Freddie Barnes has been Bowling Green’s main offensive playmaker all season.
He continued in that vein against Akron in the third quarter Friday night, making seven catches for 116
yards and two scores as the Falcons rallied from a 10-9 halftime deficit for a 36-20 victory. Barnes
finished the game with 12 receptions for 197 yards and two scores.
And now he’s added the ‘Wow’ factor to his resume as two catches really stood out Friday.
The first was when Barnes made a one-handed catch in the left corner of the south end zone for a
touchdown on an outstanding throw from Tyler Sheehan. The second came on BG’s sideline after an Akron
defender flashed in front of Barnes in an effort to make an interception. Barnes maintained his
concentration and made the catch.
“He’s a big-time player,” BG head coach Dave Clawson said about Barnes. “He has done that all year. When
he makes those plays we almost take it for granted right now.”
On the TD catch, Barnes said he changed his route to a fade and that Sheehan threw “a great ball to my
outside. It caught me off-guard a little bit, so I had to do my best to grab it. I got it in this hand
(his right). But I wasn’t trusting by gloves at all today because they were ripping up, so I had to put
the other hand on top of it. It was a pretty big play at that time.”
On the catch on the sidelines, Barnes said he had to focus on the ball while trying to stay in-bounds. “I
saw him (the Zips’ defender) breaking on the ball. I was trying to make sure I didn’t need to come all
the way back.”
For the season Barnes has now made 129 receptions for 1,482 yards and 14 receiving TDs. He is 13
receptions away from equalling the all-time Division I record of 142 catches in a season.
Friday was the seventh time in 11 games this season that Barnes has had at least 10 catches in a game and
the eighth time he has gone over 100 yards in a game. He has had at least one TD and over 100 yards
receiving in six straight games.
“Without the line it doesn’t happen and Tyler is always throwing great balls for me,” Barnes said.
SHEEHAN: Sheehan keeps piling up the numbers as well. He was 23-of-32 for 338 yards and two TDs with no
interceptions Friday.
For the year Sheehan is 321-of-497 passing for 3,527 yards and 21 touchdowns with six interceptions. He
has eight games of 300 or more passing yards this fall.
On Friday he became BG’s career leader in completions with 914, passing Brian McClure (1982-85) who had
900.
Sheehan also moved past McClure and into second place for career TD passes with 64. The career leader is
Omar Jacobs (2003-05) with 71.
Sheehan has thrown at least one TD pass in 20 straight games, the third longest active streak in the
NCAA.
BOJICIC: Ben Bojicic was back as BG’s starting center Friday after suffering a sprained ankle against
Ball State on Oct. 17 and being sidelined since then.
Shane Steffy moved back to left guard and Brady Minturn was back at left tackle.
MAHONE: P.J. Mahone made eight tackles in the second half and finished the game as BG’s leader with 13
Friday. He had 11?2 tackles for loss, including BG’s only sack of the game.
Since he returned from a six-game suspension, Mahone has made 34 tackles in three games.
BULLOCK: Chris Bullock rambled 71 yards late in the game, helping secure the victory for the Falcons.
“I did not relax until that last run,” Clawson said.
Bullock’s 71-yard run was the second-longest non-scoring run in school history. B.J. Lane’s 78-yard run
against Miami in 2003 is the longest non-scoring run.
Bullock finished with 90 yards rushing on eight carries, including a 1-yard TD run.
In the fourth quarter of the last two games, Bullock has a combined rushing total of 169 yards with two
touchdowns
NEXT: Bowling Green faces arch-rival Toledo next Friday at 2 p.m. to close out the regular season.
“We really need to get next week for a lot of things … This is a good team and we want to stay together
for another month,” Clawson said. “I don’t think this team wants to stop being a team. If you get to a
bowl you get to be a team for another three weeks or a month. That’s really what we want to do.”
“We need one more to keep the winning streak alive and to look good for the bowl people,” Barnes said.
