Rockets Rally for 32-31 Win in Battle of I-75

Tuesday, November 14

Bowling Green, Ohio

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

6-5 , 4-3

Toledo

10-1 , 7-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Toledo

Bowling Green

Photo by: Scott W. Grau

November 14, 2023 | Football

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Another BG-UT game goes right down to the wire

By: BGSU Strategic Communications

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Like it has so many times before, the Battle of I-75 went right down to the wire on Tuesday night (Nov. 14). The University of Toledo rallied for a 32-31 victory over the Bowling Green State University football team in a Mid-American Conference thriller at Doyt Perry Stadium.

The Rockets (10-1, 7-0 MAC) came up with the winning score with just 1:45 to go, as Dequan Finn found Jacquez Stuart on a 59-yard catch-and-run that tied the score. Luke Pawlak's extra point broke the tie and provided the final margin.

The stats, like the final score, were as even as could be. BGSU had a 21-16 lead in first downs, while UT had a 315-304 advantage in total yards.

For the Falcons (6-5, 4-3 MAC), Connor Bazelak threw for 286 yards and a touchdown, going 23-for-35 on the night. Harold Fannin Jr. caught two touchdown passes, one from Bazelak and one from Camden Orth, en route to a team-high 89 receiving yards.

Ta'ron Keith rushed for a team-high 64 yards and a score, while catching a BG-high seven passes for 51 yards. Odieu Hiliare had 74 receiving yards on six grabs.

For the visitors, Peny Boone ran for 131 yards and a TD, while Finn completed 20-of-30 passes for 279 yards and two scores. Finn had one interception.

FROM THE INTERVIEW ROOM – COACH LOEFFLER
"I want to say hats off to Toledo, they made one more play than we did tonight. I think our kids played their tails off and we coached well. The fact of the matter is that we just didn't make one or two plays that we needed to.

We just missed a few plays that would've given us the chance to score in the second half. We didn't make enough plays in the second half plain and simple. We had a turnover that gave us some good momentum in my opinion."

HAROLD FANNIN JR. TO THE HOUSE😤

BGSU responds on a 56-yard TD pass from Bazelak to Fannin Jr. and we are tied, 7-7.

📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/P5zQJuEiKK
— BGSU Football (@BG_Football) November 15, 2023

