The Bowling Green football team squeaked out a second half comeback Saturday, edging Buffalo 36-35.
The game was marked with plenty of back-and-forth action as it saw eight lead changes.
The Bulls (3-3, 1-1 Mid-American Conference) got the scoring going on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Joe Licata midway through the first quarter. But the Falcons (4-2, 2-0 MAC) quickly answered two minutes later with a touchdown run by running back Travis Greene.
This pattern continued for most of the half, as neither team pulled away and Buffalo entered halftime leading 28-20.
Scoring was much harder to come by in the second half. Midway through the fourth quarter, Buffalo running back Anthone Taylor scampered into the end zone from 12 yards out to give the Bulls a 35-30 lead with eight minutes, 38 seconds remaining.
With about three minutes left, Bowling Green had the ball on its own 20-yard line with the task of driving the ball 80 yards down the field. Falcons quarterback James Knapke found receiver Ronnie Moore twice on 40-yard and 36-yard completions to drive the team down to the 4-yard line. Bowling Green then punched it in on a 4-yard rush from Fred Coppet to take the 36-35 lead to win the game.
Knapke had a standout game for the Falcons, passing for 321 yards, while Moore caught nine passes for 178 yards. Bulls’ quarterback Joe Licata had three touchdown passes in the losing effort.
Bowling Green plays next at Ohio on Saturday. Buffalo hits the field next Saturday at Eastern Michigan.
Northern Illinois escapes with win over winless Kent State
Northern Illinois narrowly escaped an upset on Saturday as it beat Kent State 17-14.
The win extends the Huskies’ 28-game winning streak at home and their 24-game MAC winning streak.
Northern Illinois (4-1) was led by its rushing attack that compiled 181 yards.
The heavily-favored Huskies controlled the first half and the third quarter as they held the Golden Flashes to only two field goals while putting up 17 points of their own.
But it was the fourth quarter that had Northern Illinois fans biting their finger nails.
Kent State quarterback Colin Reardon led an 81-yard drive down the field, which he capped off with a 2-yard touchdown run and successful two-point conversion to put the team within three points with just over seven minutes remaining.
If that wasn’t enough to get the Huskies nervous, the Golden Flashes’ defense had more in store as Kent State safety Jordan Italiano intercepted an Anthony Maddie pass to give them the ball with six minutes left.
The Golden Flashes moved into field goal range with about two minutes remaining, but kicker Anthony Melchiori missed the 56-yard field goal attempt.
Northern Illinois looks to keep rolling as it takes on Central Michigan next Saturday at home. Kent State (0-5) looks to get into the win column against winless Massachusetts.
Toledo tops Western Michigan in overtime thriller
A missed extra point by Andrew Haldeman was the difference in Toledo’s win over Western Michigan 20-19 in overtime Saturday.
The Broncos (2-3) led for most of the game and held a 13-10 lead with 1:11 remaining in the fourth quarter, leaving only a slim chance that the Rockets (4-2) could drive the ball down the field in this amount of time.
But Toledo quarterback Logan Woodside drove his team down the field with strong clock management skills to set up a 37-yard field goal by Jeremiah Detmer, which he kicked through the uprights with no time left to send the game to overtime.
The Rockets maintained the momentum in overtime, as they drove down the field and scored on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Woodside to Alonzo Russell.
Western Michigan would do the same thing, as it scored on a pass from quarterback Zach Terrell, setting up an extra point opportunity from Haldeman to tie it up.
But he missed the short attempt and Toledo escaped with a victory.
Woodside passed for 210 yards for the Rockets, while running back Terry Swanson rushed for 172 yards. For the Broncos, Terrell threw for 370 yards on the day.
Toledo plays next at Iowa State on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Western Michigan prepares for a matchup at Ball State next Saturday at 3 p.m.
Adam Aucoin can be reached at [email protected].
