In the second half Friday night, Bowling Green tightened things down defensively and found its rhythm on
offense to rally past Akron, 36-20. The Falcons had trailed 10-9 at halftime.
“We needed to get this one to keep our goals alive and now we’ve got our Super Bowl next week,” BG head
coach Dave Clawson said. The Falcons are now 6-5 overall and 5-2 in the Mid-American Conference with one
game remaining against arch-rival Toledo next Friday.
Akron basically controlled the game with its ground attack in the first half, rushing for 151 yards on 22
carries. The Zips came into the game averaging 105.7 yards per contest on the ground. All season Akron
had only five runs of 20 yards or longer. The Zips had four rushes for 20 yards or more in the first
half.
The running game helped Akron control the clock and that kept BG’s offense on the sideline.
“We have a pattern about coming out in the first half and not playing real well on defense and then
buckling down in the second half,” Clawson said.
Meanwhile, BG’s offense put together one long drive in the first half, but stalled after getting to a
3rd-and-goal at the 2-yard line. Freddie Barnes was stopped short of the goal line on third down and
Tyler Sheehan was kept out of the end zone on fourth down.
However, two plays after the fourth down stop, the Falcons tackled Broderick Alexander in the end zone
for a safety with 1:43 left in the first half. Jahmal Brown got credit for the safety, but Jerett
Sanderson was also there and Adrien Spencer came in to finish the play off.
“That was big,” Clawson said. “It was a good play by our defense.”
In the second half, things were much different for the Falcons.
Akron managed only 20 yards rushing in the second half and freshman quarterback Patrick Nicely was then
called upon to make some more plays. He did throw for 196 yards and a TD in the second half, but without
the running attack, BG forced two punts and kept Akron’s offense in check.
“We’re not a pretty crew on defense, but we have found ways to get it done and keep people out of the end
zone when we had to,” Clawson said.
“The big difference was execution,” Brown said. “In the first half we really didn’t execute like we had
done all week (in practice) and also we didn’t go as hard as we could. It was like our guys were holding
back and waiting for someone else to step up and make the plays.”
“It was guys pretty prepared, guys staying in the right gaps, guys being in the right area in coverage,”
Brown added about the second half success.
On offense, the combination of Sheehan to Barnes was very effective in the third quarter when BG took the
lead for good. Barnes had seven catches for 116 yards and two scores in the third quarter as Sheehan was
9-of-11 for 154 yards.
The Falcons scored four TDs in the second half and had 288 yards in total offense.
“Everybody just executed,” Barnes said about the second half.
The Falcons took the opening kickoff in the second half and moved 73 yards in 14 plays taking 7:28 off
the clock to take a 16-10 lead as Barnes scored on a 4-yard shovel pass.
After quickly stopping the Zips, BG came right back to make it 23-10, going 58 yards in four plays in
2:03. Sheehan and Barnes connected for a 53-yard catch-and-run during the drive. The score came on a
15-yard pass from Sheehan to Barnes that the Barnes brought down one-handed in the end zone.
The Zips closed to within 23-13 with a field goal with 1:37 left in the third quarter.
The Falcons came right back with a 54-yard, eight-play drive, using 3:46 to go up 30-13. Chris Bullock
got the score on a 1-yard run.
The Zips came back with a quick five-play, 60-yard drive using 1:51 to make it 30-20.
Keith Morgan fielded Akron’s on-side kick attempt and rolled 41-yards for a TD to close with the scoring
with 10:44 left.
“Our offensive line protected well and we ran the ball at the end when we needed to,” Clawson said about
the second half. “We told the offense at halftime that every time we have the ball we have to do
something with it.
“I don’t feel like we ever had that thing on ice in the fourth quarter.
