Falcons Drop Season Opener to Michigan State

Saturday, September 2

East Lansing, Mich.

12:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

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Michigan State

1-0

1st

2nd

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4th

Bowling Green

Michigan State

September 02, 2017 | Football

Box Score

By: by Matthew Daley, Athletic Communicationis Assistant

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University football team began the 2017 season by forcing three turnovers and scoring a defensive touchdown before ultimately falling to Michigan State on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 2). The Spartans won the contest 35-10 and limited BGSU's offense to 212 total yards.

Brandon Harris recovered an L.J. Scott fumble on the opening series of the season, and James Morgan connected with Datrin Guyton on a 45-yard pass on the offense's first play. That led to a 36-yard field goal from Jake Suder for a 3-0 BGSU lead. However, Michigan State scored 35 unanswered points before Cameron Jefferies returned another Scott fumble 46 yards for a touchdown.

Boxscore
Photo Gallery (Coming Soon)

POST-GAME NOTES
Andrew Clair, a true freshman from St. Louis, Mo., played a large role in his first game on the field. He played heavily on special teams, where he returned four kickoffs for 81 yards and collected two tackles. His kickoff returns included a long of 32. He also played in the offensive backfield and collected four carries for a team-high 22 yards, including a 15-yard jaunt for BGSU's longest run of the game. Clair also caught one pass for three yards. He led the Falcons with 106 all-purpose yards and one of two players from either team to surpass the century mark.

Cameron Jefferies' fumble recovery and subsequent touchdown were both career firsts for the sophomore from Painesville, Ohio. Jefferies also recorded 10 tackles, which doubled his previous single-game high and increased his career total to 26. He is the first Falcon to return a fumble for a touchdown since Marcus Milton rumbled 76 yards last November at Akron. This marks the second straight season-opener in which BGSU has scored a defensive touchdown.

Brandon Harris and David Konowalski also recovered fumbles for BGSU, as the team won the turnover battle 3-1. This was Harris' second career fumble recovery and fourth career turnover, which includes a pick-six in the 2016 opener at Ohio State. He added seven tackles against MSU. Konowalski's fumble recovery was also the second of his career (vs. Akron, 2015). He earned BGSU's only sack of the contest

Twelve Falcons saw their first career action for BGSU in the game at Michigan State. The six true freshmen who played were James Carolan, Andrew Clair, Kholbe Coleman, Josh Croslen, Quintin Morris, and Matthew Wilcox, Jr.. In addition, six redshirt freshmen saw field time: Caleb Bright, Bryson Denley, Dirion Hutchins, Armani Posey, Zack Sharp, and Jared Wyatt.

STAT PACK OFFENSE

Matt Domer returned for his first action since 2015 with four carries for 21 yards
Domer now has 12 career carries for 138 yards and one touchdown
Datrin Guyton caught two passes, including a 45-yarder on BGSU's first play from scrimmage
Matt Wilcox, Jr. (Fr.) earned his first career reception for 12 yards

STAT PACK DEFENSE

The Falcon defense limited L.J. Scott to 39 yards on 15 carries and forced him to fumble twice
Scott led MSU with 994 yards (5.4 average) in 2016
BGSU has recovered multiple fumbles in five of the team's last 11 games
BGSU has created 11 total turnovers in its last four games
Nate Locke set a career-best with game-high 15 tackles (previous best: 8 at Akron, 11/9/16)
Armani Posey earned 5 tackles (1 TFL) and forced a fumble in his first career action
Kyle Junior tied career high with three tackles; Jack Walz added three tackles for career-high
Six players earned their first career tackles: Fred Garth (2), Andrew Clair (2), Dirion Hutchins, Jonah Harper, Jerry Roberts and Kholbe Coleman

STAT PACK SPECIAL TEAMS

Joe Davidson punted eight times for a 46.1 average, including two of 50+ and three inside the 20
Davidson posted one punt of 64 yards, and six of his eight punts went at least 44 yards
Davidson improved his BGSU record career-punting average to 44.6
Davidson broke BGSU's all-time punting yardage record (9,140, surpasses Jim Phelps' 8,955)
Davidson has 205 career punts (third in BGSU history) and is 14 away from school record
Jake Suder was successful on both of his kicks, a 36-yard field goal and an extra point

Here we go! pic.twitter.com/TuUo1KkUtL
— BGSU Falcon Club (@Bgsufalconclub) September 2, 2017

?? what I found.

Check out this heads up play by @BG_Football's Cameron Jefferies! #AyZiggy #MACtion pic.twitter.com/Z57fc2GhuQ
— #MACtion (@MACSports) September 2, 2017