MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — A mixture of new and old helped the Bowling Green football team take a big lead and hang on for a 45-35 win over Central Michigan Saturday afternoon at CMU’s Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
Josh Harris played another stellar game behind center for the Falcons (5-0, 2-0 MAC), while BJ Lane, Cornelius McGrady and Marcus Allen each came up big on special teams in the victory.
For the third straight game, the Falcons fell behind, this time on the Chippewas’ first possession. BG went three and out on the opening possession of the game, and Central received the ball at the 50. Twelve plays later, on fourth and goal, Terence Jackson punched the ball in from one yard out, giving CMU (3-3, 1-1 MAC) a 7-0 lead.
BG could not answer on the ensuing possession, and in the process, lost yet another starter — offensive lineman James Williams — to a knee injury. After forcing CMU to punt, Harris and the Falcons finally got on the board, using a PJ Pope 18-yard run to move the ball inside the Chippewa 30. Pope eventually ran in from seven yards, tying the game at seven.
Much like the previous two games, the BG defense then stiffened. They forced the Chippewas to punt on the ensuing drive — the first of seven straight CMU drives ending in punts. But, the first was perhaps the turning point of the game, as Lane, a reserve running back, came through the middle of the Chippewa line, blocking punter Brian Brandt’s kick.
After a scramble for the ball, Allen fell on it in the end zone, putting the Falcons up for good, 14-7.
“We knew from the beginning that special teams were going to play a big part in this game,” Lane said. “We felt we could exploit them with our speed. My number was called, and I had to step up and make a play. … I lined up over the guard, I ran through there, and they didn’t pick me up, and I got my left hand on the ball.”
Falcon head coach Urban Meyer agreed that special teams played a huge part in the Falcons’ win.
“We hadn’t blocked a punt in three games after blocking two in the first game,” Meyer said. “We are a punt block team. That’s our goal, to block punts. … That won the game, we scored a touchdown on the first one, and we got the other one on the 20 or 30 yard line.”
After another Chippewa punt, Harris drove the Falcons right down the field again, using a key third-down, 24-yard completion to Charles Sharon to put BG inside CMU’s five yard line. Harris would eventually take the ball in from a yard out, giving his team a 21-7 lead.
The Falcons weren’t done for the half, though, as a drive that started on their own 20 with just under two minutes in the first half ended in a spectacular pitch and catch from Harris to Robert Redd for the score. Harris eluded a CMU defender, and lofted the ball toward Redd on the sideline. Redd out-jumped a Chippewa defensive back, and tiptoed the sideline for the 22-yard score and a 28-7 halftime lead.
After forcing a CMU punt to begin the second half, McGrady came up big this time, blocking another Brandt punt. Keon Newson recovered at the Chippewa 24. The Falcons stalled at the Chippewa 18, though, and settled for a Shaun Suisham 36 yard field goal, his eighth straight conversion, and BG led 31-7.
“They [blocked punts] killed us,” CMU coach Mike DeBord said. “There were things we didn’t want to do today, and one was no blocks. The biggest thing was the special teams. When you have two blocked kicks, it’s just a lack of execution. It may have been him holding the ball too long, but there was poor protection. … We broke down, and you can’t do that.”
But, two straight BG punts led to two touchdowns by Central, one a 59-yard run by Robbie Mixon and the next a Derrick Vickers three-yard run, drawing the Chippewas within 10 at 31-21.
Harris, though, would run six of the 13 plays on the ensuing drive, a drive which took 6:43 off the clock and ended in a Harris two-yard touchdown run, essentially putting the game out of reach.
“I took it personally [Central coming back], because in the third quarter our offense fell off a little bit and we weren’t looking very sharp,” Harris said. “A lot of that fell back on me. … I told the coach to give me the ball, and I felt like it was my fault that we weren’t already up by more points. Our offensive line continued to pound them up front. … Our receivers blocked well on the outsides, so it was time to step up and put them away.”
Meyer spoke of the drive that put the Falcons up three scores for good.
“I got on the headset with [offensive coordinator] Gregg Brandon, and every time we said give it to Josh Harris,” Meyer said of the drive. “Anytime a guy like Josh Harris says ‘give me the ball,’ you don’t have to be a very good coach to figure out give him the ball.”
The two teams traded touchdowns from there on out, but it was too little too late for the Chippewas.
Meyer said after the game that this was one of the biggest wins he has ever been a part of during his coaching career, including his time at Ohio State, Colorado State and Notre Dame.
“I’ve been lucky to be in some great wins and be in some great team efforts,” Meyer said. “This might have been the best team win I’ve ever been apart of. … We were looking at each other who to put in. We lost another offensive lineman, and I’ve said that if we lost another one, I wasn’t sure if we could move the ball.
“We gained 441 [404] yards with our ninth offensive lineman, and that’s a product of good kids and accountability and excellent offensive coaches who did a good job; I can’t say enough.”
Harris continued his push for postseason honors, as he continues to lead the nation in scoring after rushing for three touchdowns in the game. He accounted for 314 yards of total offense in the game. Pope ran for 83 yards in his second career start for the Falcons. Charles Sharon continued his strong play, catching six passes this week for 69 yards.
Central Michigan outgained the Falcons, 441-404.
Notes
On the injury front, the Falcons suffered more injuries to their already-depleted roster. Williams went out with a knee injury, defensive back Jason Morton has a hip injury, defensive end Rick Mauer left with a left ankle injury, and Jovon Burkes, Marcus Allen, Luis Llamas and Daniel Sayles also left the game with injuries. The Falcons have started the season 5-0 for the first time since 1985.
With the 10-point victory, the Falcons’ average margin of victory now stands at 28.2 points.
Harris has now rushed for at least two touchdowns in the last seven Bowling Green games.
Jovon Burkes had two sacks in the game before getting injured. Terrill Mayberry, in his first collegiate start, had eight tackles.
