BGSU Tallies 38 Unanswered Points To Spark 38-27 Victory Over Georgia Tech

Saturday, September 30

Atlanta, Ga.

3:30 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

2-3 , 0-1

Georgia Tech

2-3 , 1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Bowling Green

Georgia Tech

BGSU Tallies 38 Unanswered Points To Spark 38-27 Victory Over Georgia Tech

September 30, 2023 | Football

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Bazelak, Stewart Hit Career Milestones In Program's First ACC Win

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

ATLANTA, Ga. - The Bowling Green State University football team tallied the team's first ACC win in program history, topping the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 38-27 inside Bobby Dodd Stadium Saturday (Sept. 30). The Falcons tallied 38 unanswered points after falling down 14-0 to claim the 38-27 victory over the Yellow Jackets.

Connor Bazelak led the way for the Orange and Brown, passing for 263 yards in the win while eclipsing 8,000 passing yards and 40 touchdowns for his collegiate career. Finn Hogan was on the receiving end of eight of Bazelak's passes, racking up 102 yards and a spectacular one-handed touchdown catch. Terion Stewart added 138 yards on the ground for the Falcons, finding the end zone for a score as well while hitting the 1,000-yard rushing mark for his BGSU career.

On the defensive side of the ball, Joseph Sipp Jr. led the attack for the Falcons, tallying seven tackles. Deshawn Jones Jr. and Jordan Oladokun each added an interception to the Bowling Green effort while the defense as a whole stifled the run, holding the Yellow Jackets to just 69 yards on the ground.

FROM THE INTERVIEW ROOM – COACH LOEFFLER
"I'm really proud of this team. I've said it a thousand times, we're a team that can go out and do what we did last week and we're a team that can go beat a Power 5 team. I said it to them in [the locker], we've been here before. We went and beat Minnesota and then the next week came out and completely laid an egg. Our challenge now is to see if we can put it back-to-back. That's hard to do right now. College football is different, just like I said last week when we played terrible, college football is week in and week out. Your mind has to be right, your heart has to be right and you have to be a selfless, team guy to get things done and that's who we have to be. We're never going to out-talent anyone, but we're going to be a team that has enough talent. We have to play team football and we played team football today. If you look at the stats, time of possession was 42-minutes to 17, ran the ball really well, threw the ball really well, was 10-of-17 on third down. Our defense got off the field. I think the 4th-down stop was absolutely pivotal, which led to the pick six which was huge. I also thought that the last drive with the offense was huge. I think it was 11 plays, we chipped away at the clock, protected the ball. We punted the ball well, special teams were good. So, let's go see if we can put it back-to-back against a team very similar to [Ohio] in terms of discipline, a super good team and we have to go down to Miami (OH) and play our best football because they are good.

