Bowling Green State University Athletics
Photo by: BGSU Marketing and Communications
BOWLING Green Headed To Little Caesars Pizza Bowl
December 08, 2013 | Football
Falcons will face Pitt on December 26 at Ford Field
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl Website | Little Caesars Pizza Bowl Central
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio—The Bowling Green State University football team, coming off its first MAC Championship in 21 years, has accepted an invitation to play in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit. The Falcons will square off with Pittsburgh on Dec. 26 at 6:00 p.m. at Ford Field.
"We are thrilled to be invited to the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit," head coach Dave Clawson said. "We look forward to a great game against a quality ACC opponent in Pittsburgh. We are excited to play in a great environment like Ford Field again, so close to our campus, with our fans and students being able to make the trip."
The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl will be the 11th bowl game in program history, and the third in the last five seasons under Clawson.
Bowling Green enters the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl on a five-game winning streak, including a 47-27 win over previously unbeaten Northern Illinois in the MAC Championship game. The Falcons have outscored opponents 223-44 during the stretch.
The Falcons feature one of the nation's best defenses and one of the MAC's top offenses.
On the defensive side of the ball, Bowling Green ranks fifth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 14.8 points per game. The Falcons have allowed just 44 points over the last five games. The BGSU defense only allows 308.7 yards per game, which is eighth-best in the country. The Falcons are also fourth in all of FBS, surrendering just 166.2 yards per game through the air.
The balanced defensive attack is led by BooBoo Gates, who was named first team all-MAC on Dec. 4. The Falcons feature a defense that swarms to the ball, with defensive lineman Ted Ouellet, linebacker D.J. Lynch, and rover Gabe Martin also earning all-MAC accolades.
A pair of redshirt sophomores—Matt Johnson and Travis Greene—lead the high-powered offensive attack. Johnson has thrown for 3,195 yards and 23 touchdowns. He is just 69 yards shy of moving into fourth all-time for passing yards in a single season, and is currently tied for the seventh-most passing touchdowns in Bowling Green history for a season. Greene has set two school records this season, his first season as the Falcons' running back. He broke Fred Durig's 62-year old school record in the MAC Championship, as Greene now has 1,555 rushing yards on the season. His 133 yards in the MAC Championship game marked the ninth time this season he has rushed for 100 yards in a game, also a new school record.
The Falcons feature a plethora of other offensive weapons. Senior Shaun Joplin leads the team with 48 catches for 822 yards and three touchdowns. Senior tight end Alex Bayer is second on the team with 34 receptions for 536 yards and three touchdowns. Among a deep and balanced receiving core is an explosive freshman slot receiver in Ronnie Moore. Moore has had nine receptions of 20-plus yards this season, and leads the team with seven receiving touchdowns.
"We are so proud of our BGSU MAC Champions and are excited about the opportunity to play in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl," Bowling Green Director of Athletics Chris Kingston said. "We want to thank the committee for selecting us to experience the wonderful city of Detroit as we face a tremendous opponent in the Pittsburgh football team. We look forward to bringing our faithful Falcon fans to town."
Pittsburgh finished the regular season with a 6-6 record, including wins over nationally ranked Duke and Notre Dame. Offensively, quarterback Tom Savage has thrown for 2,834 yards and 21 touchdowns. Receiver Tyler Boyd has 1,001 yards on the season to lead the Panthers. The Panthers are coached by Paul Chryst, who came to Pittsburgh after seven seasons as Wisconsin's offensive coordinator.
Bowling Green is 1-2 all-time against the Panthers, but defeated them 27-17 in the last meeting in 2008 at Heinz Field. The Falcons lost the first two contests to Pittsburgh, dropping decisions in 1999 and 2000. BGSU is 3-8-1 all-time against current ACC teams.
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