Bowling Green State University senior quarterback Connor Bazelak (7), who went over 10,000 career passing yards, looks to throw the ball at Doyt L. Perry Stadium. (Drake Harlett | Sentinel-Tribune)
Old Dominion University senior running back Aaron Young scored from four yards out with 24 seconds remaining to give the Monarchs a 30-27 football victory over Bowling Green State University on Saturday at Doyt L. Perry Field.
It is Bowling Green’s third straight loss by less than a touchdown, the last two coming to nationally ranked opponents Penn State and Texas A&M.
However, this time the loss came to a previously winless Old Dominion team, and it was BGSU’s 102nd Homecoming celebration.
“My hat’s off to ODU,” BGSU coach Scot Loeffler said. “Like we said whenever we were prepping for this game, this would be a dogfight, and unfortunately, we came up on the wrong side of the stick.
“(I’m) proud of our guys. I thought they prepped really hard,” Loeffler continued. “This was a tough prep on defense. It was a tough prep on offense (and) special teams.
“(We’re) very similar teams, very, very similar, and they made one more play than we did, probably on both sides of the ball. What we have to do is we have to find a way to finish.”
Both teams are 1-3 with the remainder of the Falcons’ season coming against Mid-American Conference opponents and the Monarchs will finish out their season against Sun Belt Conference teams.
Young’s winning touchdown capped off a 13-play, 79-yard drive that took 2:31 off the clock — just enough time to take away any viable opportunity for the Falcons to respond.
The game saw four lead changes, but the highlight for Bowling Green was the play of junior tight end Harold Fannin Jr., who had 12 catches for 188 yards and broke two program records.
“We just keep finding ways to put (Fannin) in position to make plays,” Loeffler said. “(We) put him on every spot in the skill position. We’re trying to find ways to make sure that he doesn’t get doubled.
“Eventually he will, and that’s where the other guys have to come into play. He’s a really good player, and we find creative ways to get him the ball. We’ll continue to do that, but it’s a team game, and (there are) a lot of other players.
“I just know how this thing goes. I’ve been around some really good players, like Harold and the next thing you know they’re doubling and they’re trying to take him away, and the other guys have big games.”
Old Dominion coach Ricky Rahne noticed Fannin, too.
“I mean we have a great tight end, as you guys saw tonight in Pat (Conroy). But that No. 0 (Fannin), he’s special,” Rahne said. “I coached a lot of really special tight ends, and that guy is a really, really, really good football player.”
Fannin said, “I’ll just say I’m really blessed. I thank God, my teammates, my coaches for trusting in me to go out there and perform.”
Fannin was targeted by senior quarterback Connor Bazelak 12 times, making the reception every time, and nearly half of his yards, 85, were gained after the catch.
“He’s an unbelievable player, and eventually, I mean teams are going to start double teaming him, and we’ve got to have some other players step up and make plays,” Bazelak said.
After Old Dominion opened the scoring on a nine-yard pass from junior quarterback Grant Wilson to senior tight end Pat Conroy, Fannin scored his first of two TDs on an 18-yard pass from Bazelak to tie the game at 7-7 with 31 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Fannin also scored on a 59-yard pass from Bazelak, catching the ball in the flats along the right sideline and tiptoeing his way along the sideline into the end zone. That gave BGSU their last first lead of the game, 21-17, with 11:34 remaining in the third quarter.
However, the Monarchs took advantage of an interception, and in two plays scored from 20 yards out, the TD coming early in the fourth quarter on a 14-yard run by backup quarterback Colton Joseph, a redshirt-freshmen who came into the game after Wilson was injured while getting sacked in the third quarter.
BGSU responded with an eight-play, 44-yard drive resulting in a 13-yard run by junior tailback Terion Stewart with 3:01 remaining, putting the Falcons back up, 27-23, after a two-point conversion pass attempt failed.
After Young led the Monarchs on their winning TD drive, the Falcons had time for four plays to get into field goal position and possibly tie the game, but the game ended with a series of laterals and the Falcons failed to reach the end zone before their luck ran out.
Bazelak completed 27-of-36 passes for 303 yards, going over the 10,000-yardage mark for his career, and threw two TD passes with one interception. He was sacked once.
Malcolm Johnson Jr. caught three passes for 29 yards, Rahkeen Smith had two catches for 29 yards, Levi Gazarek (North Baltimore) caught two passes for 17 yards, Jamal Johnson had three catches for 16 yards, and Jaison Patterson had a catch for 13 yards.
However, the Falcons ground game was stymied by the Monarchs, gaining just 96 yards, including 67 yards on 20 carries by Stewart and 43 yards on eight carries by Patterson, who also scored on a 17-yard run to tie the game at 14-14 early in the second quarter.
“The most disappointing thing offensively is running the ball,” Loeffler said. “I didn’t think that was great. (It was) not what we anticipated. We anticipated to be able to run a little bit better.”
BGSU had a 23 to 16 advantage in first downs, a 399 to 333 advantage in total offensive yards, and the Falcons had over 16 minutes more of offensive possession time (38:16 to 21:44).
Old Dominion also scored on a jump pass over the middle from Wilson to Conroy late in the first quarter, and junior Ethan Sanchez kicked a 53-yard field goal with the wind with 1:49 remaining in the half to give the Mohawks a 17-14 lead at intermission.
The Monarchs had 189 yards rushing as Young carried the ball 12 times for 74 yards, Joseph had nine carries for 65 yards, Wilson had five carries for 28 yards, and Bryce Duke had six carries for 14 yards.
Wilson completed 6-of-14 passes for 116 yards and Joseph was 6-for-13 for 26 yards, and each Old Dominion quarterback was sacked twice. Conroy led the Monarchs in receiving with three catches for 99 yards and two TDs, and Isiah Page had three catches for 38 yards.
Defensively for the Falcons, senior linebacker Charles Rosser had eight tackles, a quarterback hurry and was involved in a sack, senior defensive back C.J. Brown had seven tackles, including one tackle for a loss, and senior nose guard Anthony Hawkins had seven tackles and a sack.
