Perhaps when Bowling Green stepped onto the blue turf at Boise State they thought they were in the Twilight Zone.
They sure played like it.
The Falcons played like a football team unsure of themselves. Unsure of their talents, unsure of how to execute and unsure how to stop a team who began the game on a roll and never let up.
Simply put, the Falcons were outcoached and outplayed on both sides of the ball. The game ended as a 48-20 blowout and it might not even have as close as the score indicated. BG fell to 1-2, while Boise won for its first time this year.
Broncos coach Dan Hawkins had his team prepared for victory in every facet of the game.
The offensive line opened huge holes. The defensive line applied pressure. The secondary seemed to know all of quarterback Omar Jacobs’ tendencies and almost picked the ball off at least five times in the first half.
Boise State pounded the ball down the field throughout the game, which had the effect of completely controlling the time of possession and tiring out an already battered Falcon defense.
The Broncos set the tone early by completely dominating the first quarter with a series of runs through gaping holes by running backs Ian Johnson and Lee Marks. By setting up the run, the Falcons were forced to stack players in the box and Bronco quarterback Jared Zabransky was able to exploit opportunities time and again.
Although Zabransky didn’t pass often, when he did, he was able to make completions for big chunks of yards. A look at the first quarter stats told the story of the entire game.
Time of possession for Boise State – 13:13.
Time of possession for the Falcons – 1:47.
Yards for Boise State – 163. Yards for Bowling Green – three.
Even though the Falcon defense was able to buckle down and hold the Broncos to two field goals in the first quarter, the stage had been set and the game was a blowout in ever respect except the score.
And the scoring would come.
The wheels began to come off when running back Lee Marks returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown. The Falcons would never respond.
Omar Jacobs, known as much for his poise under pressure as his golden arm, looked shell-shocked. He never found a rhythm and often looked confused in the pocket. Boise State’s defensive coordinator used a mix of drop back coverage and blitzing schemes to keep Jacobs off balance. Because the coverage was often so good, and the score was quickly getting out of hand, Jacobs often forced balls into coverage and looked for a man downfield instead of throwing it to an outlet receiver for smaller gains. As lost and confused as Jacobs looked, his counterpart, Zebransky, looked just the opposite.
He was poised and confident. He never forced the issue and always took what the defense would give him. Unfortunately for Bowling Green, what they gave him was often anything he wanted. By the time Zabransky was pulled early in the fourth quarter he had amassed 216 yards on 18 of 25 passing and one throwing touchdown. He also added 53 yards on the ground and three rushing touchdowns.
In the end the Falcons were left more black and blue than the turf in Boise.
Notes:
Special teams remained a problem for the Falcons. Not only did the Falcons give up a 92-yard kick return for a touchdown, but Nate Fry also had a punt blocked and missed a PAT.
And although there wasn’t much to be happy about during the game, Falcon wide receiver Charles Sharon became the program’s all-time leading receiver with a fabulous leaping grab down the middle of the field in the second quarter. Sharon passed Robert Redd, who had a career total of 2,726.
