Falcons and Rockets Are Set for a Wednesday MACtion Clash in the Battle of I-75

Falcons Host the Battle of I-75
• Bowling Green State University returns home on Wednesday night to face the Toledo Rockets in MACtion.
• It is the 86th meeting between the Falcons and the Rockets for the two schools whose stadiums are located 25 miles apart.
• Coming to town for the Battle of I-75? Alums can get a $10 day pass at the student recreation center. More INFO by clicking here.
• Tickets are on sale from $20-$23 - you can purchase your single-game tickets by clicking here.
• Make sure to download your tickets and parking before Saturday. Learn how by clicking here.

Bowling Green vs. Toledo
• Bowling Green continues Mid-American Conference action on Wednesday when Toledo comes to Doyt Perry Stadium for the annual quest for the Battle of I-75 trophy.
• Toledo leads the all-time series with the BGSU, 41-40-4.
• Since 2000, Bowling Green is 2-0 against UT when the Falcons hold the Rockets below 300 yards of total offense.
• Since 2000, Bowling Green is 5-4 against UT when the Falcons accumulate 400+ yards of total offense.
• Since 2000, Bowling Green is 5-3 against UT when the Falcons win the turnover battle. They are 0-5 when they don't. And it is tied, 2-2, when the turnovers are the same.

Five Top Storylines
• Bowling Green had seven scoring drives of three plays or less at Buffalo last time out. Entering the game, they only had two such scoring drives combined on the season. The seven touchdown drives took 4:04 of the game clock, while the rest of the drives for BGSU (1 TD, 6 punts) took 17:05 of game clock.
• PK Nate Needham is 14-of-14 on field goal attempts this season. He is one of eight FBS players who is perfect on the year, but his 14 made field goals rank No. 1 in the nation among those who are perfect. A perfect 9-of-9, he is tied for the nation's lead with nine field goals from 40+ yards. Needham is a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award.
• LB Darren Anders is the only player in the nation this season with 80+ tackles (91), 7.5+ tackles for loss (8.5), 1+ fumble recoveries (1) and 1+ interceptions (1). Anders currently ranks tied for No. 5 in the nation and No. 1 in the MAC with 91 tackles.
• LB Brock Horne and LB Anders is the only defensive duo in the nation from the same team with each player recording 65+ tackles, 1+ sacks and 1+ interceptions.
• SS Sy Dabney has blocked two punts this season (Murray State and Akron). He ranks No. 1 in the nation with two blocked kicks. He is one of 11 in the nation that shares the top spot and the only player in the MAC.

The Battle of I-75
• BGSU and Toledo have played every season since 1948. The two programs did not play from 1936-47, but since picking the series back up
have played for 74-straight seasons (including 2021).
• Bowling Green's current second-longest annual series is against Ohio, which has been played every season since 2004.
• With its 20-7 win in 2019, Bowling Green snapped its nine-game losing streak to UT.
• When the Falcons beat Toledo in 2019 at The Doyt, Scot Loeffler became the 10th head coach in program history to beat Toledo in his debut game as head coach against the Rockets.
• He was the first to do so since Dave Clawson (current Wake Forest head coach) in 2009.
• BGSU Hall of Fame head coach Doyt Perry never lost to Toledo. He was a perfect 10-0 in the rivalry.
• Here are the 10 coaches in BGSU history to win their debut games against Toledo:
2019 - Scot Loeffler (20-7)
2009 - Dave Clawson (38-24)
2003 - Gregg Brandon (31-23)
2001 - Urban Meyer (56-21)
1991 - Gary Blackney (24-21)
1977 - Denny Stolz (21-13)
1965 - Bob Gibson (21-14)
1955 - Doyt Perry (39-0)
1948 - Robert Whittaker (21-6)

Last Meeting at the Doyt: 2020
• In the 84th all-time meeting between the two schools, the Falcons snapped their nine-game Battle of I-75 skid with a 20-7 victory over the
Rockets.
• The Falcons set the tone with a 56-yard quarterback run from Grant Loy on the first play from scrimmage. BGSU settled for an opening-drive field goal and maintained that lead for the duration of the game.
• Nate Needham connected on a pair of field goals, while Loy and Bryson Denley added touchdowns to salt away the win.

Bowling Green - UT connections
• BGSU offensive line coach Chris Hedden was on Toledo's staff from 2001-08 as a coach of tight ends, offensive line, wide receivers, offensive coordinator and running game coordinator. He also served as a graduate assistant in 1996.

Time for MACtion
• Bowling Green is playing on Wednesday for the first time in 2021. The Falcons have games on five different days of the week in 2021, which includes: Tuesday (Miami OH), Wednesday (Toledo), Thursday (Tennessee), Friday (Ohio) and Saturday (eight other teams).

Notables from the Buffalo
• Since 2000, Bowling Green is just the second FBS team to score 50+ points on 11 or fewer first downs. BGSU managed 56 points on 11 first downs against Buffalo. The only other team to do so during that span was Old Dominion in 2016 in a 51-35 victory over Southern Miss with 10 first downs.
• BGSU rushed for 221 yards and averaged 8.2 yards per carry. Since 2000, it is just the fourth time the Falcons have averaged 8.0+ yards per carry and rushed for 200+ yards.
• BGSU had two receivers (Christian Sims, Tyrone Broden) with 100+ receiving yards in a game for the first time since the Ohio game on Nov. 2, 2015.
• Bowling Green scored 28 points in the first half, which is the most scored in the first half of a game by the Falcons since tallying 30 in the 2019 opener against Morgan State.
• BGSU's 56 points were the most in a game this season and the most since scoring 35 against Akron in 2019.
• BGSU's 18-point lead is the largest halftime lead against an FBS opponent since it led 21-0 vs. NIU in the 2015 MAC Championship game.

Anders Racking Up Tackles for Loss Games
• ILB Darren Anders has 8.5 tackles for loss through nine games.
• Anders, along with two others, lead the nation in games with at least 1.0 TFL.
• Anders has a TFL in all BGSU games except the Minnesota game.
• Indiana's Micah McFadden and New Mexico's Joey Noble share the nation's lead with eight games with at least one tackle for loss thus far.

Anders Having a Special Season
• Darren Anders is having a special season for the Falcons. Since 2000, he is one of seven FBS players to notch 90+ tackles (91), 8.5+ tackles for loss (8.5), 3.0+ sacks (3.0), 1+ fumble recoveries (1) and 1+ interceptions (1) through the first nine games of the season. He is the first to notch these numbers since 2014 when Paul Dawson (TCU) and Efrem Oliphant (Houston) also reached those plateaus.
• Of the seven players since 2000 to notch these numbers through the first nine games of the season, only Anders and TCU's Dawson in 2014 also recorded a "pick-6."

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