BGSU football (7-6) headed to Mobile, Alabama, to face off against the Arkansas State Red Wolves (8-5), losing 38-31.
Although it was a one-possession game, Scot Loeffler believes that this game falls on him for not having his players ready, as multiple penalties cost the Falcons, including some in the red zone.
“Unfortunately, tonight, whenever you look at the stats, the total domination of the statistics, but the fact of the matter is we beat ourselves. And that’s on me. We had some very costly penalties, should have been off the field on third down, and we weren’t because of a penalty that shouldn’t have occurred,” said Loeffer to open up his press conference. “A complete no-talent issue. We jumped offsides two times in the red and didn’t play well on [special] teams, missed checks. That was completely outside of who we are.”
This loss now puts Loeffler at 0-3 in bowl games as the Bowling Green head coach, with all of those games being decided by one score.
With 17 catches for 213 yards and a touchdown on the night, Harold Harold Fannin Jr. broke the FBS single-season record holder for receiving yards by a tight end. A historic moment for the junior tight end and the program.
Loeffler had nothing but praise for Fannin’s performance from the night and what the junior showcased all year long.
“He’s the best tight end in the country. We do a great job of game planning to help him; there’s no doubt about it. There are a lot of really good players around him that have helped him. But he’s a different talent.”
Growth is key for any player if they want to take that extra step in their football careers, and Loeffler believes that if Fannin can do that, he will be around for a long time.
“If he continues to mature the way that he has and keeps growing, he’s going to play a long time. I mean, he’s gonna play for a long time. I’ve been around some talented tight ends, and he’s one of two, in my opinion.”
To start the game, the first 15 minutes were as eventful as you could imagine.
Bowling Green started the day on defense, and after allowing a few first downs, it put the Red Wolves into the red zone, but the Falcons were able to force Arkansas State to kick a field goal, which gave the Red Wolves the early 3-0 lead.
Bowling Green’s offense then took the field for the first time; however, the Falcons went three and out, with a five-yard gain by Fannin being the only positive play for the Falcons.
It went from bad to worse as John Henderson punted it away from inside the BG 20, and Arkansas State’s Courtney Jackson took it 60 yards to the house, which made it now 10-0 in the blink of an eye.
The Falcon offense took the field once again and was faced with a big third down. Connor Bazelak took a shot downfield intended for Finn Hogan, but it was incomplete. But there was contact in the play, which allowed a fresh set of downs and some life for BG.
Bazelak then connected with Fannin Jr. for 23 yards to make him the all-time leader for yards by a tight end, passing Jace Amaro of Texas Tech back in 2013.
The drive seemed stalled after that after a few negative plays forced BG to punt near mid-field. Quarterback Baron May was plugged in to punt, but Scot Loeffler had different plans as he designed a fake, and the East Tennessee State transfer threw a 43-yard dime to Malcolm Johnson Jr. for a touchdown, which made it 10-7.
Arkansas State then wasted no time again and marched down the field as quarterback for the Red Wolves, Jaylen Raynor ran it in from the five-yard line to make it 17-7.
The second quarter started with a 33-yard connection from Bazelak to Fannin to put the Falcons in Red Wolves territory. The drive couldn’t go much further than that, as Loeffler was forced to send out his field goal unit to attempt a 42-yarder
Zach Long attempted the kick, but it was blocked at the Arkansas State 25, giving the Red Wolves the ball back as the Falcons came up empty-handed.
Jordan Oladokun, playing in his final game in the Orange and Brown, came up big for the Falcons as he broke up a third and three passes, which would have been a first down for Arkansas State, which resulted in the Red Wolves’ first punt of the game.
Johnson Jr. and Terion Stewart then put the Falcons into Red Wolves territory in just two plays. Bazelak connected with Johnson for 26 yards, and Stewart ran for 16 yards. A penalty later put them at the Arkansas State 30-yard line.
Fannin Jr. then came up yet again for the offense as he caught a third-down pass for 19 yards, which gave the Falcons a first and goal. A play later, Jaison Patterson then caught an 8-yard pass for a touchdown, which made it a 17-14 ballgame.
The Bowling Green defense then had some momentum after forcing a punt on their last set, but an explosive 79-yard touchdown by Corey Rucker still gave Arkansas State the edge, 24-14, nearing halftime.
Rahkeem Smith then had the hot hand on the next BG drive as he caught a 23-yard pass as well as a 21-yard pass in back-to-back plays to put the Falcons in Red Wolves territory. Bazelak found his number one man again in Fannin for 23 yards to put them at the Arkansas State 8-yard line.
Fannin Jr. will never fail to make some magic happen. A throw to the corner of the end zone seemed to be a sure-fire interception, but it was bobbled and tipped right into the hands of Fannin Jr. as he was on the ground for the touchdown to make it 24-21.
