Falcons Set To Battle Eagles In GoDaddy Bowl

Wednesday, December 23

Mobile, Ala.

8:00 p.m. ET

Bowling Green State University

Georgia Southern

Tickets

December 15, 2015 | Football

By: by Scott Swegan, BGSU Athletic Communications

Bowling Green Falcons (10-3, 7-1 MAC)
vs.
Georgia Southern Eagles (8-4, 6-2 SBC)

GAME INFORMATION	Wednesday, Dec. 23, 8:00 pm ET
LOCATION	Mobile, Ala. (Ladd-Peebles Stadium)
TELEVISION	ESPN (Tom Hart, Andre Ware, Laura Rutledge)
RADIO	Falcon Radio Network (Todd Walker, John Gibson)
BUY TICKETS	BGSUFalcons.com
DONATE TICKETS	BGSUFalcons.com
WATCH ONLINE	BGSUFalcons.com
GAME NOTES	BGSU \| GSU
BOWL CENTRAL	BGSUFalcons.com

MAC Champions Headed To GoDaddy Bowl
For the 13th time in school history, and the fourth consecutive season, the Bowling Green State University football team is going bowling. The Falcons, fresh off their 34-14 win over Northern Illinois in the MAC Championship Game, will head to Mobile, Ala. on Dec. 23 to play Georgia Southern in the GoDaddy Bowl. For BGSU, it is their third appearance all-time in the bowl game. For Georgia Southern, who finished the season 8-4 overall, it is their first bowl appearance in school history after making the move to the FBS prior to the 2014 season. The matchup, set for an 8:00 pm kickoff at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, marks the first all-time between the Falcons and Eagles.

A Win Against Georgia Southern Would...
• Make the Falcons 11-3 to finish the season, tying the school record for wins in a season. BGSU has won 11 games just three other times in school history (1985, 1992, 2003).
• Be the Falcons' second consecutive bowl victory, improving their all-time record to 6-7 in bowl games.
• Improve Bowling Green's record to 2-1 all-time in the GoDaddy Bowl. The Falcons were victorious in 2004 over Memphis (52-35) and defeated in 2007 against Tulsa (63-7).

Falcon Facts From the MAC Championship Game Win Over NIU
• With their 34-14 win, Bowling Green won their 12th Mid-American Conference Championship in school history.
• With his 15-yard completion to Gehrig Dieter, Matt Johnson surpassed Ben Roethlisberger (Miami, 2003) as the Mid-American Conference's all-time single-season passing leader.
• With his touchdown pass to Derek Lee in the second quarter, Johnson set the new MAC single-season record for passing touchdowns with 42. He now has 43 TDs on the season through the air.
• The Falcons 512 offensive yards were the seventh-most in MAC Championship Game history. Their 91 plays were second-most in MACCG history.
• Travis Greene led the Falcons in rushing with a career-high 183 yards and two touchdowns. Greene was named MAC East MVP for the effort. It was his 19th-career 100-yard game, just one shy of Dave Preston's career record of 20 100-yard games.
• Austin Valdez led the Falcons with 13 tackles in the game. BGSU allowed just 259 yards (3.9 yards per play).
• BGSU totaled three interceptions for the second straight game. Alfonso Mack registered his team-high sixth of the season, while Clint Stephens and Marcus Milton intercepted their first passes of the season.
• With their 34 points, BGSU has now scored a school-record 564 points this season. The previous school record was 532 points in 2004.
• The senior class won their 36th game during their careers and their second MAC Championship. They are the second-winningest class in school history.
• Ronnie Moore (29), Ryan Burbrink (28) and Roger Lewis (27) all extended their streaks for consecutive games with a catch.
BGSU Is MAC Champions, Again
• With a 34-14 win in the MAC Championship Game against Northern Illinois, Bowling Green claimed their 12th MAC title in program history. It was the Falcons second in the last three seasons.
• Bowling Green's MAC Championship Game appearance was their third consecutive and their fourth all-time. They are now 2-2 in the MAC title game.
• In the game, the Falcons jumped out to a 28-0 lead early in the third quarter, en route to the victory. BGSU outgained NIU 501-to-259.

Defense On An Upward Trend
• After losing nine starters off of last season's defense, defensive coordinator - and interim head coach - Brian Ward was facing a tall task.
• Ward has led a young defense in 2015, seeing exponential growth as the season went on.
• The Falcon defense ranks inside the top five nationally in interceptions, with 20, and is top 10 in turnovers gained.
• BGSU has also improved in first downs allowed (+65), passing yards allowed (+29 spots), rushing defense (+42 spots), scoring defense (+44 spots) and total defense (+37 spots).

