Last week, Bowling Green played spoiler for Minnesota’s homecoming night.

They were looking to continue their momentum against Kent State on Saturday, but fell short 27-20 at Dix Stadium.

The game was a classic back and forth, with both teams trading scores and struggling to gain the upper hand on each other.

The Golden Flashes jumped out to an early 10-3 lead on the Falcons, with running back Marquez Cooper punching in a four-yard touchdown to lead the way.

In the second quarter, kicker Nate Needham nailed a 52-yard field goal — his career long — to trim the lead to 13-6 at halftime. Needham finished the game with a perfect 2/2 on his field goals.

Coming out of halftime, Taron Keith returned the opening kick 76 yards to the Flashes’ 15 yard line, where quarterback Matt McDonald found Tyrone Broden for a four-yard passing touchdown to tie the game at 13.

The Falcons took the lead 20-13 later in the third quarter with a 12-yard touchdown run from Nick Mosley.

And that would be the Falcons’ last addition to the scoreboard in Kent.

Marquez Cooper added another rushing touchdown to his stat line in the third quarter to tie things at 20 for the Flashes, and later in the fourth, quarterback Dustin Crum gave the Flashes a 27-20 lead, and ultimately the win.

The game, in which the Flashes were favored by 16.5, played out like a heavyweight battle. Falcons’ Head Coach Scot Loeffler was proud of his team’s effort, but said they need to continue to improve.

“I thought that was one heck of a football game and both teams gave tremendous effort,” Loeffler said. “We’re better, but we’re just still not good enough.”

McDonald echoed his coach’s words, but feels like his team is really close.

“You can tell this is a different team; It’s not even close,” McDonald said. “We know how good we can be and we’re still not there. It’s a process and we’re going to continue to get better and better every week.”

In the end, McDonald finished 29/45 for 263 yards and a touchdown. Leading the way on the ground was running back Jaison Patterson with 60 yards.

For the Golden Flashes, Crum finished 15/28 for 134 yards. He added 93 yards on the ground and one touchdown. Wide Receiver Dante Cephas was the Flashes’ leading receiver with 64 yards on six catches.

The Falcons (2-3) return home to the Doyt on Oct. 9 to take on the Akron Zips. The Golden Flashes (2-3)host the Buffalo Bulls on Oct. 9 as well.

For more information about the game, check out bgsufalcons.com.