Falcons Host Rockets In Battle Of I-75

Tuesday, November 17

Bowling Green, Ohio

6:00 p.m. ET

Bowling Green State University

Toledo

Tickets

November 13, 2015 | Football

By: by Scott Swegan, BGSU Athletic Communications

Bowling Green Falcons (8-2, 6-0 MAC)
vs
Toledo Rockets (8-1, 5-1 MAC)

GAME INFORMATION	Tuesday, Nov. 17, 6:02 pm
LOCATION	Bowling Green, Ohio (Doyt L. Perry Stadium)
TELEVISION	ESPN2 (Mark Neely, Ray Bentley, Quint Kessenich)
RADIO	Falcon Radio Network (Todd Walker, John Gibson)
LIVE STATS	BGSUFalcons.com
WATCH ONLINE	ESPN3.com/WatchESPN
LISTEN ONLINE	BGSUFalcons.com
GAME NOTES	BGSU \| UT \| MAC

Falcons Host Rockets In Battle Of I-75
For the third straight season, the Bowling Green State University football team clinched the Mid-American Conference East Division with a 41-27 win at Western Michigan on Wednesday night. The Falcons, who have won seven straight, will now host arch-rival University of Toledo on Tuesday night at Doyt L. Perry Stadium. Bowling Green will recognize its seniors in a pregame ceremony prior to the 6:00 pm kickoff in a game set to be televised on ESPN2.

A Win Against Toledo Would...
• Make the Falcons 9-2 overall for the first time since the 2003 season which saw BGSU start the year 10-2 overall
• Improve BGSU's record to 7-0 in MAC play for the first time since 1994
• Be Bowling Green's 8th consecutive win, marking their first eight-game winning streak since the 2002 season
• Be the Falcons first victory over Toledo since the 2009 season

Falcon Facts From The Win Over WMU
• The Falcons became the first team to win three straight MAC East titles since Marshall won six consecutive East Division championships from 1997-2002.
• Bowling Green improved to 8-2 overall for the first time since the 2004 season.
• BGSU improved to 6-0 in MAC play for the first time since 1994.
• The victory marks BGSU's first over Western Michigan since a 52-0 win in 2004.
• The seven-game winning streak for BGSU is tied for the second longest in school history since 1995. The Falcons also won seven straight in 2004, while the 2002 team won eight straight ballgames.
• Travis Greene rushed for a career-high 170 yards. He now needs just five yards to break the career rushing-yards record at BGSU.
• Defensive back Alfonso Mack intercepted his fourth pass of his career, and has now picked off a pass in four of the last five games.
• The Orange and Brown improve to 5-0 in true road games this season.
• The Falcons have now scored 454 points this season, surpassing last year's total of 420 for fifth most in school history.
• The senior class has now won 34 games, which is tied for third most in school history. The 2001-04 seniors won a program-record 37 games. The 1991-94 seniors are next with 36 wins. The 1982-85 seniors also recorded 34 wins.
• Ronnie Moore (26), Ryan Burbrink (25) and Roger Lewis (24) all caught passes in the game, extending their streaks of consecutive games with at least one catch.

Head Coach Dino Babers
• Dino Babers is in his second season at the helm of the Orange and Brown, and his fourth season overall as a head coach. He has a career record of 35-15 and has won a championship in all four seasons thus far.
• Babers has impressed in his Bowling Green tenure to date, compiling a record of 16-8 in just his second season. The Falcons have won the MAC East Division in each of Babers' two seasons at BGSU.
• In his first season, Babers led a team which lost its starting QB in week one, winning eight games. In those eight wins were a victory over a Big Ten foe (Indiana), a MAC East Division championship, and Bowling Green's first bowl win since the 2004 season.
• The Falcons went 2-2 through one of the nation's toughest nonconference schedules this season, defeating two Big Ten Conference opponents on the road. Babers has compiled an impressive 3-1 record against Big Ten opponents - defeating Indiana, Maryland and Purdue.

Three In A ROW! Falcons Are MAC East Champs Again
• For the third consecutive season, Bowling Green is Mid-American Conference East Division champions and will play in the MAC Championship Game on Dec. 4 inside of Ford Field.
• BGSU, with their 6-0 MAC record, clinched the division with a 41-27 road victory at Western Michigan on Wednesday night.
• For the Falcons, it was their second consecutive season in which they have wrapped up the division after just six MAC games.

The Ziggy Warriors Are Road Warriors
• With their 41-27 win at Western Michigan, the Falcons are now 5-0 on the road this season.
• Bowling Green is one of just two teams following the Falcons' game on Wednesday to own five true road wins and be undefeated on the road this season.
• Joining the Falcons are the Temple Owls, who are currently ranked 22nd in the College Football Playoff rankings.

