KENT, Ohio – Willie Geter – the man, the myth, the legend.

The Kent State defense is probably still having nightmares of seeing the back of his white, number 28 jersey as he was running by each and every one of them.

“They caught us off guard a little bit,” said Kent State cornerback Jack Williams. “We tried to adjust but we had a little trouble doing so.”

No kidding. Geter ran around, through and up in the entire Kent defense in the much-needed 31-20 Falcon victory Saturday.

Geter ran the ball 22 times for 203 yards and a touchdown. But it did not stop there for Geter as he also caught four passes for 51 yards. About the only thing he did not do on Saturday was drive the team bus.

“Willie Geter is going to be a great player when he is through,” said BG coach Gregg Brandon. “He brings us his ‘A’ game every day in practice.”

The true freshman stepped up when his team needed him the most. Geter’s 254 all purpose yards is the most for a Falcon since P.J. Pope sliced up the Western Michigan defense in 2004.

The Falcons had not intended to run as much as they did, but Geter’s performance on the first couple of snaps made them change the game plan. Geter responded by averaging 9.2 yards per carry.

“The coaches told me and the linemen that we were going to put it on the ground a couple times – we’ll run,” Geter said. “So we got ready and the linemen got out there and I just followed the holes.”

The big day for Geter started on the opening play of the game. He took the opening handoff and ran around the right side for a 20-yard gain. Seven plays later, the Falcons were in the end zone after Geter’s four-yard run.

This drive set the stage for the rest of the day and it was very important for a team that saw very little go right in the loss to Miami.

“It was pretty good to get out early on them,” Brandon said. “We talked about that – making some good things happen, seize some momentum. The big thing is, we sustained it for four quarters.”

From there on, the game plan changed to get the ball to Geter as much as possible. The Falcons were able to spot a weakness in the Kent defense and took advantage.

Geter was a big reason that the rushing game was so effective, but it was also the offensive line that was able to create gaping holes for Geter to scoot through.

“We were blocking them and Willie Geter was able to find some creases and did a great job,” Brandon said. “We really ran the ball well.”

The switch from the passing game really caught Kent off guard and they were never able to adjust to it.

If the opposing defense holds the Falcons’ passing attack to just 184 yards, they expect to win that game. What was not expected was that Falcons would gain 197 net rushing yards.

“I congratulate Bowling Green on a great win,” said Kent State coach Doug Martin. “They really did a nice job. They changed their offense from what they have done all season and kind of caught us off guard.”

Whether the Falcons caught them off guard or not, they were still able to execute effectively and it was Geter who delivered each and every time.

The freshman ran like his scholarship depended on it, and he may have just forced the hand of the coaching staff to get him more involved in the offense.