When a defense surrenders a modern-era Big Ten record in rushing yards, it is safe to say that something went wrong on the field.
The Bowling Green defense gave up 644 yards on the ground and a Wisconsin school record of 756 yards of total offense, in their 68-17 loss at Camp Randall Saturday afternoon.
According to linebacker Gabe Martin it wasn’t a flaw of positioning.
“If you were really watching that game, even when we go back and look at the film, you will see that there was never a time where we didn’t have somebody in place to make a play,” Martin said. “As a defense we pride ourselves on making plays and that’s what we have to do in those situations. We didn’t make the plays we were supposed to make in this situations and that’s what it boils down to.”
It wasn’t all bad for the Falcon defense, who recovered two fumbles in the first quarter to keep the game close.
The first fumble was forced by Kendall Montgomery and recovered by Nick Locke. That fumble led to a 35-yard touchdown run by Fred Coppet, which tied the game 7-7.
The second fumble came at the end of the first quarter when the Badgers fumbled the snap and Taylor Royster jumped on the ball. In a 14-10 game that gave the Falcons a chance to take the lead but their drive stalled.
The Joe Davidson punt was returned 40-yards by Badger receiver Kenzel Doe. That return set up a 34-yard touchdown pass from McEvoy to Sam Arneson on the next play, giving them a 21-10 lead.
The Falcons had a chance to cut the lead, as they drove to the Wisconsin 8-yard line but an interception thrown by James Knapke would end that drive.
“When somebody beats you by 51 points you can’t pick out one play and say that was the difference in the game. You lost by 51 points,” head coach Dino Babers said. “You can hit a wall once or twice and it might dent a little bit but over the long haul that thing is going to stand up. It was obvious they were a lot more physical and a lot stronger than us.”
From there the game seemed to tailspin out of control for the Falcons. For the most part, the tailspin resulted in touchdown after touchdown for Melvin Gordon. In the second quarter Gordon tallied touchdowns of 50, 3 and
29 yards.
The second play of the second half Gordon added a 69-yard touchdown run to his stat sheet. He finished the day with 254 yards on 13 carries and five
touchdowns.
“That’s the best running back I’ve seen in a long time,” Babers said. “He is very shifty, has great speed and great strength.”
The Badgers had two other players who ran for 100 yards. Badger quarterback Tanner McEvoy had 160 yards rushing and running back Corey Clement had 111. Third string running back Dar Ogunbowale almost reached the 100-yard mark with 94
yards rushing.
The Falcon offense was left scoreless in the second half until Andre Givens ran in a 60-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. That run accounted for 60 of their 93 rushing yards on the day.
“We were prepared everything they did we saw on film,” offensive lineman Alex Huettel said. “It just didn’t go our way.”
The Falcons will now prepare to go back on the road when they face The University of Massachusetts on Sept. 27 at 3 p.m.
“When that clock hit zero it’s behind us,” Huettel said. “We look at that as the preseason. If we were sitting here at 4-0 we aren’t guaranteed a MAC [Mid-American Conference] title. We want our respect in the MAC and we are going to get that.”