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Rockets scored on the opening drive of the game, with quarterback Dequan Finn taking the ball up the middle for final 23 yards and a touchdown.
It took the Falcons just two plays to answer, as Connor Bazelak found Ta'ron Keith for 14 yards, and after a UT offside penalty, the BG signal-caller spotted a wide-open Harold Fannin Jr. over the middle for a 56-yard catch and run. UT's opening drive had taken 1:54, with BG's first drive lasting just 51 seconds.
UT's next drive featured a pair of false-start penalties on the Rockets' offensive line, followed by a third-down sack of Finn by Cashius Howell. UT's punted was downed at the UT 49.
The Falcons were forced to punt as well, but three Rocket plays lost two yards, and the visitors punted the ball right back to the Falcons.
BG drove downfield and took the lead. A Bazelak pass to Keith put the Falcons at the two-yard line, and a Camden Orth jump pass was caught by a wide-open Fannin Jr. in the end zone. Alan Anaya's second PAT of the opening quarter gave the Falcons a 14-7 lead with 2:46 on the clock.
UT moved into BG territory as the first quarter wound down. The big play was a 39-yard pass from Finn to Anthony Torres. But, the very next play saw Anthony Hawkins and Davon Ferguson combine to sack Finn for a 13-yard loss. On the first play of the second quarter saw Luke Pawlak hit a 39-yard field goal.
BGSU slowly but surely moved down field and extended the lead on Orth's 5-yard run with 6:38 left in the first half, with Anaya's kick making it a 21-10 game. That 15-play, 75-yard drive took over eight minutes – 8:12, to be exact.
Peny Boone rumbled all the way to the BG 47-yard line for a 23-yard pickup on the first play of the next drive. But, on a fourth-and-2 play, Patrick Day made the tackle on a short pass play, stopping the Rockets' Junior Vandeross III one yard short of the line to gain.
BGSU took over at the Falcons' own 38. On a third-and-1 play, Orth went up the middle for seven yards into UT territory. Then, after several penalties on the Falcons brought up a second-and-24, the Falcons wound up picking up a first down on a UT personal foul.
Later on that drive, Bazelak found Fannin for 13 yards on a fourth-and-4 play.
The next play was a 20-yard pass to Odieu Hiliare to the UT six-yard line, and after Bazelak ran to the one, Keith took it the final yard for the score. Anaya's PAT made it a 28-10 game.
After the Rockets forced a BG three-and-out to begin the second half, the visitors needed just two plays to score. Finn hit Vandeross for a 22-yard TD toss. With just 2:03 gone in the second half, the BGSU lead was 28-17.
On a third-down play on the following drive, Bazelak and Hiliare hooked up for a 19-yard pass play into UT territory. But, on a third-and-7 play, Orth picked up first-down yardage but was hit from behind, and a fumble gave the ball back to the Rockets.
The Falcons held UT to a three-and-out, but the ensuing UT punt rolled all the way to the BGSU six. BG moved into UT territory before the drive stalled.
The next drive saw Jordan Porter break up a third-down pass before Finn's fourth-down throw fell incomplete.
Jackson Kleather's punt put the Rockets at their own 11-yard line on the first play of the fourth quarter, but after three-straight completions to Jerjuan Newton put UT at the 35, Boone rumbled 55 yards to the BGSU 10. Two plays later, a one-yard run by Boone capped the drive, and Finn found Torres for the two-point conversion that cut the BG lead to 28-25 with 12:28 to go.
The Rockets held on the next BG drive, but after a punt, a Finn pass was intercepted by Jordan Oladokun at the UT 39 with 10:07 left.
BGSU got to the UT 22 before the drive stalled, and Anaya drilled a 40-yard field goal to give the Falcons a 31-25 lead exactly halfway through the fourth period.
The Falcons held on the next drive, with Boone tackled for a loss and Finn sacked by Howell. But, after a UT punt, the Rockets forced BG to punt as well.
And, on a fourth-down play, Finn's short pass was caught by Jacquez Stuart, who took the ball down the right sideline for a 55-yard score with 1:45 to go. Pawlak's extra point gave the Rockets a one-point lead, and the Rockets held the Falcons on the next drive, taking over on downs with 44 seconds to go.

GAME NOTES

BGSU's longest winning streak since 2015 was snapped at four games.
BGSU forced a turnover for the 12th-straight game. BGSU has 14 takeaways over the last five games for a +9 in the turnover margin.
BGSU lost its first game in the Scot Loeffler era when scoring 30+ points. The Falcons were 6-0 entering the game.
TE Harold Fannin Jr. scored a touchdown on a 56-yard pass from Connor Bazelak. It is the fourth game in a row he has scored a receiving touchdown.
Fannin had a career-high two touchdown passes.
OLB Cashius Howell finished with 2.0 sacks. He has at least 1.0 sack in four-straight games and 7.0 total during that span.
With seven receptions, RB Ta'ron Keith became the 33rd Falcon with 100 career receptions in a Falcon uniform.
With 51 receiving yards, Keith also becomes the 42nd Falcon with 1,000 career receiving yards at BGSU.
CB Jordan Oladokun notched his third interception of the season.
QB Connor Bazelak finished with 286 passing yards. It is the third time this year and 26th time in his career he passed for 200 yards or more in a game.

STAT LEADERS

Harold Fannin Jr. – 5 receptions, 89 yards, 2 TD
Ta'ron Keith – 15 carries, 68 yards, 1 TD // 7 receptions, 51 yards
Connor Bazelak – 23-of-35, 286 yards, 1 TD
Odieu Hiliare – 6 receptions, 74 yards
Darren Anders – 11 tackles, 2 TFL

UP NEXT

The Falcons will conclude the regular season next week, traveling to Kalamazoo to face Western Michigan on Tuesday (Nov. 21). The game will be shown on ESPNU at 7 p.m.