Falcons Cruise To 59-10 Win Over Akron

Saturday, October 17

Bowling Green, Ohio

3:00 p.m. ET

Bowling Green State University

5-2 , 3-0

Akron

3-4 , 1-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Akron

Bowling Green

October 17, 2015 | Football

Box Score

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University football team defeated the University of Akron, 59-10, Saturday afternoon inside of Doyt L. Perry Stadium in front of a Homecoming crowd of 20,021 Falcon fans. The Falcons outgained the Zips, 532-271, and outscored Akron, 31-0, in the second half. Bowling Green held the Zips to just 104 passing yards, while the Falcon passing game accounted for 412 yards.

The 49-point win marks the largest margin of victory for the Falcons over the Zips in series history. Bowling Green has now beat Akron in seven straight contests.

With the win, Bowling Green has now won four straight games and improves to 5-2 (3-0 MAC) on the season. With the defeat, Akron falls to 3-4 (1-2 MAC).

Matt Johnson completed 25-of-30 passes for 357 yards and five touchdowns. Johnson also caught a pass for 16 yards.

Travis Greene rushed for 64 yards on 13 carries, while Fred Coppet gained 52 yards on 10 touches. Donovan Wilson found the end zone twice, rushing for 14 yards on nine carries.

Roger Lewis had a game-high 118 yards on six catches and two touchdowns. Gehrig Dieter and Ryan Burbrink also hauled in touchdown pass, while adding 77 and 54 yards, respectively. Teo Redding caught two passes for 52 yards. Ronnie Moore added four catches for 38 yards.

The Falcon defense forced four turnovers, and made two fourth-down stops. Defensive back Eilar Hardy led the Falcons with nine tackles. Defensive lineman Terrance Bush followed with eight, and registered one sack with two quarterback hurries. Linebackers Trent Greene and Austin Valdez recorded seven tackles. Defensive lineman Shannon Smith totaled 1.5 sacks, while defensive back Alfonso Mack notched one sack and recorded one interception. Defensive back Jamari Bozeman picked off a pass as well. Linebackers James Sanford and Brandon Harris forced a fumbled apiece. Defensive lineman David Konowalski recovered a fumble, while wide receiver Trevor Roop recovered another fumble on special teams.

For the fifth straight game, BGSU scored a touchdown on its opening drive. The Falcons drove 48 yards on six plays, and capped off the drive with a Wilson two-yard rush. Akron would go on to answer late in the first quarter to knot the game at 7-7. But Wilson scored again – this time from one yard out, with 13:55 to go in the second quarter – to give Bowling Green the lead for good.

On the ensuing kickoff, kicker Nick Fields – making his first-career appearance – pooched a kick inside the Akron 20-yard line into a strong wind. The Akron return team couldn't jump on the ball, and Roop recovered the ball at the Akron 12. Johnson found Lewis for 12 yards on the first play of the drive to give BGSU a 21-7 lead.

With 4:20 to go in the half, after an Akron field goal cut BGSU's lead to 21-10, Johnson threw his 50th-career touchdown pass. Johnson found Dieter on a slant from 13 yards out, topping off a drive that lasted 1:57 and covered 89 yards on seven plays.

The Orange and Brown went on to score four more touchdowns, consecutively, to race out to a 56-10 lead. The Falcons played mostly backups in the fourth quarter, but James Knapke engineered the final scoring drive of the ballgame. After hooking up with Herve Coby down the Akron sideline for 39 yards down to the Zips' three, BGSU settled for a 28-yard Tyler Tate field goal with 4:41 left in regulation that made the score, 59-10.

The Falcons will travel to Kent State to take on the Golden Flashes on Saturday, Oct. 24. Kickoff from Dix Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m.
ll be avilable later tonight.

Postgame Notes

With their 59-10 win over Akron on Saturday, BGSU has now won 15 straight against teams in the MAC East and seven straight against the Zips.
The 49 point victory over Akron was the Falcons' largest margin of victory all-time in the series with the Zips. Their previous largest margin of victory against Akron was 45 points.
2015 marks the third consecutive season in which BGSU has started the year 5-2 overall and 3-0 in the MAC.
Ronnie Moore (23), Ryan Burbrink (22) and Roger Lewis (21) all extended their streaks for consecutive games with a catch.
Tyler Tate's 11 points in the game puts him at 310 career points. He is just the second player in school history to surpass the 300-point plateau, joining Shaun Suisham (2001-04) of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Roger Lewis' 118 yards receiving in the game gave him 1,020 on the season. It marks just the eighth time in school history a player has surpassed 1,000 yards receiving in a season, which he has done in seven games thus far. Lewis also now has 2,113 career yards in just 21 career games, averaging 100.6 yards receiving per game in his career.
Matt Johnson's 25-for-30 passing performance for 357 yards and five touchdowns moves him into ninth all-time for a single season with 2,891 yards passing. It was his second straight five-TD passing performance and his third-such game of the year. He had five touchdowns vs. UMass and Akron and six at Maryland.
Johnson now has 6,790 passing yards in his career (7th all-time) and 51 career touchdown passes (T-5th all-time).
BGSU totaled 532 yards on 75 plays (7.1 yards per play) against the Zips. The Falcon defense held Akron to 271 yards on 72 plays (3.8 yards per play).
Donovan Wilson had two rushing TDs in the game and now has seven in the last five games.
Lewis' 118 yards marked his 11th career 100-yard performance and his third consecutive. He has five 100-yard games this season.
Teo Redding caught two passes for a career-best 52 yards in the win.
Nick Fields appeared for the first time during his career in the game, kicking off six times.
Terrance Bush had a career-high eight tackles in the game with a sack and two quarterback hurries.
Zach Colvin had a career-high four tackles in the game.
Robert Jackson recorded his first career tackle in the win, while David Konowalski recorded his first career fumble recovery in the game.