Sadness Accrues. Hard But Fair.

Sadness Accrues

That one will leave a mark.  What a shame.  Beautiful day. Despite being 2-4, despite OSU playing Indiana, we put 20K in the seats for that game.  And it was pure #maction.  A wild and entertaining game.  Or, more accurately, a wild and entertaining finish, if you were anything but a BG fan.  It was heartbreak for us.

And yet, when the wash settles, we lost at home to a 1-5 team when we had three walk-off chances on defense and spit the bit twice.  To be who we hoped to be, we really needed this one, and we did not play well enough to win.  Coach says we need to execute, which is true.  I think this team is flawed on offense and can't win consistently in the trenches.  You can only execute so much.  And play calling...sure, but I don't think the offense has enough players. It's not fair to ask your defense to bail you out every week, and the defense got bullied in the trenches, too.

As Coach said, it was "hard but fair."

The two teams traded punts to start.  Starting from their own 9, BSU went on a 10-play, 69-yard drive that lasted nearly 6 minutes.  (This was a game of long drives and running clocks).  They converted a 3rd-and-11, then were on the BG 22; BG snuffed Luster up the middle, and BSU had a FG to go up 3-0.

BG recovered its own fumble off the kickoff.  They say fumble recoveries are mostly luck, so note that BG recovered its own fumble twice. There is 3:15 left in the first.  BG made 2 first downs before being forced to punt from the BSU 36.

Here's a hidden thing.  The teams traded punts.  BSU had a 56-yard punt.  BG had a 34-yard punt.  So, the Cards are on their own 37.  A 29-yard completion got them to the 8, and Luster ran it in from there, making it 10-0 with 7:07 left in the 2nd.

The high point of the game came on the next play, as Kastantin hit Ridley on an inside screen, and he went 77 yards for a score to make it 10-7.

You are hoping to see that turn the momentum in BG's favor, and the Falcons did get a 3-and-out.  Then, they started on their own 25 with 5:11 to play...and took an 11-play drive...to cover....44 yards.  That's right, 4:22 of possession netted BG a made 49-yard FG attempt.  (and a 3rd down fumble).

OK.  Tied, BG gets the ball.  BG drove to midfield, took a sack, and then punted BSU to their own 4.  Even now, you have to feel like we are in good shape.  Except we weren't.  Ball State took a 10-play drive, covered 96 yards, and scored 6 minutes later to make it 17-10. They faced ZERO third downs.  Luster scored on a 28-yard scramble.

Obviously, you don't like this team playing from behind.  BG hit Jacon-Duffy for 24 and got a roughing the passer call and then a 10-yard Dendy run and BG was at their 18. Then BG missed two opportunities at QB.  On 2nd down, Kastaintin overthrew a wide-open TD to Amarchree, and on 3rd down he threw into an area with at least 3 defenders and underthrew it at that; it was a red zone turnover.

We're in the 4th now.  BSU went on a 7:00 drive, this time converting 3 third downs before the defense stalled the drive and BSU punted into the end zone.

From their 20, with 8:36, you see something important about Kastaintin.  Right after those two poor passes, he came out spinning it and running it.  He hit Marchree for 6, ran for 9, hit Sharp for 19, and hit Dendy for 6.  It's 2nd and 4 from the BSU 35 with 5:30 left.  Dendy gets hit by an unblocked defender for a 3-yard loss; Kastaintin ran for 5, and it was 4th and 2 with 4:12 left on the 33.  

Play of the game, obviously.  They have Kemp in.  Everyone thinks run, but they sent Kemp wide left, hit him with a pass, and he gained 15 yards.  Another Dendy 3-yard loss, but Scoby gets it to the 8, and on 3rd-and-goal, Kastaintin hits Jacon-Duffy for the score.  17-17 with 1:12 left to play.

You're thinking, OK.  OT.  On BSU's next play, Luster ran up the middle for 10 yards, but Pascal poked the ball free, and Banks had his second scoop-and-score in consecutive weeks, and BG was up 24-17 with 1:01 left and a chance to absolutely STEAL THIS GAME.

Alas. Starting on their own 22, BSU marched down the field.  A 19-yard completion.  From the BG 45, they go deep and have separation, so BG interferes.  They end up on the BG 20 with :05 left.  BG makes the stop--FROM 20 YARDS--and the game is over.

I see lots of teams send the house in this situation; BG rushed four with six guys lined up on the goal line.  Luster dropped back.  The pocket narrowed, but he still had space to escape.  He drifted to the left.  Hohlt ripped right across the face of the BG defense and found half the end zone completely unguarded, despite BG being in prevent.

So, onto OT.  BG scored on 4 plays and had the lead.  BG had a 4th and 1 from out 16 (walk-off opportunity #2) and converted.  They ran to the one and scored on the next play. The Cards lined up to go for 2. Luster drops back; Pringle rushes up the middle, gets grabbed, and is delayed.  Luster scrambles right and throws the ball into a tight window to Scherle, who makes a great play to keep his feet in.  Sanders Ellis was there (I mean, right there), but he didn't turn his head until the ball was essentially there.

2026 BOWLING GREEN FOOTBALL · POSTGAME REPORT

Bowling Green vs. Ball State

October 17, 2026 · Doyt L. Perry Stadium · Overtime

BG 31  –  BALL STATE 32

Game statistic	Bowling Green	Ball State
Yards per rush	2.80	5.71
Yards per completion	12.65	12.19
Completion percentage	70.8%	66.7%
Yards per play	5.31	6.59
Third-down conversions	5/12 (41.7%)	5/12 (41.7%)
Red-zone points per trip	4.67	7.33
Turnovers	1	1
Explosive plays (count)	4	12
Explosive-play yards	121	213
Special Teams Index	+7	−2
Penalties (number–yards)	5–60	6–57

A few notes:

• The key to the game was Keldric Luster, who, according to the coach, got healthy this week after being injured.  He showed running he has not shown this year, with 125 yards on 17 carries and no sacks.  Further, outside the pocket, he bought time and made plays, including the two biggest plays of the game.  If BG can keep him in the pocket, they win. 
• BG was beaten in the trenches on both side. They held BG's top two backs to 3.7 yards per carry, and they sacked Kastantin 4 times.  BG had 215 passing yards, but if you subtract the pass to Ridley and the sacks, they averaged 4.4 yards per dropback.  Meanwhile, TJ Horton averaged 5.1 yards per carry, and Luster wasn't sacked.
• Even so, BG had a chance to steal the game.  The 2-pt play?  I think it was a pretty good play by BSU.  But the 4th-down play...that was a complete lack of discipline and cannot happen when you are in prevent mode. The whole concept is to trade pressure for coverage.
• BG's special teams were good.  They had a big KO return by Kemp, stuck BSU inside the 20 3 times, and made a long FG, getting touchbacks on 3 of the 5 kickoff attempts.

So, what for 3 games looked to be a team turning itself around is now a team more or less playing out the string.  In the past, this was a developmental opportunity, but who knows how many of these guys are already looking to the portal.  

But Coach was right.  This was a fair outcome. And that's probably the saddest way to look at it.  On to Buffalo and then WMU. 

There's a huge amount of noise out there.  Part of it is people who think Loeffler was underappreciated. (Reminder, we didn't fire Loeffler). And part of it is people watching what's happening.  I will say this...the MAC is creaking, and this might be the Last Dance. There are haves and have-nots, and structurally we are a have-not.  And we're not the best have-not right now, and the vector doesn't appear to point there. (For example, he's not playing a 4th-string QB this year.)  I'm not ready to give up on  this staff...but there's little to point to right now.