Not often in sporting events is a game decided by halftime. Rarely can one team dominate so much that their opponent has no legitimate shot at coming back and even making the game close. That dominance was shown by the Falcon football team (7-2, 5-1) as they scored 49 points on 551 yards of offense in the first half, both school records, en route to a 52-0 drubbing against Western Michigan (1-8, 0-6). At the half, P.J. Pope had 202 yards rushing and three touchdowns, Omar Jacobs threw for 300 yards and four touchdowns, Charles Sharon and Cole Magner each had two touchdown grabs and BG was setting lots of school records as they went to the locker room up 49-0. “We were really on all eight cylinders in the first half,” said BG head coach Gregg Brandon. “Omar was sharp. Our protection has just been outstanding. Our receivers are getting open, (Omar’s) putting the ball on the money and we mixed in some good runs.” On the opening kickoff, the Falcons tried a reverse to B.J. Lane that backfired as Lane was tackled at the two-yard line. From there, it was all Falcons. Pope capped off the 98-yard opening drive with a seven-yard touchdown run. After WMU went three and out, BG stormed 45-yards down the field with Jacobs hitting Sharon for a 10-yard touchdown. Jacobs threw two more touchdowns in the first quarter, a 17-yard pass to Magner and 46-yards to Sharon, to put the Falcons up 28-0. The offense set school records in a quarter with 299 yards and 14 first downs. “We came out, just to come at them off the jump and just take their souls away from them,” said Jacobs, who completed 17 of 20 passes and did not play in the second half. After Magner caught a 26-yard touchdown pass, Pope took over and stuffed the ball down the Broncos throats. He had a 41-yard touchdown and, with under two minutes to play in the half, a career-long 88-yard touchdown run, outrunning the entire Bronco secondary on his way to the endzone. “I think somebody got a hand on my feet and it tripped me up a little bit but … it was a hole there and I just ran as fast as I could,” Pope said of the run. The Falcons defense was just as sharp as they recorded their first shutout since 2001. They limited Western Michigan to 295 total yards and forced three turnovers. “We just kept them at bay,” Brandon said. “They were never really able to get in sync and our defense was never threatened.” WMU’s offense has lived off the pass during the season and BG made it a point to prevent them from attacking through the air. “We focused a lot of our defensive strategy on stopping the pass,” said Keon Newson, who had two interceptions. “That was a key goal for this game.” In the second half, the Falcons were able to give playing time to many reserves and stuck with a conservative offensive plan, scoring three points. Lane ran the ball 17 times after half and finished with 23 carries for 118 yards, both career highs. Pope and Lane were the first BG backs to each have 100-yards in a game since 1992. Falcon Notes The offense finished with 666 total yards … Jacobs is now tied Josh Harris for the school record for TD passes in a single season with 27 and also is the tops in the NCAA this season … Pope’s 205 yards rushing was his first 200-yard game and he now has 10 rushing TD’s on the season … Sharon’s two TD catches puts his season total at 10 and 23 in his career, ranking him third all-time at BG … Mitchell Crossley had his first career blocked punt in the third quarter … Teddy Piepkow recorded his first career interception … Van Johnson completed his first career pass when he hit Todd DiBacco in the fourth quarter … The 52-point margin of victory was the largest in BG history against a MAC opponent … Shaun Suisham’s seven extra points put him at 206 for his career and he is 12 away from the NCAA record.