BGSU football (1-3) was defeated by the Old Dominion Monarchs (1-3) in front of an alumni-filled crowd at the Doyt Perry Stadium on Homecoming.
On a night when the margins were slim, Old Dominion was just a few plays better than Bowling Green, and that made all the difference in the outcome of the game.
“My hat’s off to ODU. Like we said whenever we were prepping for this game, this would be a dogfight, and unfortunately, we came up on the wrong side of the stick,” said head coach Scot Loeffler postgame. “[I’m] proud of our guys, I thought they prepped really hard. This was a tough prep on defense, It was a tough prep on offense [and] special teams. [We’re] very similar teams, very, very similar, and they made one more play than we did, probably on both sides of the ball.”
On the opening drive, ODU was able to work the ball down to the 9-yard line before quarterback Grant Wilson connected with senior receiver Pat Conroy in the back of the endzone.
BG’s first offensive possession ended after quarterback Connor Bazelak took a shot but was ultimately unable to connect with senior receiver Malcolm Johnson Jr. on fourth down.
Back with the football, at their own 24, the Falcons drove the field on ten plays to even the ledger at seven. Connor Bazelak was a perfect three for three on third downs, including a 30-yard and a touchdown completion to junior Harold Fannin Jr.
Right before the conclusion of the first quarter, Grant Wilson connected with Pat Conroy again for a touchdown. This time it was a 75-yard burst. Making the score 14-7, Monarchs.
In response to the allowed touchdown, BGSU’s offense slammed on the accelerator! Bazelak found junior Rahkeem Smith 20 yards downfield to move the ball up to the 17-yard line. Jasion Patterson then got the ball and ran to paydirt.
On the next possession, the Monarchs were in a fourth-down situation, so Coach Ricky Rahne elected to send out senior kicker Ethan Chang. He attempted a 53-yard field goal and drilled it to give ODU the lead again. That field goal was the second-longest-made kick in school history for Old Dominion.
Later, the Falcons senior quarterback continued his third down magic twice more as he found Fannin Jr. for a 33-yard completion to move the ball down to the 36-yard line; however, sophomore kicker Jackson Kleather was unable to make the long field goal.
With one second on the clock and the wind at their backs, the Monarchs attempted a 58-yard kick that also did not make it over the crossbar.
After forcing a punt, the Falcons gained two yards and faced second down and eight at their own 41. Bazelak found Fannin Jr. deep downfield for a 59-yard touchdown to make it 21-17.
With that touchdown, Harold Fannin Jr. became the new record holder for most touchdown receptions in a career by a Falcon tight end.
Both teams traded punts from that point, leading to the end of the third quarter.
Old Dominion’s offense had gone stagnant, and they’d punted four consecutive times. Bazelak then gave the Monarchs life after throwing an interception to junior safety Jahron Manning. A few plays later, backup quarterback Colton Joseph used his legs to score from 14 yards out; however, the extra point was missed, so the score stood twenty-three to twenty-one.
The Falcons bounced back by trudging down the field into field goal range. Kleather was sent out and missed a kick, but there was a roughing-the-kicker call that gave the Falcons new life. A few plays later, senior running back Terion Stewart rushed 13 yards to the end zone to put the Falcons back in front with 3:01 to play.
On the ensuing drive, the Monarchs silenced the BG faithful, driving 79 yards down the field across thirteen plays to give themselves back the lead. Aaron Young scored the touchdown, and Colton Joseph’s legwork got them down the field.
With 19 seconds left to play, BG was unable to score. They have now lost their third consecutive game and are now 1-3.
During this contest, Harold Fannin Jr. broke Mark Dowdell’s record for most single-game receiving yards by a BGSU tight end (175) with 188 yards. Conner Bazlak finished with a line of 27/36, 2 TD, 1 INT. Terion Stewart had 67 yards on the ground and 1 TD.
Up next, the Falcons travel to Akron next week to take on the Zips at 3:30 p.m. Falcon Media Sports Network’s Kaden Knapp and Holden Ruck will have the call on Falcon Radio starting at 3 p.m. for pregame coverage.