The Ziggy Warriors Are Road Warriors
• With their 48-10 win at Ball State in the regular season finale, the Falcons are 6-0 on the road this season.
• Bowling Green is the only team in the country to have six road victories this season. The Falcons' game in Nashville against Tennessee was a neutral site game.
• Bowling Green is one of just 10 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision to not have suffered a road loss so far this season. Joining BGSU is Alabama, Clemson, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Toledo and Wisconsin.
• The Falcons' six road wins are tied for most in school history for a single season. All of the seasons in school history with five or more road victories are listed below:
   • 6 (2015)
   • 6 (1985)
   • 5 (1991...a sixth came in California Raisin Bowl at Fresno State)
• BGSU has won seven games away from home in 2015, most in school history. The Falcons will have a chance to win an eighth game away from home in the GoDaddy Bowl. The game in Mobile on Dec. 23 will mark the Falcons' ninth game away from home this season.

Lighting Up The Scoreboard
• Bowling Green has scored 564 points this season, averaging 43.4 points per game.
• The 43.4 points per game are fifth-best in the country and tops in the Mid-American Conference.
• The 564 points are the most ever scored in a single-season, this being BGSU's 96th-year of football.
• So far through 13 games this season, Bowling Green has scored 40 points in eight games and at least 50 points three times.
• The most 40-point games in a season came in 2004, when the Falcons did so nine times. The school record for 50-point performances in the same season was four, which the 2004 team did.

Senior Class One Of Best In School History
• Bowling Green's senior class has been one of the best in school history, totaling 36 wins to date. If the Falcons can win their final game of the season, the 2015 senior class will be the winningest in school history. The current senior class is tied for second all-time with 36 wins heading into the GoDaddy Bowl on Dec. 23.
37 • 2001-04
36 • 2012-15
36 • 1991-94
34 • 1982-85
32 • 1959-62
32 • 1961-64

Falcons Win 10th Game Of Season
• For just the sixth time in school history, Bowling Green has reached double digit wins in a season thanks to their 34-14 win in the MAC Championship Game.
• BGSU is amongst a select group of 20 teams to have reached 10 wins-or-more this season. Joining the Falcons are Clemson (13), Alabama (12), Houston (12), Iowa (12), Michigan State (12), North Carolina (11), Ohio State (11), Oklahoma (11), Stanford (11), Western Kentucky (11), Appalachian State (10), Florida (10), Florida State (10), Northwestern (10), Notre Dame (10), Oklahoma State (10), San Diego State (10), Temple (10), and TCU (10).
• The Falcons are one of just six teams from a Group of 5 conference to have won 10 games or more this season.

Alfonso Mack Awarded Scholarship
• All season long, cornerback Alfonso Mack played without a scholarship. A redshirt junior, Mack has been without a scholarship his whole career. That changed on Thursday (Dec. 10), as new head coach Mike Jinks placed Mack on scholarship in his initial team meeting.
• Mack, a native of South Bend, Ind., has started each of the last 11 games due to an injury to starting cornerback Darrell Hunter.
• Mack has registered 50 tackles and a team-high six interceptions this season to go along with 3.5 tackles for loss, three pass breakups and a fumble recovery.

Bowling Greene: Falcons Have New Rushing King
• With his carry in the first quarter against Toledo on Nov. 17, Travis Greene set Bowling Green's new record for most rushing yards in a career. He surpassed Dave Preston (1973-76) on the all-time list.
• 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:
• Owns the all-time career rushing record with 3,773 yards
• 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 Georgia Southern with 19 career 100-yard rushing games...the school record is 20 held by Dave Preston.
• Became just the second player in school history (Paul Miles) to rush for 1,000 yards in multiple seasons during his career.
• Greene's 14 touchdowns this season are the sixth-most in school history.
• Greene, who owns the school rushing record by nearly 350 yards, is just third in all-time carries for a career.
• His 37 rushing touchdowns also rank third in school history.

Falcons Have Chance At Three 100 Point Scorers
• There have been just nine players in school history to score 100 points in a season.
• Just once have two players done so in the same season, that year being 2004 when P.J. Pope (126) and Shaun Suisham (111) did so.
• This season, three Falcons are within striking distance of scoring 100 points. Tyler Tate, with four points in the GoDaddy Bowl, will become the first player in school history to record three straight 100-point seasons. Roger Lewis (96) and Travis Greene (90) are also chasing the 100-point plateau for the year.

