COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Bowling Green State University football team traveled down to Texas to take on the No. 25-ranked Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday, playing to a 26-20 finish.
Marcel Reed threw for 173 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 91 yards for Texas A&M. Reed got his second collegiate start in place of Conner Weigman, who was out with a shoulder injury. Reed was 16 of 29 in his passing game.
The Aggies, who entered the game ranked ninth in the nation in yards rushing per game, had 235 yards rushing Saturday night.
Bowling Green got within three on a TD late in the third quarter before Randy Bond added two field goals for Texas A&M (3-1) in the fourth that extended the lead to 26-17.
Le’Veon Moss fumbled with about 90 seconds left and Bowling Green (1-2) cut the lead to six on a 23-yard field goal by Jackson Kleather with 38 seconds to go. But the Aggies recovered Bowling Green’s onside kick after that to secure the victory.
“I thought our guys on both sides of the ball and special teams played exceptionally well. I think what happened over these last two weeks, we’re going to look back at it and we’re going to go ‘what great lessons,’” BGSU coach Scot Loeffler said.
“To make a run at this thing, you have to have elite habits all the time and you have to do things right and we have this saying that we want to ‘close the deal.’
“Closing the deal occurs Sunday through the last walk through. I think we’re doing a really good job with it, but I think all of us; every support staff member, every staff member, myself, every player, we’ve got to tighten it up because we were close.”
Though they came up short both times, the Falcons have given two ranked teams a tough time this season after a 34-27 loss at then-No. 8 Penn State in their last game.
Tight end Harold Fannin Jr. continues to shine early this season and has 349 yards receiving in three games after a 65-yard TD reception and 145 yards receiving Saturday night.
It is the third time in his career he has tallied a 100-yard receiving game and second game in a row. He had 137 yards at then-No. 8 Penn State last time out. A BGSU tight end has tallied 100 receiving yards in a game only six times in program history and three of those games belong to Fannin.
With eight receptions, Fannin has a reception in 21-straight games. Fannin scored on a 65-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter. It was a career long reception. The 145 receiving yards were a career high.
Texas A&M came out swinging with a first drive score, taking a 13-3 tally into the halftime locker room. BGSU blasted open the second half with a 65-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage to bring the score within three at 13-10.
The Aggies and Falcons traded blows through the second half to the 26-20 final. The loss moves BGSU to 1-2 on the season, coming home for their next game, being against Old Dominion for homecoming next Saturday (Sept. 28).
Texas A&M found the end zone on their opening drive after a fourth-down conversion to move out to a 7-0 lead in the game.
The second BGSU drive of the game concluded with punter John Henderson pinning Texas A&M on their own four. The defense then forced a 3-and-out, giving the Falcon offense the ball at the Bowling Green 49 following an A&M punt from the back of the end zone.
The Falcons worked the ball downfield, crossing over the end of the first quarter, before putting points on the board with a 33-yard field goal off the foot of Jackson Kleather for a 7-3 score.
Texas A&M answered with a field goal of their own on the following drive, hitting from 28 out to move their lead back to a touchdown at 10-3.
The Aggies added a late field goal from 29-yards to push their lead to 13-3 with two seconds left in the first half.
The Falcons opened the second half with a 65-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. Connor Bazelak located Harold Fannin Jr. downfield on a corner route with Fannin using multiple cut moves to find the end zone and cut into the lead 13-10.
Texas A&M moved the ball downfield on their first possession, finding the end zone for a 5-yard score to make it a 20-10 scoreboard.
Bowling Green immediately gave their response. Lining up at the Texas A&M 40, Lucian Anderson III checked in at quarterback. Anderson handed off to Terion Stewart, who flipped the ball in reverse to Rahkeem Smith for a 40-yard touchdown, cutting into the Aggie lead, 20-17.
On the ensuing Texas A&M drive, the Falcons forced a punt with Darius McClendon blocking the punt to give BGSU possession on the Texas A&M 8-yard line, but the Aggie defense halted the drive to keep the score at 20-17.
Texas A&M added a field goal from 34-yards out to bring the score to 23-17 early in the fourth quarter. They added a 42-yarder with just over seven minutes remaining for a 26-17 score.
The Falcons worked down the field, including Bazelak finding Finn Hogan on a key fourth down for a first for BGSU.
Texas A&M recorded an interception with just over 1:30 left in the game, but the Falcons forced a fumble on the first Aggie play. Brock Horne punched it loose with Edward Rhambo recovering.
Bazelak connected with Fannin for a 30-yard gain, moving BGSU down to the Texas A&M 5-yard line.
Kleather converted a 23-yard field goal to chip away at the lead, 26-20, with 38 seconds remaining in the game.
Over the last 12 months BGSU has played in three of the four biggest college football stadiums including Michigan in 2023 and two weeks ago at Penn State.
BGSU played an Associated Press ranked opponent in back-to-back games for the first time in program history. The Falcons lost those games by a combined 13 points to then-No. 8 Penn State and No. 25 Texas A&M.
BGSU tight end Jacob Harris, the son of former Bowling Green quarterback Josh Harris, notched his first career reception on a three-yard pass.
The Falcons will return home to Doyt Perry Stadium for Homecoming on Sept. 28. Bowling Green is set to host Old Dominion for a 5 p.m. kick. Prior to the game, Phil Vassar will perform in Tailgate Park with Mike Williams on Sax opening for him. The show and festivities will begin at 1:45 p.m.
( — by Sentinel-Tribune staff from reports by AP Sports Writer Kristie Rieken and BGSU Athletics)
