Bowling Green State University
1-0
Tulsa
0-1
Bowling Green Silences Golden Hurricane, 34-7
August 29, 2013 | Football
The Bowling Green State University football team dominated the Tulsa Golden Hurricane during a 34-7 victory on Thursday night (Aug. 29) at Doyt L. Perry Stadium in Bowling Green, Ohio.
The win, which was the Falcons' first ever against Tulsa, exorcised some recent demons in the series between the two teams and will undoubtedly gather notice across the Mid-American Conference and elsewhere. After all, Tulsa was a unanimous pick to win their division in the Conference USA preseason media poll.
The game was very short on offense during the first half for both teams, but it was clear from the very beginning that Tulsa could not get any traction against the BGSU defense.
Over the Golden Hurricane's first three drives, their offense tallied a total of nine yards in ten plays. On their fourth drive, which would ultimately be their longest of the game, they traveled 55 yards in ten plays, but that was helped immensely by a long 37-yard completion from Cody Green to Jordan James. The Falcons held after that play, and Tulsa missed a 37-yard field goal in an ominous sign of things to come.
Twice more in the first half, Tulsa traveled deep into BGSU territory only to be turned away with no points. After an interception, Green guided Tulsa to the Falcons' 11 and then completed a pass to Derek Patterson, who ran inside the five before BooBoo Gates forced a fumble that Aaron Foster recovered at the 2-yard line.
Tulsa forced a quick punt and began their next drive on the Bowling Green 33. Two plays later, they were at the 12-yard line, but the Falcon defense rose again. Over the next three plays, Tulsa lost five yards, and Carl Salazar missed the ensuing 34-yard field goal.
The Falcons' offense did not fare much better in the first half. After going 1-for-4 on the first two series, which gained only 31 yards, Matt Schilz gave way to backup Matt Johnson. On his first drive, Johnson drove the team 41 yards in nine plays before Tyler Tate kicked a 34-yard field goal.
After withstanding Tulsa's two drives deep into Falcon territory, Johnson followed the second missed field goal with an artistic 16-play, 70-yard drive. Again, it stalled inside the red zone, but Tyler Tate kicked a 28-yard field goal with 0:02 left in the second quarter to give BGSU a 6-0 halftime lead.
The second half belonged entirely to Bowling Green.
The Orange and Brown took the second half kickoff as a touchback. Six plays later, the Falcons were in the end zone. Including an illegal block penalty that set BGSU back 15 yards, the team romped 90 yards down the field. Included was a 37-yard run by Ronnie Moore, 12- and 10-yard runs by Travis Greene, and passes of 19 and 11 yards to Shaun Joplin and Chris Gallon. Freshman running back William Houston capped off the drive with a one-yard plunge into the end zone.
The Golden Hurricane and Bowling Green traded punts over the next four drives, resulting in Tulsa getting the ball at their own 7-yard line with 2:01 left in the third quarter. After three plays and nine yards, Tulsa head coach Bill Blankenship rolled the dice and faked a punt. Cameron Truss held punter Cole Way to no gain, and the Falcons took over at the Tulsa 16.
Four plays later, just 1:08 into the fourth quarter, Houston recorded his second one-yard touchdown run of the game to give BGSU a 20-0 lead. The sequence following the touchdown effectively ended the game.
Tulsa drove to the Falcons' 44 and faced a 4th-and-13 on the ensuing drive. Green threw an incomplete pass, and BGSU took over with 11:56 left. Bowling Green was forced to punt, but Schmiedebusch's kick drove Tulsa returner Trey Watts to his own 10-yard line, where he muffed the punt. Gates recovered at the Tulsa 8, and two plays later, Houston scored his third (and final) one-yard touchdown of the night. That gave BGSU a 27-0 lead.
On their next drive, Tulsa ran three plays and was again forced to punt. Way's kick was taken in by Ryan Burbrink at the BGSU 33, and he took it all the way for a touchdown. The 67-yard return gave the Falcons their final points and a 34-0 margin.
