MACtion Returns to Doyt Perry Stadium on Wednesday Night when Ball State Comes to Town

MACtion returns to Doyt Perry Stadium
• Bowling Green State University hosts the Ball State Cardinals on Wednesday night as the Falcons enter the final month of the regular season.
• BGSU's final four games of the regular season will be played as mid-week MACtion games.
• It is 419 night and we are celebrating the community by selling tickets for only $4.19. Contact the ticket office to get your tickets.
• The game will kick at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN2.

Bowling Green Vs. Ball State
• Bowling Green and Ball State are meeting for the first time since 2015 when the Cardinals hosted the Falcons in Muncie. BSU is making its first trip to Doyt Perry Stadium since 2014.
• Bowling Green has won seven of its last eight games over BSU dating back to 1999. The lone loss (24-41) over that span was the last time these teams met at Doyt Perry Stadium in 2014.
• The only other time these teams met in MACtion was a Tuesday night affair in Muncie the last time these teams met.
• Wednesday is the 31st all-time meeting between Bowling Green and Ball State.

Five Top Storylines
• Bowling Green and Ball State are meeting for the first time in eight years since the Falcons left Muncie with a 48-10 victory on Nov. 24, 2015.
• RB Terion Stewart is No. 1 in the nation in broken tackles (70), rushes of 10+ yards (29) and yards per carry after contact (4.75) among all FBS players with 100+ carries. He has rushed 90 times for 562 yards and five touchdowns over BGSU's last five games. Stewart averages 6.3 yards per rush for his career, which ranks No. 1 in program history.
• Bowling Green is No. 1 in the nation in takeaways (20). The Falcons are No. 2 in interceptions (12) and No. 5 in fumble recoveries (8). BGSU is the only team in the nation in the top-10 in both categories.
• CB Jalen Huskey is No. 4 in the nation with four interceptions and DL Dontrez Brown is No. 5 in the nation with two fumble recoveries.
• BGSU is the only program in the nation to have returned at least one blocked field goal (Liberty) and one blocked punt (Buffalo) for touchdowns.

Last win over Ball State at "the Doyt"
• Because of the unbalanced MAC schedule, you have to go back to 2004 the last time BGSU beat Ball State at Doyt Perry Stadium.
• Wednesday is just the third time these teams have been at Doyt Perry Stadium over the last 20 years (2004, 2014, 2023).
• In the 2004 meeting Bowling Green scored on five of its first six possessions, with Omar Jacobs passing for three touchdowns and running for another, to beat Ball State 51-13.
• Jacobs, who later added a fourth touchdown pass, threw scoring passes covering 29 yards to P.J. Pope, 4 yards to Cole Magner, 11 yards to Charles Sharon and 18 yards to Steve Sanders. Pope added a 1-yard touchdown run for the Falcons.
• Jacobs hit on 19-of-25 passes for 279 yards without an interception or sack.
• Charles Wynn scored on a 1-yard run midway through the fourth quarter for the only touchdown for Ball State.
• Bowling Green's defense posted eight sacks for losses totaling 61 yards while holding the Cardinals to 92 yards rushing on 46 attempts
• Adell Givens rushed 28 times for 123 yards for Ball State and Cole Stinson completed 18 of 42 passes for 193 yards. Dante Ridgeway had 13 receptions for 125 yards.
• Brian Jackson added two field goals for the Cardinals.
• The Falcons' B.J. Lane closed the scoring with a 93-yard kickoff return.

Bowling Green - Ball State Connections
• Ball State defensive coordinator Tyler Stockton was a graduate assistant coach at UConn in 2014 when BGSU defensive run coordinator/defensive line coach Julian Campenni was playing for the Huskies.

Falcons Surpass 200 Rushing Yards in Back-to-Back Games
• Bowling Green has rushed for 200+ yards in back-to-back games with 218 rushing yards at Buffalo and 214 last time out against Akron.
• It was the first time BGSU rushed for 200+ yards in back-to-back games since doing so in 2017 against Miami (OH) and Ohio.
• The last time BGSU rushed for 200+ yards in three-straight games were in 2016 when the Falcons did so against Akron, Kent State and Buffalo to finish the season's last three games.
• The 2019 season was the last time BGSU rushed for 200+ yards at least twice in a year. They did so against Morgan State and Toledo.

