Maybe 90 percent of football is half-mental, too.
Yogi Berra made that phrase famous about baseball, but after Bowling Green made Urban Meyer the seventh-consecutive Falcon head coach to win in his debut with a 20-13 victory at Missouri Saturday, it might lend credence to football between the ears as well.
Many involved with the BG football program have spent the previous months talking about a new attitude and new energy that have permeated the team since the hiring of Meyer. Saturday, the Falcons started to show exactly what they meant.
BG kept fighting for momentum with Mizzou as it see-sawed through three lead changes and a tie before running back Joe Alls plunged over the goal line from three yards out for the deciding points with 3:40 to play in the game.
The Falcons fell behind 3-0 on Missouri’s opening possession when kicker Brad Hammerich booted a 30-yard field goal. Then, the well-oiled offense that Meyer and offensive coordinator Gregg Brandon have been trying to install started to find the gear shift. Quarterback Andy Sahm, who finished 11-for-18 for 109 yards, led BG on an six-minute, 80-yard drive capped by a David Bautista touchdown reception with 4:28 to play in the first quarter.
The BG defense took the reigns of the game as the Falcons forced Missouri to punt on five consecutive possessions at the end of the first half and start of the second half.
A Ryan Wingrove sack of Tiger quarterback Darius Outlaw almost stalled a Missouri drive in the third quarter, but Hammerich bailed Mizzou out with a career-long 51-yard field goal to make it 7-6.
On Missouri’s next offensive possession, they matched BG with an 80-yard drive, capped by an Outlaw touchdown pass to Joe Chirumbolo to make it 13-7 Mizzou with 12:49 to play in regulation.
Following the kickoff, BG was once again 80 yards from the goal line, but now time was starting to run thin. Alaskan freshman Cole Magner stepped up, however, and caught two passes for first downs as Alls and John Gibson ran the ball effectively. Gibson scored with 10:07 remaining, but Sean Suisham’s extra point attempt was blocked, keeping the game tied 13-13.
The drive that culminated in Alls’ winning touchdown was set up by a Janssen Patton interception that put the ball on Missouri’s 35-yard line with 5:20 to play.
Alls picked up the slack and then some for a backfield that was operating without the injured Godfrey Lewis. He had his third career 100-yard rushing game (107 yards on 17 carries.) Gibson also contributed, rushing for 55 yards on 10 carries.
Notes: Last night was also the Missouri debut of former Toledo coach Gary Pinkel, who led the Rockets to a 51-17 pasting of BG last November … BG outgained Mizzou in total yards 342 to 234 … two interceptions by Patton in the fourth quarter were the fifth and sixth of his career. He is BG’s active career leader in that category … Magner, James Hawkins and Craig Jarrett all had their first BG receptions in the second half … Kurt Gerling has now caught a pass in 30 straight games.
