Falcon Football Celebrates 100th Homecoming With Overtime Victory Over Marshall

Saturday, September 17

Bowling Green, Ohio

5 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

1-2 , 0-0

Marshall

2-1 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Marshall

Bowling Green

Ta'ron Keith and the Falcons celebrate the game-winning TD

Photo by: Luke Allen, BGSU Athletics

Falcon Football Celebrates 100th Homecoming With Overtime Victory Over Marshall

September 17, 2022 | Football

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By: BGSU Strategic Communications

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green football team celebrated the university's 100th Homecoming Celebration with a thrilling 34-31 overtime victory over the Marshall Thundering Herd. The visitors jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, but a Matt McDonald touchdown pass to Odieu Hiliare sparked a Falcon offense that accumulated 377 yards.

Marshall extended the lead back to 14 after a Khalan Laborn rushing touchdown, but the Falcons scored 21 unanswered points, including touchdown passes to Hiliare and Cavon Croom, to regain the lead. The Herd's fourth quarter touchdown knotted the game at 28, which remained the score after 60 minutes of football.

Marshall was limited to a field goal on their overtime drive and the Falcons capitalized on the opportunity with a near-touchdown rush with PaSean Wimberly. The play, initially ruled a touchdown, was ruled to be down at the two-yard line. The field, overcome by the teams and fans, was cleared, then the Falcons ended the game for good with a McDonald touchdown pass to Ta'ron Keith.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Bowling Green won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half. Marshall elected to receive with the Falcons defending the south end zone.
Marshall tallied the first score of the game. Henry Colombi found Corey Gammage who evaded going down on a tackle attempt and proceeded to the end zone to put Marshall up 7-0.
On their next drive the Thundering Herd scored on a 78-yard touchdown from Colombi to Caleb McMillan to extend the score to 14-0.
Later in the first quarter, a 49-yard rush by Khalan Laborn moved Marshall to the BG 5-yard line, but a fumble forced by JB Brown was recovered by Karl Brooks to move possession to the Falcons.
Early in the second quarter, the Falcons worked their way downfield, highlighted by a one-handed catch along the sideline by Tyrone Broden for a 28-yard gain.
The drive was capped off by a 25-yard touchdown pass from Matt McDonald to Odieu Hiliare to cut the Marshall lead in half, 14-7.
On the ensuing drive, the Thundering Herd found the end zone on a rushing score to put the score at 21-7.
The Falcons quickly responded. BGSU put together a strong drive, including McDonald spinning out of a sack to find Hiliare for a 24-yard gain. On the next play, the two connected again, this time in the end zone, for a 27-yard touchdown while Hiliare fought through a defensive pass interference penalty, marking their second touchdown connection of the day.
The Bowling Green defense forced another turnover on the next Marshall drive. Trent Simms for the Falcons jumped the route and picked the pass off to give the Falcons the ball back with just over four minutes left in the half.
On 4th and 2, the Falcons opted for a play action that left Cavon Croom open over the middle for a 30-yard touchdown pass to even up the score at 21-21 before the half.
In the third quarter, Marshall nearly scored but fumbled the ball out the back of their end zone, resulting in a touchback and Bowling Green taking possession.
The drive moved into the fourth quarter for the Falcons and ended with a one-yard rushing touchdown by freshman Harold Fannin Jr., the first touchdown of his collegiate career.
The Falcons defense stood strong on the next drive. Demetrius Hardamon and Dierre Kelly both tallied sacks on the drive with Kelly's coming on third down to force a Marshall punt.
On the next drive for Marshall, the Thundering Herd found the end zone on a rushing score to knot it up at 28-28.
After Bowling Green won the overtime coin toss and elected to defend, Marshall was held to a 38-yard field goal by Rece Verhoff after an incompletion, holding penalty, and two short gains.
On the opening play of Bowling Green's drive, PaSean Wimberly took a jet sweep to the right side and escaped down the sideline, appearing to score a walk-off touchdown. After a review, the field was cleared of celebration and Wimberly was ruled down at the two-yard line. The next snap was a play-action fake, then McDonald found an open Ta'ron Keith in the flats, who dove into the right pylon for the game-winning touchdown.

STAT LEADERS

Matt McDonald: 27-for-45, 282 yards, 4 touchdowns, 8 rushes, 38
PaSean Wimberly: 5 rushes, 35 yards
Odieu Hiliare: 4 receptions, 79 yards, two touchdowns
Chris Bacon: 7 tackles (5-2)

GAME NOTES

Bowling Green has forced a turnover is five-straight games.
Bowling Green has forced at least two turnovers in four-straight games.
Bowling Green scored two touchdowns on fourth down in the first half. Both came on passing plays (25 and 30 yards).
Bowling Green forced two turnovers inside the red zone.
Bowling Green's 34 points are the most the Marshall defense has given up this season.
RB Ta'ron Keith, who scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime, tallied a career eight receptions and a career-high 62 receiving yards.
With 282 passing yards, QB Matt McDonald has thrown for 200+ yards for the second time this season and for the 11th time in his career.
McDonald also threw for four touchdowns. It is the second-straight game he has thrown four at least four touchdowns. He connected for five last week vs. Eastern Kentucky.
DL Karl Brooks finished with 1.0 sacks, pushing him to 19.5 for his career. He is currently No. 6 all-time in BGSU history.
WR Odieu Hiliare tied his career high with two receiving touchdowns. He reached the plateau twice before while at Alabama A&M last season.
With four receptions, Hiliare extends his active streak with a reception to 25 games. He entered the game tied for No. 16 in the nation for the longest active streak.
Hiliare scored his second touchdown of the season in the second quarter. The scoring strike went for 25 yards on a 4th and three play. Later in the second period he scored his second touchdown of the game on a 27-yard scoring strike.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM
"We found a way to win, plain and simple. That's what's great for the kids. They found a way to win. But there's some tenacious, no quit in this team, and I'm really proud of them." - Head Coach Scot Loeffler

NEXT UP
The Falcons will be back on the road next weekend, traveling to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Sept. 24. Bowling Green and Mississippi State are scheduled for a noon kick time inside Davis Wade Stadium. The game will be shown on the SEC Network.