Anders Climbs the Career Games Played Ledger
• Wednesday will be the 50th game of ILB Darren Anders' career at BGSU and should be his 40th career start. Anders enters Wednesday with 39-straight starts.
• Anders is set to become the 16th Falcon to play in his 50th career game for Bowling Green on Wednesday. The record for career games played is held by Alex Huettel (OL, 2012-15).
• If Anders plays in all remaining regular season games, he will be tied for No. 3 in program history with 53 games played.

Goal-To-Goal for the Falcons
• Bowling Green has scored touchdowns on 85.7 percent of its goal-to-goal situations.
• BGSU has had 14 goal-to-goal situations and has scored 12 touchdowns and two field goals.
• BGSU's defense has held opponents to 9-of-11on goal-to-goal situations with eight touchdowns and one field goal.
• More information on page 17.

Dontrez Brown on the Line for BGSU
• DL Dontrez Brown has broken up three passes at the line of scrimmage.
• He is tied for No. 3 in the nation in the category among defensive linemen. He trails only Middle Tennessee's Quindarius Dunnigan (6) and Florida State's Patrick Payton (5). Brown is one of 19 defensive linemen with three pass breakups tied for the No. 3 spot.
• Brown had two fumble recoveries against Akron last time out. He is the only player in the nation this year with two fumble recoveries and he is No. 5 overall in the nation in that category for the season.

Road Warriors To Start the Season
• Bowling Green finished its three-game road swing at Buffalo (Oct. 14). The Falcons also played at Georgia Tech (Sept. 30) and Miami (OH) (Oct. 7).
• After Sept. 23 at against Ohio, Bowling Green did not play in the cozy confines of Doyt Perry Stadium until Oct. 21 when Akron came to town. That was Week No. 8 of the college football season.
• BGSU was the only school in the nation that has just two home games through the first seven weeks of the college football season.
• After the Falcons played on Oct. 21, only BGSU, Fresno State, Nevada, South Carolina, UTSA and Virginia have played just three home games through Oct. 21. Nevada, South Carolina and UTSA will play home game No. 3 on Oct. 14. Virginia on Oct. 7 and Fresno State plays home game No. 3 on Sept. 30.

Ball Hawks In The Secondary
• Bowling Green is No. 2 in the nation and No. 1 in the MAC with 12 team interceptions.
• CB Jalen Huskey leads BGSU with four, which ranks No. 4 in the nation and No. 1 in the MAC in interceptions.
• Davon Ferguson, Avi McGary and Jordan Oladokun all rank No. 51 nationally with two each.
• Michigan's J.J. McCarthy threw three interceptions against Bowling Green on Sept. 16. Those are the only three interceptions he has thrown this year. McCarthy's three interceptions were a career high. His 143 yards passing was also his worst passing day of the season.
• BGSU also held Michigan to 312 yards of total offense, its worst of the season and only game under 400 yards of total offense.

Carry On Terion
• Bowling Green's Terion Stewart is enjoying a career year for the Falcons.
• Stewart already has career highs in rushes (110), rushing yards (670) and rushing touchdowns (7).
• Stewart is No. 1 in the nation with 29 rushes of 10+ yards.
• Stewart also is No. 1 in the nation in broken tackles (70) and yards per carry after contact (4.75) for those with 100+ carries.
• He is No. 8 in total yards after contact (527), No. 19 in yards per carry (6.1), No. 20 in rush yards (670) and No. 22 in rushing touchdowns (22).

Rushing Game Improvement in 2023
• The Bowling Green rushing attack has taken a big step forward into 2023. Bowling Green has 51 rushes of 10+ yards, which is 96 percent of its 2022 output of 53. BGSU's 51 rushes of 10+ yards are No. 9 in the nation and No. 2 in the MAC (Toledo, 56).
• Bowling Green already has eight rushing touchdowns by running backs which is six more than all last season. BGSU only had eight rushing touchdowns in 2022 with two by quarterbacks and four by tight end Harold Fannin Jr.
• With 1,185 rushing yards through six games, BGSU is already 90.9 percent to its 2022 total of 1,304 rushing yards.
• The return of RB Terion Stewart has bolstered the rushing game. Stewart sat out 2022 to focus on mental health and academics. He currently is No. 1 in the BGSU record book for career yards per carry at 6.3.
• The Falcons averaged 6.2 yards per rush in the season opener at Liberty on 191 rushing yards. Both numbers are the best for the BGSU ground game since the 2021 season when the Falcons played at Buffalo. In that game the Falcons rushed for 221 yards on 8.19 yards per carry.

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