Lighting Up The Scoreboard
• Bowling Green has scored 454 points in 10 games this season, averaging 45.4 points per game.
• The 45.4 points per game are fourth-best in the country and tops in the Mid-American Conference.
• The 454 points are already the fifth-most ever scored in a season, despite this being BGSU's 96th season of football.

Greene Running Towards History In 2015
Redshirt senior Travis Greene is in his third season at running back for the Falcons in 2015, after coming to BGSU and playing wide receiver his first two years on campus. As his senior season winds down, Greene is chasing several milestones in the Orange and Brown in 2015, including:
• Currently sits 2nd all-time with 3,419 rushing yards...just five yards shy of the all-time career record currently held by Dave Preston (1973-76)
• Could become just the second Falcon player ever, behind Paul Miles, to lead Bowling Green in rushing in three consecutive seasons
• Enters the game against Toledo with 18 career 100-yard rushing games...the school record is 20 held by Dave Preston.
• Greene is coming off a career-best performance against Western Michigan where he rushed 24 times for a career-high 170 yards. He also tallied three touchdowns for the second straight game, tying a career-high also set the week prior.

Johnson A Star In Babers' Offense
• Quarterback Matt Johnson (Harrisburg, Pa.) has reached new heights under head coach Dino Babers. After leading the Falcons to a MAC Championship in 2013, Johnson missed all but one game in 2014 due to injury.
• To start the 2015 season, Johnson passed for 400 yards in each of his first four starts. He is the first player in school history to ever pass for 400 yards in back-to-back games, three times in a season, and four times in a career. In all, Johnson has passed for 400 yards-or-more in six of his first 10 games this season.
• Johnson also started the season by passing for 300 yards-or-more in the first nine games, also a school record. Below is a game-by-game summary of Johnson's statistics in his 11 starts under Babers.

Babers' #FalconFast Offense Has Clicked
• Ever since he took over at Bowling Green, Dino Babers has made it clear that his offensive system usually clicks between games four and six of the second season.
• Against UMass (game six of the second season), Bowling Green set a new school record with 725 yards of total offense.
• Babers' Falcons have had at least 500 offensive yards in all 10 games this season, and have done so in 11 consecutive games dating back to last season.
• In his 24 games at BGSU, Babers' teams have had 500-or-more yards of offense 16 times. The Falcons rank third in the country averaging 584.8 yards per game.

Senior Class One Of Best In School History
• Bowling Green's senior class has been one of the best in school history, totaling 34 wins to date. If the Falcons can win three games the rest of the season, the 2015 senior class will be the winningest in school history. The current senior class is tied for third all-time with 34 wins heading into Tuesday night's showdown against Toledo.
37 • 2001-04
36 • 1991-94
34 • 2012-15
34 • 1982-85
32 • 1959-62
32 • 1961-64

Mack Taking Advantage Of The #MACtion
• Redshirt junior Alfonoso Mack has enjoyed MAC play, totaling 23 tackles and a team-high four interceptions during conference play.
• Mack, who has started all six MAC games thus far, is tied for the conference lead with his four interceptions during MAC play. His four interceptions overall are tied for fourth in the conference this season.

#MattyJHeisman Leading NCAA
• BGSU quarterback Matt Johnson leads the nation in passing with 3,955 yards through 10 games this season.
• He has completed 291-of-421 passes (69.1%) with 36 touchdown passes compared to just four interceptions.
• Through 10 games this season, Johnson's 3,955 yards are the fifth-most in FBS football since 2000, despite Johnson having attempted 42 less passes and completing 41 less passes than anyone else in the top five (full chart in pdf game notes)

BGSU Celebrates Seniors On Tuesday Night
• Prior to Tuesday night's game, at approximately 5:45 pm, BGSU will celebrate the careers of 19 seniors.
• Being honored will be Darrell Hunter, Eilar Hardy, Chris Gallon, Travis Greene, Herve Coby, Matt Johnson, Nolan Dieter, Diontre Delk, Ryan Burbrink, Dernard Turner, Taylor Royster, Alex Huettel, Spencer Cairo, Christian Piazza, Derek Lee, Zach Colvin, Anthony Farinella, Tyler Tate, and Bryan Baird.

Babers Announces Captains For Remainder Of Season
• Head coach Dino Babers announced on Thursday afternoon six individuals who will serve the Falcons as captains for the remainder of the season.
• Matt Johnson, Travis Greene, and Alex Huettel will serve as captains on the offense. Zach Colvin and Dernard Turner were named defensive captains, while James Sanford was named special teams captain.

