Falcons Drop Season Finale at Eastern Michigan

Tuesday, November 21

Ypsilanti, Mich.

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Eastern Michigan

Photo by: BGSU Marketing and Communications

November 21, 2017 | Football

Box Score

By: by Matthew Daley, Athletic Communicationis Assistant

YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University football team concluded the 2017 season with a 34-31 defeat at the hands of Eastern Michigan University on Tuesday night (Nov. 21). Freshman Jarret Doege threw for 256 yards and two second-half touchdowns, while Josh Cleveland capped his career with a 150-yard rushing performance. The loss drops the Falcons' final record to 2-10 and 2-6 in Mid-American Conference play. EMU's season ends with a 5-7 record (3-5 MAC).

EMU took the opening kickoff and drove into Bowling Green territory, but the Falcons' defense turned the tables when Montre Gregory picked off a Brogan Roback pass. On BGSU's first play from scrimmage, Cleveland took the ball up the middle for a 72-yard touchdown run. The Eagles rolled off 13 unanswered points to grab the lead, but the Falcons took it back with ten more on a Jake Suder field goal and a bootleg touchdown from Doege.

After falling behind 27-17 early in the second half, Doege led BGSU's charge to reclaim the lead with two scoring passes in a two-minute span. First, he tossed a pass in the left corner of the end zone to Teo Redding, who made another spectacular catch for 20-yard score. BGSU's defense held EMU on the subsequent drive, and after the punt, Doege threw a rainbow over the middle to a wide-open Datrin Guyton for a 62-yard score. It was the longest scoring pass of his young career.

The Eagles re-took the lead before the end of the third quarter. The Falcons had one final opportunity to win the game midway through the fourth. However, they could not convert on fourth down from their own 41, and EMU ran out the clock.

STAT PACK
OFFENSE

Doege completed 21 of 34 (.618) for 256 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Doege finishes 2017 with 1,381 yards and a 12:3 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Doege's 2017 completion percentage (.638) is eighth-best in school history. His passer efficiency (160.48) ranks seventh.
Doege's rushing touchdown was his second of the season; he also had one at Kent State.
Andrew Clair finished with 47 yards on 12 carries and ends the season with 725 yards in 107 carries.
Clair's 6.8 yards per carry is a BGSU single-season record.
Cleveland's 150 yards on 15 carries is the second-best total (153) of his career. His 829 rushing yards in 2017 led BGSU.
Cleveland finishes his career with 1,489 yards on 248 carries. His 6.0 average is a BGSU career record.
Cleveland's rushing touchdown was the sixth of his career.
Guyton led the Falcons with five catches, 112 yards and a touchdown. It is his second 100-yard game of 2017.
Guyton ends 2017 with 31 catches, 585 yards, two scores, and a team-best 18.87 yards-per-catch average.
Scott Miller had a team-best eight catches with 98 yards. He led BGSU with 63 catches and 722 yards in 2017.
Redding had one catch but it went for a 20-yard touchdown. It was his eighth of 2017 and the 14th of his career.
BGSU totaled 465 yards, their third best offensive output in 2017, and 209 rushing yards, their fourth 200-yard game.

DEFENSE

Montre Gregory's interception was the first of his career.
Nico Lautanen earned first sack of 2017.
David Konowalski's sack gives him 3.5 for 2017, and he ends the season tied for the team lead with Kyle Junior.
Brandon Harris led BGSU with 12 tackles, and he finishes the season with 92.
Fred Garth completed 2017 with a team-high 95 tackles, including five against the Eagles.
Nate Locke finished his career with a nine-tackle game and 185 in his career.
Locke and Konowalski led the Falcons in 2017 with 8.5 tackles for loss; Konowalski posted one in the season finale.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Joe Davidson punted three times for 121 yards and finished the season with a 44.0 per-punt average.
Davidson's 2017 average is the sixth-best in school history; he now owns three of the six best season averages.
Davidson's 257 punts, 11,412 punting yards, and 44.4 punting average are all BGSU career records.
Matt Wilcox returned five kickoffs for 121 yards and ends 2017 with 21 kick returns for 517 yards.
Those 517 yards rank tenth in school history, and his 24.62 average is sixth.
Jake Suder kicked his 18th field goal of 2017; he finished 18-for-22 on field goals and 29-for-30 on extra points.
Suder's 18 field goals are tied for third-best in a single season at BGSU.