KENT – Tyler Sheehan put Bowling Green into position to pull out a last-second victory with his arm
Saturday.
He then won the game with his legs, scoring a touchdown on a third-and-goal quarterback keeper from the
9-yard line with five seconds remaining in the game against Kent State. The TD put BG up 36-35 and the
Falcons were able to celebrate the end to a four-game losing streak when Kent State’s final desperation
pass fell to the turf.
“Tyler’s a strong runner. He’s a big kid. He’s got those big legs that don’t look like they fit him. He
used them and he got the touchdown for us,” said BG wide receiver Freddie Barnes, who more than did his
part with 22 receptions for 278 yards and three scores.
The final play was well-executed by the Falcons
“We knew on their goal-line defense when we spread people out they like to get people on those guys and
they really don’t honor the quarterback run too much,” Sheehan said. “We were just planning on getting
half (of the yardage), but then I saw the guy, lowered my shoulder and tried to make a play.”
Sheehan was 44-of-63 passing in the game for 505 yards and four touchdowns with only one interception.
The completions, attempts and total yards were all school records. It’s the fourth 500-yard passing game
in Mid-American Conference history.
Barnes’ receptions and receiving yards were also school records and he fell one short of the NCAA record
for receptions in a game.
During Bowling Green’s losing streak, three of the defeats were by seven points as the Falcons were
unable to convert at key times, either offensively or defensively.
“We’ve been involved in a lot of games like that this season and we’ve come up on the short end of a
number (of them),” said BG head coach Dave Clawson. “It’s certainly credit to our players who kept
playing hard.
“Our offense really executed unbelievably in the fourth quarter. We converted every down we needed to,”
he continued. “Our players executed and showed a lot of heart.”
It looked like trouble for the Falcons after Kent State took a 35-23 lead with 12:08 to play on a 3-yard
run by Jacquise Terry.
Bowling Green then drove inside the 20, but turned the ball over on downs.
Kent State had the ball for just over three minutes after Bowling Green stalled, but BG’s defense held
and the Falcons got the ball back.
Barnes returned a short punt 15 yards to Kent State’s 45-yard line. Sheehan then hit Barnes with a short
pass and Barnes broke four tackles turning a short gain into a 45-yard TD. With Matt Norsic’s
extra-point, the Falcons were down 35-30 with 4:29 left to play.
“On the field in that type of environment on the road, there’s no time to allow doubt to creep in,”
Barnes said.
Kent State had a quick three-and-out, including a dropped pass, and the Golden Flashes were forced to
punt.
Again it was Barnes with the big play as teammate Willie Geter fumbled the punt, but the ball went right
to Barnes who returned it four yards to the BG 26-yard line with 3:12 left in the game.
The Falcons, led by Sheehan, then showed a great deal of composure moving the ball down the field to set
up the winning TD.
BG ran 14 plays on the drive converting two third downs, including Sheehan’s TD, and one fourth down.
Sheehan was 8-of-11 passing on the drive for 66 yards. His biggest pass was a 12-yarder to Adrian Hodges
on a fourth-and-3 which kept the drive alive in the final minute.
“I knew with the type of team that we have, we won’t give up,” Sheehan said. “We knew we could move the
ball.”
Kent State had an 86-yard scoring run on a reverse and an 82-yard return of a blocked field goal to take
a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
The Falcons rallied with 17 points in the second quarter to take a 17-14 lead at the break. Sheehan threw
11 yards to Hodges and eight yards to Barnes for TDs in the second quarter and fifth-year senior Matt
Norsic successfully converted his first career field goal, a 21-yarder.
Kent State regained control of the game with two third-quarter scores, taking a 28-17 lead into the final
15 minutes.
Barnes’ scored on a 2-yard pass from Sheehan less than two minutes into the fourth quarter to cut Kent
State’s lead to 28-23, as the 2-point conversion failed. The drive stayed alive after video replay
showed the Hodges’ knee was down at the 2-yard line before he fumbled the ball into the end zone. The
officials had initially ruled a Kent State recovery of the fumble, but with the call reversed BG scored
on the next play.
Kent State needed only 1:24 to regain its two-score lead on Terry’s run.
Then the Falcons responded on both offense and defense to gain the win.
“After losing four games you always worry where their morale and mental toughness is, and I think our
guys showed a lot today,” Clawson said. ”Credit to our defense. We got two three-and-outs late in the
game when we had to have it.”