Huettel Makes 50th Consecutive Start Against Ohio
• Redshirt senior Alex Huettel (Pickerington, Ohio) started his 50th consecutive game against Ohio earlier this season.
• Huettel, who has made more consecutive starts than any other player in school history, has started every game during his illustrious Falcon career.
• A two-time All-MAC performer at left guard, Huettel's 51 straight starts ranks third in the nation behind a pair of players from MAC foe Northern Illinois:
52 – Aidan Conlon/Andrew Ness, NIU
51 – Alex Huettel, Bowling Green

Davidson, Mack Garner Academic Honors
• Two standout student-athletes on the BGSU football team garnered CoSIDA Academic All-District honors for their efforts both on-and-off the football field.
• Punter Joseph Davidson (Findlay, Ohio), a 3.95 GPA student in mathematics, earned the honor in part to his MAC-leading 46.4 yards per punt average. A redshirt sophomore, Davidson has landed 12 inside the 20 and had 12 over 50 yards.
• Cornerback Alfonso Mack (South Bend, Ind.) also received recognition. A 3.96 GPA student in psychology, Mack is leading the team with four interceptions for the Orange and Brown. A walk-on for the Falcons, Mack has started the last eight games.

Falcons Have Been Beasts Of The East
• With their dominating 62-24 victory over Ohio, Bowling Green finished 5-0 against teams from the MAC East Division and has now gone undefeated against division foes in each of the last three seasons.
• Since the start of the 2012 season, Bowling Green has a combined record of 21-1 against foes from the MAC's East Division.
• More impressively, the Falcons have won 17 straight games against MAC East opponents, dating back to a 2012 win over Buffalo in the regular season finale.
• With that success has come results, as the Falcons have won back-to-back MAC East Division titles and are knocking on the doorstep for a third straight division title with a two-game lead and three games to play.

Knowledge Is Power
• Travis Greene is five yards shy from becoming BGSU's all-time career rushing leader. He has also recorded six rushing touchdowns the last two games.

Lewis A Biletnikoff Award Candidate
• Wide receiver Roger Lewis has caught 69 passes for 1,310 yards and 14 touchdowns so far this season.
• His 1,310 yards through 10 games are second-most in BGSU history for a single season.
• Lewis is currently ranked second in the nation with his 1,310 yards and 14 touchdowns.
• A true sophomore, the Pickerington, Ohio native has recorded 100 yards in a game six times in the first 10 games, while three of those performances have gone for more than 200 yards.
• Lewis went over 200 yards three times in the first five games of this season, going for 200 at Maryland, 261 against Memphis and 201 at Buffalo.
• He has recorded 100 yards receiving in five MAC games to date, totaling 39 receptions for 751 yards and nine touchdowns in conference play.
• After just 24 career games, Lewis has 2,403 career receiving yards - seventh all-time in school history. Last season he was first team All-MAC as a freshman after catching 73 passes for 1,093 yards and seven TDs.

Dieter Joins The 1,000 Yard Party
• With his nine-catch, 136-yard performance against Ohio last Wednesday, Gehrig Dieter surpassed 1,000 career receiving yards in a Falcon uniform.
• After starting his career at SMU, Dieter is in his second year playing at BGSU. He has 1,158 career yards and became the 37th player in BGSU's 96-year football history to surpass the 1,000-yard mark.
• So far in 2015, Dieter has 58 catches - second-most on the Falcons - for 698 yards and five scores.

Longest Winning Streak
• Since 1995, Bowling Green has had just four winning streaks of six games or more in the same season and just three of more than seven games.
• The Falcons' current winning streak, which started on Sept. 26 at Purdue, has lasted through the first six games of MAC play.
• During that stretch, Bowling Green has outscored opponents 335-to-149 and have scored at least 40 points five times during the stretch.
• A full listing of the Falcons' seven-game winning streaks since 1995 are listed below:
2002 - 8 games (Aug. 29 - Nov. 2)
2015 - 7 games (Sept. 26 - current)
2004 - 7 games (Oct. 2 - Nov. 13)

2015 #GutGang Feasting At The All-You-Can-Eat Pancake Buffet
• Bowling Green features one of the most experienced offensive line units in the entire country, and it has showed thus far.
• The Falcons' have 175 offensive line career starts on the roster, second-most in FBS football. Alex Huettel (51), Jacob Bennett (38), Logan Dietz (36), Tim McAuliffe (23), Ben Steward (15), Ryan Hunter (10), and Austin Labus (2) make up the 175.
• Bowling Green was one of just nine schools in the entire country to start the same five players on the offensive line every game last season. The Falcons were joined by Fresno State, UL-Lafayette, Northern Illinois, Ohio State, Rutgers, Tulane, Wisconsin and Rice. BGSU is the only one of those nine that returns all five starters in 2015.

