Yet another senior class will leave the Bowling Green football program without a win against the University of Toledo.

That is, if things stay the same in the Mid-American Conference West Division. The Rockets are currently tied for first in their division but would lose the tiebreaker to Northern Illinois if things stayed the same.

After their 27-20 loss on a snowy and windy Wednesday night in Toledo, the seniors want another shot.

“This sucks. I haven’t beaten them since I’ve been here,” senior Gabe Martin said. “I hope we get them again to be perfectly honest.”

Martin wants to play the Rockets in the MAC Championship and for good reason: the win by the Rockets makes it five years since the Falcons last win.

The disappointment of the loss could be seen in the faces of the players and head coach Dino Babers. For Babers, a coach who has not been a part of this rivalry, his hurt was more for the seniors, he said.

“I’m really disappointed for the seniors,” Babers said. “That’s a really good football team we played. I really hope they have an opportunity to win that side of the division; I really would like to give the seniors one more chance to go against them.”

This win was no fluke as the Falcons never led in this game and gave up 265 rushing yards to Rockets running back Kareem Hunt, the most the Falcons have given up to any one running back all year long.

“He is a good back, he can go. We didn’t do a good job of taking him down,” Martin said. “We didn’t get enough hats to him. That killed us through the course of the game.”

Despite Hunt’s day running the ball, the Falcons had plenty of chances to win the game.

With 14:53 left on the game clock, Martin blocked Jeremiah Detmer’s 29-yard field goal attempt, giving the Falcons the ball on their own 14, trailing 20-13.

Then came a spark as Babers called it.

Instead of bringing James Knapke, who was 7-24 for 71 yards, back out, they brought in true freshman Cody Callaway.

Callaway led a game-tying drive connecting with receivers Gehrig Dieter and Ryan Burbrink for plays of 32 and 30 yards. He then connected with Ronnie Moore for a 17-yard touchdown pass.

“It was a tough call but a call that needed to be made,” Babers said.

The next series the Rockets would score on a Dwight Macon 7-yard touchdown run and take the lead 27-20.

The Falcons would get one more chance in Toledo territory. On fourth down on the Toledo 30-yard line Cody Callaway dropped back in the pocket and

was sacked.

This loss dropped the Falcons to 7-4 with one game left to play before their MAC

Championship game.

It may have cost the seniors their last chance to earn a win at Toledo, but they still have a championship to play for.

“The team will grow from this, Bowling Green State University will grow from this,” Babers said. “The hurt in my face is for the seniors. That’s why I hope they get the chance to play this team one more time.”