HOW IT HAPPENED

On the first play from scrimmage, Georgia Tech connected for a 53-yard passing touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.
Bowling Green made their way into Georgia Tech territory on their first drive of the game, highlighted by a 14-yard carry for Ta'ron Keith, but were forced to punt.
The Yellow Jackets resumed possession and put together a 70-yard touchdown drive to move the score to 14-0.
BGSU responded with a touchdown on their next drive. Terion Stewart broke off a 32-yard gain on the ground to move the ball deep into Georgia Tech territory.
Camden Orth soon followed with an 11-yard rush to give BGSU 1st-and-Goal from the two. Orth took it himself to the house, getting across the goal line with a second effort, for the first BGSU touchdown of the day, cutting the lead in half at 14-7.
The Falcons were able to force a three-and-out on the next two Georgia Tech drives.
As for the offense, Bowling Green worked into Georgia Tech territory once again, seeing Alan Anaya end the drive with a 40-yard field goal to add to the BGSU tally with the score at 14-10 Yellow Jackets with 8:27 remaining in the first half.
On the next drive, Georgia Tech fumbled due to a bad snap on the punt attempt. Finn Hogan jumped on the ball, giving BGSU possession at the Yellow Jacket 40.
After starting the drive with the fumble recovery, Hogan ended the drive with an incredible one-handed grab in the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown reception, pushing the Falcons in front 17-14.
The BGSU defense stood strong on the following drive, sending the teams to the locker rooms for halftime with the Falcons leading 17-14.
On the first play from scrimmage of the second half, Hogan took a short pass from Connor Bazelak 50 yards, flipping the field to the Georgia Tech 25.
Once in the red zone, Bazelak capped off the drive with a one-yard rushing touchdown to increase the BGSU advantage to 24-14.
On the following drive, Georgia Tech drove down the field but were halted by the BGSU defense, getting stuffed on fourth down at the BG 14, turning it over on downs.
Bowling Green answered with a drive of their own. Hogan hauled in a catch for 23 yards followed a few plays later by a 28-yard gain for Keith. Stewart put the exclamation point on the drive with a 6-yard rushing touchdown, making it a 31-14 Bowling Green lead.
Just two scrimmage plays later, Deshawn Jones Jr. registered the first BGSU pick six of the season, increasing the advantage to 38-14.
Georgia Tech responded on the next drive with a touchdown, but failed the two-point conversion to bring the score to 38-20.
The Yellow Jackets were able to regain possession after forcing a punt. Georgia Tech made their way into BGSU territory, but Darren Anders was able to deflect a pass up in the air that Jordan Oladokun tracked down with a diving catch for an interception.
The Yellow Jackets added a touchdown in 1:35 left on the game clock to trim the lead to 38-27, but the Falcons were able to recover the onside kick and run out the clock for the win.

GAME NOTES

The win over Georgia Tech is Bowling Green's first over an ACC opponent.
The win is BGSU's fourth over a current member of the ACC.
The win is the second over a "Power-5" team in the Scot Loeffler era. BGSU won at Minnesota in 2021 (14-10).
With two receptions, WR Odieu Hiliare extends his active streak with at least one reception to 40 games. Entering the week, it was the fifth-longest active streak in the nation.
With 138 rushing yards, RB Terion Stewart surpassed 100 rushing yards in a game for the second time this season and fourth time in his career.
It is the first time in Stewart's career he rushed for 100 yards in back-to-back games.
Stewart's day pushed him past 1,000-career rushing yards. He is the 40th Falcon all-time to reach the career plateau.
QB Connor Bazelak's 14-yard passing touchdown to Hogan Finn in the second quarter was the 40th of his career.
With 263 passing yards, Bazelak surpassed 8,000-career passing yards.
Bazelak also rushed for a touchdown in the third quarter, his first with the Falcons.
WR Finn Hogan finished the day with career highs in receptions (6) and receiving yards (102). His second quarter touchdown with one hand put BGSU up 17-14 in the second quarter just before the half. It is Hogan's second career touchdown. His first, also a one-handed grab, came at Penn State last year when he was at Central Michigan.

Did you miss what went down in Hot-lanta today?!!

Roll Along with the highlights!!!!

🎥⬇️#ToTheMoon 🟠🟤 pic.twitter.com/82sG65naQ0
— BGSU Football (@BG_Football) October 1, 2023

STAT LEADERS

Connor Bazelak: 21-of-32 passing, 263 passing yards, 2 total touchdowns
Terion Stewart: 138 rushing yards, 27 receiving yards, 1 touchdown
Finn Hogan: 6 receptions, 102 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
Joseph Sipp Jr.: 7 tackles
Darren Anders: 5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Deshawn Jones Jr.: 4 tackles, 1 interception

UP NEXT

The Falcons will remain on the road for their next two contests, first traveling to face the Miami (OH) RedHawks on Oct. 7 and then to Buffalo to face the Bulls on Oct. 14, both scheduled for 3:30 p.m. kicks. The Orange and Brown will return home on Oct. 21 to host the Akron Zips for Family Weekend and Senior Day.