Bowling Green State University redshirt freshman quarterback Lucian Anderson III (3) and teammate Jake Burns (65) celebrate Anderson’s touchdown run in a 27-6 win at Doyt L. Perry Stadium. (Drake Harlett | Sentinel-Tribune)
The playmaking of Bowling Green State University quarterback Connor Bazelak, running back Terion Stewart, and tight end Harold Fannin Jr. was too much as the Falcons defeated Kent State, 27-6, in front of 20,858 at Doyt L. Perry Stadium Saturday.
Throw in the Falcons’ defense, facing a Kent State team that had thrown for over 750 yards the previous two games, and then holding them to 78 yards through the air, and you have the Bowling Green’s formula for success.
The Falcons improve to 3-4 overall and 2-1 in the Mid-American Conference, while the Golden Flashes stay winless in seven games, including three MAC contests.
Bazelak was on target, completing 23-of-27 passes for 313 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. Fannin, who leads tight ends nationwide in receiving yards, caught 10 passes for 171 yards, including 91 yards after catch.
Stewart bullied his way for 124 yards on 25 carries, showing his potential to break tackles and make the right cuts at the right time.
Then there is the defense. After forcing 28 turnovers last year, the Falcons only had two takeaways heading into the Kent State game, but in the fourth quarter intercepted three passes, thwarting any hopes by the Golden Flashes of a late comeback. Getting interceptions for the Falcons were sophomore Edward Rhambo and seniors Patrick Day and Todd Bumphis.
Kent State quarterbacks Tommy Ulatowski and Ruel Tomlinson combined to complete just seven passes in 29 attempts, with the longest going for 20 yards to Luke Floriea, who was targeted eight times but caught just two passes.
“I thought the defensive line played well, and I thought (senior defensive back) Jordan Oladokun and the rest of the secondary did a nice job,” BGSU coach Scot Loeffler said.
“I think there was the guy that Jordan was covering (Chrishon McCray) had almost like 180 yards last week, and I think he had five whenever Jordan was on him. I thought we covered well, but that starts up front, obviously,” Loeffler continued. “I thought we pressured the quarterback well … We did a great job.”
Kent State coach Kenni Burns said BGSU’s coverage, plus mistakes by his own team, contributed.
“Yeah, they just did a really good job,” Burns said. “They basically said that we’re not going to let go every route you’re in.
“Everything you had someone was dropping under it, and the corner was over this (and) out of it. So again, we’ve got to get creative with our bunches, with our stacks, with putting them in motion to create problems for defense, and I’ll let people do that, but credit to them.”
The Falcons’ offense did not get it going from the get-go, driving on their second possession to the Kent State 14-yard line, where junior Zach Long nailed a 32-yard field goal with 5:29 remaining in the first to open the scoring. The Falcons started that drive from their two-yard line, going 84 yards on nine plays.
However, Kent State came right back, posting a six-play, 65-yard drive, and tying the score on a 37-yard field goal by Will Hryzsko.
The Falcons responded, taking over at their own 25-yard line, with Stewart carrying the ball three times for 25 yards to take BGSU to midfield. Then, the Falcons’ big-strike offense finally showed up.
Bazelak hit senior receiver Malcolm Johnson Jr cutting across the middle at the 30-yard line, and Johnson had a clear path to the end zone to put the Falcons up 10-3 with 1:21 remaining in the opening quarter.
After forcing a three-and-out, the Falcons drove 60 yards on eight plays, and Long converted on a 25-yard field goal to put BGSU up by 10 points with 11:14 remaining in the half.
Kent State got a 30-yard field goal from Hryszko with 2:46 remaining in the half, giving Bazelak a chance to engineer his two-minute offense and get it back to a two-score game.
Bazelak threw six completions, including one to Fannin for 19 yards, two to senior Jamal Johnson for a combined 16 yards, two to junior Justin Pegues for eight yards, and on a third-and-13, converted a pass to redshirt-freshman wide receiver Jared Merk for 15 yards.
A pass interference call whistled against the Flashes put the ball on the two-yard line, and BGSU redshirt freshman quarterback Lucius Anderson pranced into the left side of the end zone, putting the Falcons up 20-6 with 23 seconds left in the half.
It was Merk’s catch that saved the drive.
“There were a lot of people that stepped up in terms of being able to walk into some really, really tough spota,” Loeffler said. “I mean, Merk on his catch on third down – if we would have sat here and said that Merk was going to be a major contributor in this game during training camp, that’s probably not the case.
“There were a lot of really, really good efforts by a lot of people that typically would be playing down the road and (are) the future of our program.”
BGSU put together a nine-play, 63-yard drive, scoring on a seven-yard pass from Bazelak to Jamal Johnson with 6:32 left in the game to complete the scoring.
For BGSU, Jaison Patterson had six carries for 28 yards, Jamal Johnson caught five passes for 44 yards, Pegues had four catches for 17 yards, and Malcolm Johnson had two catches for 66 yards.
Ky Thomas led Kent State’s rushing attack with 121 yards on 14 carries, Chrishon McCray had three catches for 21 yards, Floriea had two catches for 35 yards, and Charlie Skehan had a catch for 18 yards.
BGSU linebacker Brock Horne helped lead the defense with five tackles and two quarterback hurries and was part of a tackle for a loss, and linebacker Joseph Sipp Jr. also had five tackles.