On the next Red Wolves drive, Oladokun again came up big as he picked off Raynor at the BG 36 with 56 seconds to go into the half, giving the offense a chance to take the lead or tie the game heading into the locker room for halftime.
Quickly, the BG offense got themselves into Arkansas State territory thanks to Rahkeem Smith and Fannin Jr., and with 12 seconds to go, Loeffler sent out Long yet again, but this time, he missed the 39-yard field goal to tie the game going into the half.
Bowling Green received the ball to start the second half, and on the first play, Stewart fumbled the ball at the BG 34-yard-line with Arkansas State recovering it.
The Red Wolves then capitalized on the turnover as they turned it into seven points off as Rucker found Rucker for the 6-yard TD, which gave them the 31-21 advantage.
The offense then created a drive from themselves as they went 55 yards to the Arkansas 20 but had to settle for three points, making it 31-24.
The two teams appeared to have exchanged punts, but as BG went back to punt, Henderson decided on his own and tried to take it himself but was a few yards short, giving the Red Wolves the ball at the BG 37-yard-line.
A sigh of relief by the Falcons, but specifically Henderson, as Arkansas State kicker Clune Van Andel missed the 33-yarder, which kept it a seven-point ball game heading into the fourth quarter.
The Falcons then got the ball at the Arkansas State 20 as they were faced with a fourth and two at the Red Wolves 43, in which Bazelak found Fannin Jr. for a 35-yard gain to get themselves at the 8-yard line. Multiple false starts then set the Falcons back to the 14 yard-line, which ultimately made them decide to kick a field goal instead of potentially going for it.
Well, those false starts turned the field goal into a chip shot into a 31-yarder in which Long missed his second kick of the night, along with one being blocked earlier.
Loeffler believes that all day, the Falcons shot themselves in the foot on special teams. A department that is usually disciplined.
“Very uncharacteristic of our team. We played great special teams around here, and we did not tonight, unfortunately. No talent issues crept up on us, which, just like I said, hasn’t, that hasn’t occurred a lot this year. We’ve been a fairly disciplined football team, and unfortunately, we’ve shot ourselves in the foot multiple times.”
“You know, you got in the red zone, had an opportunity to score and jumped offsides twice, had a holding call. So the penalties and the self-inflicted wounds with no talent issues in terms of doing something that we haven’t done is jaw back to another, I mean, I just don’t understand that. That’s not who we are, but it showed up, and that’s my responsibility.”
On the next defensive drive, Ali Saad came up big on second down and sacked Raynor to make it third and long, which led to an incomplete pass on third down, leading the Red Wolves to punt, giving the Falcons offense the ball at the BGSU 31 with a chance for the offense to tie it.
The Falcons then went three and out, forcing them to punt, which resulted in Arkansas State having an eight-play, four-minute, and 43-second drive resulting in a touchdown, making it now a 14-point ballgame.
Smith then gave the Falcons exactly what they needed on the return as he got to the Arkansas State 38-yard line. A few plays later brought up a fourth and three, which they converted as Fannin caught the eight-yard pass to bring up a fresh set of downs.
That pass also put Fannin over 200 yards on the night. That’s the first Falcon to have over 200 yards receiving since Odieu Hillare against Toledo back in 2022. A play later, Smith earned his first touchdown of the night as Bazelak connected with him for the 23-yard TD.
An attempted onside kick with 1:43 to go was failed by the Falcons, but the game was mathematically still within reach with a few stops. But a first down by the Red Wolves on third down closed the book on this year’s 68 Ventures Bowl, with Arkansas State taking the win 38-31.
This loss now puts Loeffler at 0-3 in bowl games as the Bowling Green head coach, with all of those games being decided by one score.
The Falcons finished their season 7-6 for the second straight year in a row and are saying goodbye to 30-plus seniors on this squad.
Finishing 7-6 for the second consecutive year might not be what most Falcon fans were hoping for this season, but Loeffler doesn’t think this was a disappointing season. He thinks there were some disappointing moments that, if gone BG’s way, could have changed the course of the season.
“I don’t think it was a disappointing season. It was a disappointing moment. Back home, we had a chance to go to the championship and fell short. Just didn’t make enough plays. It wasn’t an effort deal. It wasn’t what happened tonight. It was a clean, hard-fought, good football game. Tonight, unfortunately, was not,” said Loeffler. “We beat ourselves 100%. Beat ourselves through special teams, didn’t stop the run-in critical situations on defense, absurd penalties. Offensively, you had a chance to go down in the red, and you jumped offside twice, you held. It’s hard to score down there.”
A lot will happen in the off-season for the Falcons to be prepared for next year, and there are a lot of question marks that loom over Bowling Green football in the future, but resolving question mark number one is replacing those seniors.
