Bowling Green junior running back Terion Stewart stiff arms a Northern Illinois defender while looking for more yardage in the Huskies’ 17-7 win Saturday at Doyt L. Perry Stadium. (Drake Harlett | Sentinel-Tribune)
In Bowling Green’s first offensive possession, the Falcons drove 75 yards in five plays, capped off by an 11-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Connor Bazelak to junior tight end Harold Fannin Jr.
It all went downhill from there as the Falcons lost to Northern Illinois, 17-7, in a Mid-American Conference football game at Doyt L. Perry Stadium Saturday.
The Falcons fall to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in the MAC, but this was the first loss by more than one score. Northern Illinois, which was ranked early in the season after defeating Notre Dame 18-14, improves to 4-2 and 1-1.
The Falcons’ offense looked crisp that first series, starting with a 36-yard pass from Bazelak to senior receiver Jamal Johnson on their first play from scrimmage. Bowling Green junior running back Terion Stewart followed with an 18-yard scamper down the left sideline to the Huskies’ 11.
After two plays netting no yardage, Bazelak connected with Fannin and just like that, with 6:55 remaining in the opening quarter, the Falcons led 7-3.
“I thought the first drive we were able to get into stuff that we can actually attack this team with and had a good plan down in the red zone, when we hit Harold, got max splits,” Bowling Green coach Scot Loeffler said.
“But that’s the only drive that I can even think of that we were even remotely able to touch what we worked on all week. That’s tough, whenever you’re playing a really good team, you’ve got to be able to get into your gameplan and function.”
After that, the Huskies defensive line controlled the trenches, sacking Bazelak five times, and even injuring him on one sack that eventually put him out of the game.
“The fact of the matter is we just lost in the trenches on offense,” Loeffler said. “We couldn’t even remotely touch or get into what we gameplan and that’s frustrating. That’s hard whenever you’re getting knocked back in the backfield, it’s pretty hard to get things going.”
Making matters worse for the Falcons were penalties and two missed field goals.
“We beat ourselves in a lot of aspects. Once we are able to watch the tape, it’ll be a lot more clear and apparent what went on,” Bowling Green starting tight end Levi Gazarek said,
“But yeah, just couldn’t get it right. Points are always great, but we need to do a better job finishing as an offensive unit to make sure we’re kicking extra points, fewer field goals.”
Bazelak completed 8-of-14 passes for 88 yards, and even though he had no interceptions, he was hit throwing one of his passes and the ball went backwards into the hands of Northern Illinois junior defensive end Jalonnie Williams, who caught it in the air and took it to the Falcons 10-yard line.
The Falcons defense stepped up, allowing only three yards on three plays, and BG’s 6-foot-3, 280-pound defensive end Ali Saad blocked a 24-yard field goal attempt, the fourth field goal that the Huskies have had blocked this season.
The blocked kick helped preserve the Falcons’ 7-3 lead with 7:42 remaining in the first half, but the Falcons followed by going three-and-out, finishing with Bazelak getting sacked by Williams for a nine-yard loss before punting.
Northern Illinois, which opened the game scoring on a 46-yard field goal by senior Kanon Woodill, finally got a second field goal when Woodill nailed a 26-yarder with 1:40 remaining in the half, bringing the Huskies to within one at intermission.
The second half saw the Falcons’ offense continue to sputter against the Huskies’ defensive front, but the Falcons’ defense kept Bowling Green in front, 7-6, heading into the fourth quarter.
Still leading but limping late in the third quarter, Bazelak tried to continue, but eventually redshirt freshman quarterback Lucian Anderson III was thrown into the fire.
The Falcons were hit for an illegal formation penalty and two successive runs by Stewart and Anderson netted negative yardage, and the Falcons had to punt from their own nine-yard line with less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The Huskies took over at the Falcons’ 46-yard line, and seven plays later, redshirt freshman quarterback Josh Holst scored on a keeper from 22 yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Northern Illinois senior Grayson Barnes tossed a two-point conversion pass to the long snapper, junior Isaac Hatfield for a two-point conversion and the Huskies had their 14-7 lead. Woodill added a 27-yard field goal with six minutes remaining to finish the scoring.
Northern Illinois finished with 278 total yards and held the Falcons to 210, including 112 on the ground and 98 through the air. Anderson completed 2-of-9 passes for 10 yards with one interception, plus he was sacked once, too.
Stewart finished with 69 yards rushing on 13 carries, punter John Henderson, who punted five times, had 23 yards rushing on a fake punt, and Jaison Patterson ran for 20 yards on five carries for the Falcons.
Fannin caught four passes for 25 yards, Jamal Johnson had three catches for 43 yards, Malcolm Johnson Jr. had two catches for 21 yards, and Finn Hogan had one catch for nine yards.
Gavin Williams led Northern Illinois ground game with 102 yards rushing on 29 carries, Holst had eight carries for 47 yards, and Ethan Hampton had eight carries for 19 yards.
Horst was 10-for-14 passing for 89 yards, and he, too, was replacing Northern Illinois’ starting QB, junior Ethan Hampton, who left the game early because of an injury that took him into the medical tent. Hampton completed 5-of-7 passes for 19 yards before leaving the game.
Andrew McElroy led Northern Illinois’ receivers, catching five passes for 47 yards, Cam Thompson caught five passes for 35 yards, and Grayson Barnes caught four passes for 13 yards.
Northern Illinois coach Thomas Hammock liked the fight he saw in his team, despite trailing most of the game.
“First of all, just excited about the win. I thought our guys played extremely hard. They played clean,’ Hammock said.
“We talked about clean football in a two-possession game like this, we didn’t have a turnover. We created two turnovers. Obviously, they had the fake punt, which we knew they were going to try something.
“But we still can get a lot better, and I’m excited about our growth as a football team, as we continue to move forward.”