Top Receiving Duo In School History
• Redshirt junior Gehrig Dieter and sophomore Roger Lewis have put together the top season, numbers wise, by a wide receiver duo in school history.
• Lewis, who is second in school history with 1,456 receiving yards, could be joined by Dieter (957 entering GoDaddy Bowl) as the first duo in school history to both reach 1,000 yards receiving in a season.
• The duo has combined for 2,403 yards and 24 touchdowns, surpassing Charles Sharon (1,070) and Steve Sanders (984) in 2004 as the previous top receiving duo in school history with 2,054 yards.
• Lewis is sixth in receptions, while Dieter is fourth in receptions and 12th in yards.

Johnson Sets MAC single-Season Passing Records
• The last quarterback to set the MAC single-season passing record for yards in a season, also won the MAC East Division and led his team to the MAC Championship. That quarterback's name? Ben Roethlisberger.
• Quarterback Matt Johnson (Harrisburg, Pa.) became the Mid-American Conference's new passing king in the MAC Championship Game, surpassing Roethlisberger's record for passing yards and Omar Jacobs' record for passing touchdowns in a season.
• Johnson also set the school record for both yards and touchdowns this season.
• He has surpassed quarterbacks such as Roethlisberger, Chad Pennington, and Byron Leftwich this season in the MAC record books.
• Johnson sits just 300 yards shy from becoming the 13th quarterback in NCAA history to surpass 5,000 yards in a single season. Additionally, Johnson is just 401 yards shy of surpassing 9,000 yards passing in his career.
• Johnson has passed for 70 career touchdowns, one shy of tying the school record for a career.
• 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 games this season.
• Johnson was named MAC Offensive Player of the Year and the Vern Smith Leadership Award winner this season. A full list of Johnson's awards can be found in his complete bio on page 48.

11 Falcons Named All-MAC
• 11 Falcons were named All-Mid-American Conference following the 2015 regular season, as voted upon by the league's coaches. Matt Johnson was also named MAC Offensive Player of the Year and Vern Smith Leadership Award winner.
• The 11 players named All-MAC marked just the sixth time in school history in which that many players have earned All-MAC accolades, while the five first team members marked the most since the 1994 seasons.
• Johnson, along with Roger Lewis (WR), Travis Greene (RB), Austin Valdez (LB) and Joseph Davidson (P) earned first team honors. Alex Huettel (OL), Jacob Bennett (OL), Gehrig Dieter (WR) and Trent Greene (WR) earned second team, while Ryan Burbrink (PR) and Ronnie Moore (WR) earned third team recognition.
Falcons Feature MAC's Top Offense
• In Dino Babers' second season at Bowling Green, the Falcons offense exploded into the Mid-American Conference's best. As promised by Babers upon his arrival in Northwest Ohio, the offense would take off between games four and six during his second season.
• In game six of his second season, the Falcons set a school record with 725 yards and 62 points in a win over UMass.
• The Falcons lead the MAC, and rank inside the top five nationally, for first downs offense (1st FBS, 374), passing offense (3rd FBS, 376.1), total offense (4th FBS, 561.0), third down conversions (5th FBS, .510), completion percentage (5th FBS, .684) and scoring offense (5th FBS, 43.4).
• BGSU has totaled more than 500 yards of offense in 12-of-13 games so far in 2015. The Falcons have had three 600-yard games and have had more than 575 yards of total offense in six of their 13 contests.

Davidson Named Academic All-America®
• Bowling Green State University punter Joseph Davidson was named to the 2015 Academic All-America® Division I football team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
• Davidson's honor marked the second consecutive season in which a Falcon has earned Academic All-America® honors, after Tyler Tate was named first team in 2014.
• Of 52 players named to the Academic All-America® teams, Davidson was one of just seven to hold a GPA of 3.95 or above.
• He is one of just four players from the Mid-American Conference to earn honors in 2015, joining Matt Weiser (Buffalo), Jordan Italiano (Kent State) and Nick Cuthbert (Kent State).
• Just the 15th Falcon to ever earn Academic All-America® honors, Davidson holds a 3.95 in mathematics. He led the MAC in punting average this season at 45.6 yards per punt. Of his 49 punts, he had 15 travel more than 50 yards and 14 land inside the 20. Davidson earned first team All-MAC in addition to Academic All-America® honors.

