The kick sailed through the fog and Trevor Cook sprinted towards the middle of the field celebrating a 24-21 Miami victory Wednesday night.
Converting on a 33-yard field goal as time expired, Cook improved the RedHawks to 6-4, 5-1 Mid-American Conference, while the host Falcons fell to 2-8 and 1-5 in the MAC.
A night which was heralded as “The ESPN Game” it quickly turned into the “Fog Game” as a heavy layer of fog hung over the Doyt Perry Stadium the entire second half.
“The fog, it was unbelievable,” safety Jovon Leacock said. “It was heavy fog, it wasn’t light fog. It wasn’t a little bit of fog, it was a lot fog.”
Nationally televised on ESPN2, the RedHawks took over at the BG 37-yard line after a DJ Brown interception setting up Cook’s field goal with 1.1 seconds left on the clock.
“We’ve got the ball back with two minute and a chance to drive 50-yards for the game winning field goal and we give them the ball on the very next play,” BG coach Dave Clawson said.
Trailing 21-7 entering the fourth quarter, the Falcons battled back pulling within a touchdown on a 1-yard run by Willie Geter and then tying the game just over six minutes later on another short run by Geter.
While they battled back to tie they game, two late possessions doomed the Falcons effort; first getting the ball in Miami territory in a tie game they took three straight negative plays on penalties and were forced to punt. Then getting the ball back with two minutes remaining, Matt Schilz through an interception on first down, giving Miami the back in great field position.
With a young quarterback and the fact the ball seemingly hit the ground according to BG players, it would have been easy for the Falcons to make excuses; but Clawson wouldn’t have any of that after the loss.
“It’s too late to be young, it’s game 10… you can’t make plays like that, we’ve got to value the football,” Clawson said. “That’s not good football.”
Perhaps the biggest disappointment for the Falcons was the fact that they wasted a strong defensive effort in the that had multiple stops in the second half.
Holding Miami to seven points, 177 yards and recovering a fumble that should have set up the game-winning drive, the BG defense had shades of brilliance that it displayed in a 17-14 win over Central Michigan.
In fact, Clawson felt the Falcons gave away 17 points, 10 points on field position including the interception that lead to the game-winning field goal and a botched snap on a punt that gave Miami the ball at the 15-yard line.
Before the fog settled in and students left the stands, Miami compiled a 14-7 halftime lead on an 18-yard touchdown run by Thomas Merriweather and 1-yard dive by Zac Dysert.
The Falcons, who only picked up 108 yards of total offense in the first half, scored on a 12-yard hook up between Schilz and redshirt-freshman tight end Alex Bayer at 8:28 of the second quarter.
Miami pushed their lead to 21-7 on a 22-yard pass from Dysert to Nick Harwell, before the Falcons stormed back in the fourth quarter.
Schilz completed 17-of-29 passes for 176 yards and one score, but also threw the costly interception late in the contest. Geter was the lead rusher for the Falcons with 16 carries for only 34 yards.
BG continues the season next Wednesday when they once again play on ESPN2, this time at Rival Toledo; opening kick is set for 8 p.m.