Miami red-shirt freshman quarterback Ben Roethilsberger was nervous prior to Saturday’s game against Bowling Green. Not that you could tell by watching him during the game.
The graduate of Findlay High School, playing in front of family and friends at Doyt Perry Stadium, passed for 305 yards and two touchdowns in the RedHawks’ 24-21 win over the Falcons.
“That was the most nervous I’d seen him since the Iowa game ,” Miami coach Terry Hoeppner said. “It think that is to be expected. It’s tough to come home like this. I think the enitre town of Findlay was in the stands.”
Roethilsberger, leading a hurry-up offense designed to put BG’s defense on its heels, led Miami on a 99-yard scoring drive in the second quarter. He hit receiver Michael Larkin on an 81-yard later in the quarter. En route to his third 300-yard passing effort in four games, he became the Mid-American Conference’s all-time leading freshman passer with 2205 yards. He broke the record, previously set by Western Michigan’s Tim Lester in 1996, on a 12-yard completion to receiver Jason Branch in the third quarter.
“Tuesday night, I’ll never forget, I went up in (the tape room) and I watched him a lot,” BG coach Urban Meyer said. “He makes a lot of plays that make him a special player … On that big touchdown (to Larkin), he flushed the pocket, threw it downfield and the kid made an excellent play.”
Roethilsberger felt right at home in BG.
“It was nice. It felt like an old Findlay High School football game,” he said. “Being under the lights with a lot of Findlay people here. Iit was nice to play in front of them.”
Roethlisberger continually used his east-west mobility to make plays. He didn’t so much dominate, finishing with 15 completions in 25 pass attempts, as he showed a knack for making key passes. On a third down and five play from the BG 35 in the third quarter, Roethlisberger completed a 21-yard pass to Cal Murray, sustaining a drive.
In the fourth quarter, on a second down and 14, a Miami drive was in danger of stalling out in the first quarter. Roethilsberger then found Luke Clemens for an 18-yard pickup and a first down. The drive culminated in a Miami touchdown.
