The Falcons dominated the second half to defeat Akron 24-10 Saturday for their 500th win in school history.
This is the first MAC win for the Falcons and their first back-to-back win since the start of their 2011 season. The Falcons now move to 3-3 with a 1-1 record in the MAC, as well as to a school record of 500-349-51 in 94 seasons.
The entire first half seemed all Akron as they dominated the game with 280 yards of offense and 10 points, all while the Falcons had gained just 150 and struggled with consistency.
“The problem was the defense we thought they were going to play wasn’t the defense they played in the first half,” said tight end Alex Bayer.
As the second half started, the Falcons immediately found their offense as they drove 78 yards for Anthon Samuel 4-yard rushing touchdown.
The defense held Akron to a 3-and-out the following drive and followed it up with a 26-yard field goal kicked by Stephan Stein to tie the game. This was Stein’s first field goal of the season. He would later miss a 24-yard attempt in the fourth quarter.
From there on it was all BG. The Falcons had 228 yards in the third quarter as Akron was held to just four. Akron would be held to just 36 in the entire second half.
“If you notice, our defense is ranked kind of high too,” Head Coach Dave Clawson said. “We challenged the defense against the number one offense in the conference with our number one defense. It was a matchup that we had to win and I think our guys responded.”
Akron, who averages 38.6 points a game and 497.4 yards of offense, were held to just the 10 points and 316 yards. During the fourth quarter, not a single play was run on the BG side of the field.
Defensive end Chris Jones added another sack to his season as he now has 6.5. This sack extended his streak to five straight games recording one. The Falcons would add three more sacks on the day for a total of four. Defensive back Cam Truss would add a team and career high 10 tackles against the Zips.
The running game was a huge factor in the Falcons victory. Samuel had 117 yards of just 15 carries including runs of 27 and 20 to start off the third quarter. He would later leave the game with a foot sprain that Clawson refused to comment on after the game. John Pettigrew and Jamel Martin would step in and earn 81 yards and 79 yards respectively.
Quarterback Matt Schilz and Bayer would add to the offense as well. Schilz threw for 180 yards, two touchdowns and a first-half interception. Bayer would have two touchdown receptions of his own with a career-best 94 yards off five catches. His touchdown of 60-yards would be a career-high as well.
This win will leave BG right in the middle of the MAC East in fourth place. The Falcons will be home Saturday against the 3-3 Miami Redhawks.