Former Falcons In The NFL
• Eight former Falcons were on preseason NFL rosters this season, including four who have played a significant role with NFL teams over the past several years.
• Kory Lichtensteiger is the starting center for the Washington Redskins. He had started every game since 2010 until a recent injury which has sidelined him.
• Both Chris Jones and Shaun Suisham (IR) have had significant impacts in past seasons for the Patriots and Steelers, respectively. Jones won a Super Bowl last season with the Patriots and is back practicing with the team after beginning the season on the PUP list due to an injury. Suisham is signed through 2018 and was a Special Teams captain last season for the Steelers.
• Jude Adjei-Barimah made his debut with the Tampa Bay Bucs a few weeks ago against the Carolina Panthers, and has been playing on special teams and defense.
• Two other Falcons - Alex Bayer (San Diego Chargers) and Gabe Martin (Arizona Cardinals) - are on NFL practice squads.

High-Flying Falcons
• So far through 10 games this season, Bowling Green has scored 40 points in seven games and at least 50 points three times.
• Bowling Green has scored 62 points in two games this season.
• The most 40-point games in a season came in 2004, when the Falcons did so nine times.
• The 2015 season marks the sixth time in BGSU's 96 years of football history that they have scored 50 points at least two times in the same season.
• The school record for 50-point performances in the same season was four, which the 2004 team did.
• BGSU has also scored 50 points multiple times in the same season in 2002 (3), 1959 (2), 1994 (2) and 2003 (2).

Trio Of Falcon Receivers Are Streaking
• Three Bowling Green receivers are riding impressive streaks, as all three have caught a pass in at least 24 consecutive games. In two cases, those streaks stretch back to the 2013 season. All three are on the Biletnikoff Award Watch List.
• Ronnie Moore has caught a pass in 26 consecutive games, dating back to the 2013 MAC Championship Game against Northern Illinois. Moore has 55 catches - third on the team - this season for 722 yards and five touchdowns.
• Sure-handed Ryan Burbrink has a reception in 25 straight games going back to the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl game in 2013 against Pittsburgh. Burbrink is fourth on the Falcons with 48 catches for 563 yards and four TDs through 10 games this season.
• Roger Lewis, the Falcons leading receiver with 1,310 yards on the season, has caught a pass in all 24 career games thus far. He has 69 catches and 14 touchdowns in 2015.

Win The Turnover Battle, Win The Game
• Bowling Green is 7-0 when winning the turnover battle this season. The Falcons have won the turnover battle in each of the last six games. The last time BGSU turned the ball over more times than the opposition was at Purdue on Sept. 26, when the Falcons scored with nine seconds left to win by a score of 35-28.

Falcons Finishing When It Matters
• Bowling Green is 6-0 when leading after the third quarter in 2015. Additionally, the Falcons have pulled out two wins when tied after three quarters -- both on the road at Big Ten stadiums. Tied, 20-20, at Maryland on Sept. 12 heading into the fourth quarter, Bowling Green scored 28 of the final 35 points to cruise to a 48-27 victory. On Sept. 26 at Purdue, tied at 21-21, BGSU scored 14 points in the fourth to win by a touchdown.

Johnson Totals 70th Career Touchdown
• Matt Johnson's 42-yard touchdown pass to Teo Redding in the second quarter at Western Michigan -- which gave BGSU a 21-17 lead -- marked the 70th total touchdown in Johnson's career.
• Johnson has thrown for 63 touchdown passes in his career -- including 36 this season -- to move into a tie for third all-time in career touchdown passes with Brian McClure. Johnson is just eight shy of the school record.

Johnson Trending Towards The Top
• Bowling Green quarterback is on pace to set the school and Mid-American Conference record for passing yards in a single-season. His current pace is 5,537 yards and 50 touchdowns for a 14-game schedule, which the Falcons are expected to play now that they have clinched the MAC East, would be fifth in NCAA history.
• Johnson is on pace to break the school-record for passing in the next game, and the Mid-American Conference record for passing in the regular-season finale.
• He is just eight touchdowns shy of the MAC record for most passing touchdowns in a season and on pace to throw for 50 total.

Johnson Is a Beast Against The East
• In his career, Matt Johnson has made 11 starts against MAC East foes, compiling an 11-0 record. In the 11 games he is 225-of-311 (72.3%) passing for 3,389 yards and 37 touchdowns. He has passed for 33 touchdowns compared to just four interceptions.

Trending Towards 100
• In the first season of Dino Babers' #FalconFast offense at Bowling Green, the Falcons had 11 receiving and nine rushing performances of 100-or-more yards. The 11 receiving games tied a school record for most in a season, while the nine rushing efforts was just two shy of the school record.
• After just 10 games this season, BGSU appears to be primed to break the school record for most 100-yard receiving games in a season. The Falcons have already had 11 such receiving games and five 100-yard rushing games to date.