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 190 offensive line career starts on the roster, second-most in FBS football. Alex Huettel (54), Jacob Bennett (41), Logan Dietz (39), Tim McAuliffe (26), Ben Steward (15), Ryan Hunter (13), and Austin Labus (2) make up the 190.
• 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.
• For 2015, Co-Offensive Coordinator Mike Lynch has started an internal competition among linemen. Lynch, who coaches the offensive line along with Tom Freeman, has tracked pancakes each week. Pancake totals are below:

Lewis One Of the Nation's Top Receivers
• Wide receiver Roger Lewis was named a semifinalist for the prestigious Biletnikoff Award this season. Despite leading the nation in receiving yards when the finalists were announced on Nov. 24, Lewis was not one of them.
• Lewis, who was one of 10 semifinalists for the award given to the nation's most outstanding pass catcher, has caught 82 passes for 1,476 yards. He has caught 15 touchdown passes this season.
• A true sophomore, the Pickerington, Ohio native has recorded 100 yards in a game seven times, 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.
• Lewis is first in the nation in receiving yards, third in receiving touchdowns, and fourth in receiving yards per game this season entering the GoDaddy Bowl against Georgia Southern. Lewis has done all of that despite being just fifth in the MAC, and 23rd nationally, with 6.3 catches per game.
• After just 27 career games, Lewis has 2,569 career receiving yards - fifth all-time in school history. He also has caught 22 career touchdown passes and has been named first team All-MAC in each of his first two seasons as a Falcon.

Touchdown Club Of Columbus Honors Two Falcons
• For the first time in the history of the Touchdown Club of Columbus, a pair of teammates earned their top two yearly awards.
• Matt Johnson was recognized as the winner of the Sammy Baugh Award, given annually to the nation's top passer.
• Roger Lewis was awarded the Paul Warfield Trophy, which recognizes each season the nation's top receiver.

Falcons Have Six Captains In 2015
• Head coach Dino Babers announced six individuals who will serve the Falcons as captains for the remainder of the season following the MAC East-clinching win at Western Michigan.
• 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 picked as special teams captain.

55 Starting His 55th Straight
• Redshirt senior Alex Huettel (Pickerington, Ohio) will start his 55th consecutive game for the Falcons in the GoDaddy Bowl.
• Huettel, who has made more consecutive starts than any other player in school history, has started every game during his illustrious Falcon career.
• A three-time All-MAC performer at left guard, Huettel's 54 straight starts ranks third in the nation behind a pair of players from MAC foe Northern Illinois:
55 – Aidan Conlon/Andrew Ness, NIU
54 – Alex Huettel, Bowling Green

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-to-back MAC East Championships.

Two Falcons Earn Third Straight All-MAC Honors
• A pair of redshirt senior teammates - Alex Huettel and Ryan Burbrink - both earned their third straight All-MAC honors when teams were announced on Dec. 2.
• Burbrink has earned All-MAC at punt returner in each of the last three seasons, as he was named second team, first team, and third team respectively.
• Alex Huettel, the Falcons starting right guard for each of the past four seasons, earned second team All-MAC honors for the third straight year.

Win The Turnover Battle, Win The Game
• Bowling Green is 9-0 when winning the turnover battle this season. The Falcons have won the turnover battle in eight of the last nine games.
• The Falcons forced five turnovers and had a plus-3 differential in the MAC Championship Game against NIU. BGSU has a plus-14 turnover differential this season.

Four Falcon Receivers Are Streaking
• Three Bowling Green receivers have caught a pass in at least 27 consecutive games, while a fourth has caught a pass in 15 straight contests.
• Ronnie Moore leads the trio with a reception in 29 straight games - every game since the 2013 MAC Championship Game. Moore had five catches for 53 yards in the MAC Championship Game this season.
• Sure-handed Ryan Burbrink has a reception in 28 consecutive games. He extended his streak with three receptions against NIU.
• Roger Lewis has caught a pass in all 27 career games to date. He had six catches for 75 yards in the MAC Championship Game.
• Gehrig Dieter extended his streak to 15 consecutive games with a catch in the MAC Championship, registering seven receptions for 75 yards.

Tate Winding Down Historical Career
• Tyler Tate is winding down a historical career for the Orange and Brown. Tate, a redshirt senior from Carroll, Ohio, currently sits first or second in most major kicking categories.
• Tate is second in school history for career points with 349, PATs made with 181, and PATs attempted with 191. Tate's 349 career points are just 12 shy of Shaun Suisham's school record of 361 career points.
• Tate has made 72 extra points this season, most all-time for a single season. Suisham owned the previous record with 69 makes. Tate's 77 attempts are most in school history for a single season.
• Last season, Tate's 23 field goals made were a school-record, and his 56 career field goals made are a school record.

Trending Towards 100
• During the first season under former head coach Dino Babers, the Falcons had 11 100-yard receiving performances and nine 100-yard rushing games.
• In the second season of the offense, the Falcons have tied the school record with 11 100-yard receiving performances. BGSU has had eight 100-yard rushing performances in 2015, led by Greene's five.
• Roger Lewis leads all receivers with seven 100-yard games. He has been joined by Gehrig Dieter (2), Ronnie Moore (1) and Robbie Rhodes (1).
• Rushing the ball, three running backs have tallied a 100-yard game this season. Greene has had five-such games, while Fred Coppet has had two and Matt Domer one.