Tulsa's final possession was a quick five-play, 50-yard drive that ended in a 27-yard Dane Evans-to-Patterson connection for a touchdown that produced the final 34-7 score. BG took the kickoff and ran out the final 5:49 in eight plays.
Bowling Green's defense allowed just 273 total yards on 65 plays. They also held Tulsa to just 51 rushing yards in 24 attempts for a 2.1 yards/carry average. In 2012, Tulsa ran for 245.7 yards per game and a 5.0 per carry average. They also had just 12 first downs and only 21:13 of possession time.
The Falcons were the rushing beasts in this game. BGSU ran for 233 yards on 53 carries, which led the team to 396 total yards. The ball-control offense produced 23 first downs and a 38:47 time of possession.
Individually, Travis Green led the way with 22 carries for 88 yards. Houston's three touchdowns were part of a 10-carry, 29-yard effort. Johnson added 50 yards rushing at quarterback, and Ronnie Moore ran for 42 yards. Freshman Fred Coppet added 27 yards of his own.
After replacing Schilz, Johnson went 11-for-23 for 151 yards and one interception. His 11 completions went to seven different receivers. Gallon had three catches for 31 yards, while Joplin, Burbrink and Tyler Beck each had two.
Defensively, BooBoo Gates, along with Cam Truss and Paul Swan, led the Falcons with seven tackles. Gates also had a forced fumble and fumble recovery. Kendall Montgomery had the team's lone sack, although six different players combined for five tackles-for-loss.
Tulsa's individual leaders included Cody Green, who went 17-for-34 for 172 yards. Ja'Terian Douglas led all Tulsa runners with 12 carries for 22 yards. Trey Watts had only four carries for a net of eight yards. Watts did have five catches for 33 yards. Keyarris Garrett also had five receptions, for a total of 54 yards.
Bowling Green (1-0) now turns their attention to Mid-American Conference play for a week. The Falcons' next game is Saturday (Sept. 7) at Kent State in a key East Division match-up. Game time is 12:00 p.m., and the game will be on ESPN Regional television.
NOTES
* Ryan Burbrink's 67-yard punt return in the fourth quarter was his first career touchdown.
* William Houston's three touchdowns were the first of his career.
* BGSU improved to 65-26-4 all-time in home openers and 49-39-7 in season openers. BGSU is 5-0 in home openers under Dave Clawson.
* BGSU improved to 1-3 all-time against Tulsa, avenging losses to the Golden Hurricane in 2007 and 2010.
* The Falcons ranked sixth in the country a year ago, allowing just 296 yards per game. Thursday night, BGSU gave up just 273 yards.
* BGSU improved to 5-0 in the past two years when rushing for at least 200 yards. The 233 yards rushing is the third-most for the team in that stretch.
* By allowing just 51 yards rushing, the Falcons have allowed less than 100 yards on the ground in all of their nine wins in 2012 and 2013.
* Ryan Burbrink's 67-yard punt return for a touchdown was the first such score since BooBoo Gates had an 80-yard punt return touchdown against Rhode Island a year ago.
Team Stats
TLS 0, BGSU 3
BGSU - TATE, Tyler 34 yd field goal 9 plays, 41 yards, TOP 3:17
TLS 0, BGSU 6
BGSU - TATE, Tyler 28 yd field goal 16 plays, 70 yards, TOP 3:43
TLS 0, BGSU 13
BGSU - HOUSTON, W. 1 yd run (TATE, Tyler kick), 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:51
TLS 0, BGSU 20
BGSU - HOUSTON, W. 1 yd run (TATE, Tyler kick), 4 plays, 16 yards, TOP 1:12
TLS 0, BGSU 27
BGSU - HOUSTON, W. 1 yd run (TATE, Tyler kick), 2 plays, 8 yards, TOP 0:47
TLS 0, BGSU 34
BGSU - BURBRINK, Ryan 67 yd punt return (TATE, Tyler kick)
TLS 7, BGSU 34
TLS - PATTERSON, D. 27 yd pass from EVANS, D. (SALAZAR, C. kick) 5 plays, 50 yards, TOP 0:45
