And there was much sadness.
What a night, huh? A great crowd, spirited fans of both sides, and a game that came down to the very last minutes with a shocking finish. Much like the game last year, in fact, though we did like the result better that time.
The rivalry game has delivered incredible drama the last two years. It was a dogfight until the end.
It is hard to imagine BG playing much better than they did in the first half. Working without Terion Stewart, they were just amazing. They had 14 first downs. Almost 20 minutes of possession. Bazelak was 17 of 22 for 207 yards. Meanwhile, the Rocket offense was off the field, with only 7 first downs and only 10 points.
Yes, BG led 28-10 at the half.
I don't think anyone on BG's side thought it was over and alas, it was not.
It unraveled right away in the second half. BG got the kick and had a chance to put the game away with a score. They got to a 4th and inches near their own 35. They decided to go for it but in the excitement got a critical false start penalty. On the punt, the snap was high and Kleather had to rush the kick, which covered only 12 yards.
Two passes later, UT was in the end zone and it was 28-17.
BG came right back and drove into UT territory. Cam Orth was in to provide the running dimension and he was doing it, on a 12 yard run to the UT 20 when he was hit from behind and fumbled and UT recovered.
BG's defense responded, though, getting a 3-and-out. UT's punted unleashed a monster kick and the Falcons started on their 6. They made four first downs, including on 3rd and 13 and were back at the UT 29 for third and 6. Bazelak was sacked on the next two plays and BG turned the ball over with 3 minutes left in the 3rd.
The defense continued to hold up. UT drove to the Falcon 48, but a Jordan Porter pass break up led to 4th and 6 and UT went for it but did not make it.
The offense started near midfield with yet another opportunity to finish the Rockets off.
Alas, they went three and out as Bazelak was under constant siege from the Rocket pass rush. They punted UT to their own 11 having taken less than a minute off the clock.
Finally, the dam broke. Peny Boone had a 55 yards run and the Rockets scored with the two-pointed to make it 28-25.
BG went 3 and out, failing to convert a 3rd and 2. After the punt, UT started on their 16.
And....on 2nd down...Finn overthrew his receiver and Oladokun intercepted the ball on the Rocket 39.
Freeze frame that moment right there. There was 10 minutes left. You have a short field. You have to think you can make this a two-score game.
Bazelak is injured now, and it was Orth for the remainder of the game. Bowling Green made a first down and then took a holding call. On 3rd and 8 from the 22, Orth just missed an open Hilaire in the end zone, in what is probably the second most tragic moment for BG in the game. A FG followed and the lead was 6 with 7:25,
The defense does their job again, sacking Finn and forcing UT to punt. It was a short punt that BG let land and somehow got a holding penalty anyway and started on their 34 with 5:42 left.
Three first downs and the game is over. Reporters asked Loeffler if he considered running it three times to burn clock, which he did not do. I think we did the right thing.
We ran one run and two passes. The issue here is that we had no realistic hope of making the first down running the ball (remember, Stewart is injured) and that the offense was unable to move the chains. I guess knowing that, you might have run the clock and put it into your defense's hands...ultimately, when BG needed the offense in the 2nd half, they didn't produce.
One minute and one second went off the clock.
UT takes the ball on their own 23 with 4:36 left. Clock is rolling, they convert and 3rd and 6. The defense got them into a 4th and 2. This is just heartbreaking. There's 1:45 left. We are one play from winning the game. And, sadly, one play from losing it. UT hit Stuart with a pass for the first down but he ran untouched down the sideline for a soul-crushing score. Coach said after the game that someone on the field made a mistake to let it happen, though he didn't go into detail, which is fine. It is what it is.
BG did get the ball back but lost 7 yards and turned it over on downs. And the Rocket students stormed our field.
Oh my.
BG ran 81 plays, UT ran 57...that yields 7.3 yards per play for UT and 5 for BG. BG dominated time of possession at 37 minutes and 17 in the second half. BG was 6 -17 on 3rd down and UT was 3 of 11. Both teams turned it over once. Coach said after the game that UT made one more play. With all the second half struggles for our offense, it was down to one play and it went the other way.
BG's never ran the ball effectively. Man did Keith run hard but the line just doesn't make it easy. He's not meeting contact up field. Also, UT was close to the line defensively, because the Falcons had a hard time on deep drop passing due to a lack of protection. BG averaged 4.1 yards per carry, sack adjusted. His long run was 14.
Meanwhile, before going out, Bazelak was 6 of 13 for 79 yards. Orth was 3 of 11 for 23 yards. BG completed 56% of its passes for 11.8 yards per completion. The biggest issue was that they were sacked 5 times and hurried 8 times, making that 13 pressures in 51 attempts...almost 25%.
BG made 1 first down in the 4th quarter.
The defense did what it could, getting key stops against a high-powered UT attacked. They sacked Finn three times (twice by Howell) and kept his running from taking over the game. They had no answer for Boone--and I don't have an answer for why he only ran it 15 times--and Finn did complete passes. In the end, Coach said there were two huge mistakes, one of them on the decisive play.
BG heads to play WMU, who have been playing a little better. They can finish with 7 wins, a one game improvement over last year, and two with a bowl win. It was BG's best game against a good MAC team this year. As I always say, whether that's good enough is the decision.
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