Bowling Green is the most points allowed by Northern Illinois in a single game this season.

• The 40 points marks the sixth-time this season that Bowling Green has scored 40 points or more in a single game, the most since the Falcons posted seven 40-plus point games in 2004.

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