Minneapolis – The new era of BGSU football now has its first major win.

In stunning fashion, the Falcons walked out of the Metrodome in Minneapolis with a 32-31 overtime victory over the Golden Gophers.

The winning play was a gutsy two-point conversion call, “rub right.”

Quarterback Tyler Sheehan rolled right, and as the defense began to bear down he hit a wide open Freddie Barnes in the right side of the endzone, leaving the Minnesota fans in attendance in stunned silence.

The decision to go for two was made long before the game even started.

“In a hostile environment, especially with the crowd into it like they were, we gotta go for it,” said BG coach Gregg Brandon.

Barnes was confident in the play call.

“Game over,” Barnes said. “We ran that play so many times. I just liked the fact that [Brandon] had faith right away to go for the two-point conversion.”

Barnes’ confidence in his quarterback showed.

“I feel like the ball was perfect so I could make the play, I could get my feet in, get the two-point conversion and go home.”

For most of the game, the 49,253 fans in attendance were loud and into the action.

They didn’t expect such an improved all-around Falcon team from 2006.

Sheehan, in his first game as a starter, completed 34 passes for 388 yards and two touchdowns.

Last season, it took BG’s quarterbacks three games to pass for that many yards.

With the crowd screaming, Shehan led the offense down the field in the waning moments of the game to get into position for the game-tying field goal.

“I thought he was outstanding,” Brandon said. “I thought he was remarkably poised for the situation.”

The offensive output as a whole was a big step forward from last year. Sheehan completed passes to eight different receivers, with four of those receivers gaining more than 50 yards.

Eric Ransom led the team with 96 yards receiving and one touchdown, a 53-yard strike from Sheehan in the first quarter.

On the ground, Chris Bullock, Eric Ransom and Anthony Turner combined for 100 yards. Turner scored on a quarterback keeper in the second quarter.

The Falcons gained a combined 512 yards on offense in the game.

Defensively, BG held the Gophers scoreless in the first half and forced three turnovers, only to let their 21-0 lead slip away in the fourth quarter.

Minnesota running back Amir Pinnix and quarterback Adam Weber capitalized on BG’s second half fatigue and combined for 240 rusing yards and two touchdowns.

Minnesota scored 24 points in the second half, with 17 of them coming in the fourth quarter.

“That’s a Big Ten [offensive] line,” Brandon said. “I think they wore us out.”

Linebacker John Haneline said that coming out of half time the defense knew that the Gophers would come out swinging.

“It’s just Big Ten football,” Haneline said. “They’re gonna grind and everything. We knew we were going to be in a war when we came in at halftime.

“We had a lead but we knew they were gonna come back and punch us in the mouth.”

After taking that second half punch, BG responded late.

Sheehan led the two-minute offense down the field and set up a Sinisa Vrvillo 35-yard field goal to tie up the score at 24.

Vrvilo’s clutch kick allowed the Falcons to let out a sigh of relief. Their kicking game has been one of the biggest problems over the past few seasons.

After the game, Brandon praised his team for not giving up.

“Character shows up in the face of adversity,” Brandon said. “The kids responded and that’s why I’m so proud of them.”