Paul Revere wouldn’t be happy if a visiting team came into Massachusetts and raided them for everything they had.
Bowling Green traveled to Massachusetts Saturday and took all the spoils in a shutout win 24-0 for UMass’ homecoming game.
The defense stole the show for the Falcons in front of 10,846 away fans, as they put up their first shutout since 2004 when the Falcons shutout Western Michigan 52-0 and the first on the road since 2001 at Ohio 17-0.
Despite the score-line and the shutout, the offense struggled.
The offense only managed 282 yards with 94 of those in the rush game, but it was enough to move running back Anthon Samuel into a tie for 18th place in all-time school history. Samuel, a sophomore, didn’t have a touchdown in the game, but quarterback Matt Schilz had two. Schilz completed touchdown passes of 16-yards to receiver Shaun Joplin and 2-yards to tight end Alex Bayer all without an interception.
The Falcons took advantage of the Minutemen’s penalties. In the third quarter, only up by a touchdown, Massachusetts contributed two-straight pass interference calls, which resulted in Bayer’s touchdown reception.
The flags were flying for the Falcons, too. BG had 15 penalties, resulting in 130 yards lost.
“I’m really disappointed in all the penalties and that our offense got off to a really slow start in the first half and never really got into a rhythm,” Head Coach Dave Clawson said. “We certainly did not play as well up front on offense as we have the past three weeks.”
The Falcons managed to score just 7 points in the first half and punted on several occasions.
Bowling Green stopped the run game of the Minutemen limiting them to only 85 yards and forced them to pass the ball.
The defense only allowed 118 yards of total offense and had intercepted the Minutemen four times, including Dwayne Woods’ 48 yard return for a touchdown. Boo Boo Gates added an interception and Jude Adjei-Barimah added two.
“How can you find any fault with the defensive effort?” Clawson said. “Those guys were unbelievable.”
Despite all the defensive success, defensive tackle Chris Jones had his six-game sack-streak snapped but was a key part to holding the Minutemen to 1-for-16 on third down conversions. Tackle D.J. Lynch led the defense with 10 tackles of his own and a career high.
Special teams added some points Saturday as well. Kicker Stephan Stein added a 42 yard field goal in the fourth quarter for a career high: he has not missed a field goal in two games now.
“Anytime you go on the road and win a conference game, we’re happy,” Clawson said. “Are we capable of playing better and do we need to play better? Absolutely.”
The Falcons now move to 5-3 overall and are on a four-game win streak for the first time since 2009. Bowling Green is now perched third in the MAC East behind Kent State and Ohio with a 3-1 record and will be at home this upcoming Saturday to play Eastern Michigan.
