BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Three different Falcons rushed for over 100 yards as Bowling Green generated its best ground attack in 18 years while beating Kent State 48-7 Tuesday at Doyt L Perry Stadium. BGSU ran over, through and around the Golden Flashes to the tune of 420 yards and four touchdowns in the victory.
"It was very disappointing," said Kent State head coach Paul Haynes. "That was not Kent State football and like I told the guys in the locker room, that's on me. We did not get ourselves ready to roll tonight. I give Bowling Green credit. They came out and were more physical and played harder than we did.
"We got a pick (by Parker) early and it was kind of back and forth for a little while. But again we didn't play Kent State football tonight."
The Falcons' offense . . .
"It was very disappointing," said Kent State head coach Paul Haynes. "That was not Kent State football and like I told the guys in the locker room, that's on me. We did not get ourselves ready to roll tonight. I give Bowling Green credit. They came out and were more physical and played harder than we did.
"We got a pick (by Parker) early and it was kind of back and forth for a little while. But again we didn't play Kent State football tonight."
The Falcons' offense . . .
. . . waited until the third possession of the game to start rolling, but once it got going, it never stopped. James Morgan started the onslaught by directing a 16-play, 89-yard drive.
Fred Coppet carried most of the burden on the first scoring drive with six carries for 32 yards, while Donovan Wilson capped it with three straight carries, including a three-yard touchdown run. The march lasted 6:48 and was the longest of the season for the Falcons.
Fred Coppet carried most of the burden on the first scoring drive with six carries for 32 yards, while Donovan Wilson capped it with three straight carries, including a three-yard touchdown run. The march lasted 6:48 and was the longest of the season for the Falcons.
BGSU started another extended drive after the defense forced a fourth straight punt by Kent State. This 16-play marathon was even more run heavy than the first, including just four pass plays. Wilson hauled the ball eight times for 36 yards, and Coppet added 18 yards on three tries. However, Morgan used a play-action fake to toss a three-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Folkertsma and a 14-0 lead.
Bowling Green's defense handed the ball back to the offense in just 73 seconds, and Morgan's crew made it pay off again. This time, they scored in relatively speedy fashion by covering 60 yards in just nine plays and 4:05. Fred Coppet tallied on a 13-yard run for a 21-0 lead with 3:07 left in the first half.
The Falcons carried a 21-7 lead into halftime and added to it on their second drive of the second half. From their own 15, Josh Cleveland took the ball around the left end and out-raced the entire KSU defense up-field for an 85-yard score that marked BGSU's longest play of 2016.
Bowling Green’s final two drives were 12 plays, 73 yards in 6:16 and 10 plays, 85 yards in 6:21. Wilson earned his second touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter, and Deric Phouthavong caught his first career touchdown pass with 2:29 left in the game for the final 42-7 margin.
Wilson, Coppet and Cleveland are BGSU's first trio of backs to surpass 100 yards in the same game since Oct. 7, 1978 against Toledo. The Falcons' 420 rushing yards are the most for the team since posting 424 on Oct. 24, 1998 against Kent State.
Bowling Green now has 638 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns in its last two games. This is the most rushing yards in back-to-back contests since 2002; that is also the last year in which the Falcons rushed for four or more scores in back-to-back games.
Wilson, who ran for 146 yards, now has 51 carries, 265 yards and three touchdowns in his last two games. Coppet (105) also has back-to-back 100-yard games, while Cleveland (131) has now hit the century mark twice in 2016.
Morgan threw for 177 yards and two scores,with 81 of those yards going to Ronnie Moore. That helped Moore pass Roger Lewis and Stan Hunter into fourth on BGSU's all-time receiving yards list with 2,691. His 48-yard catch against Kent was his longest of 2016.
Bowling Green's defense was also stellar against the Golden Flashes. The team held KSU to only seven points and just two drives of more than 25 yards. The Flashes ran 40 fewer plays than BGSU and had only 254 total yards. Falcon defenders had a season-high four sacks, led by 1.5 from true freshman Tyrik Jones.
Quarterback Nick Holley, who has produced much of the offense for Kent State this year, was held to a net of four yards on 13 carries. The junior running back forced into QB duty due to team injuries at the latter spot, had gained at least 141 yards in the three previous games and eclipsed the century mark rushing in five of the last six outings. George Bollas also saw action at quarterback for Kent State.
Defensively linebacker Nick Cuthbert followed his 19-tackles performance against Western Michigan (3rd best in nation this year) with 18 stops against BGSU. Freshman cornerback Jamal Parker made his first and second career interceptions and became the sixth Kent State player with an interception this season.
The Falcons are now 3-8 overall and 2-5 in Mid-American Conference games. BGSU will have an opportunity to conclude its 2016 season with a three-game winning streak. The Falcons host the Buffalo at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 25. Kent State will host Northern Illinois will close at home against Northern Illinois (Noon, ET)
(Courtesy of BGSU and KSU Athletics)
Bowling Green's defense handed the ball back to the offense in just 73 seconds, and Morgan's crew made it pay off again. This time, they scored in relatively speedy fashion by covering 60 yards in just nine plays and 4:05. Fred Coppet tallied on a 13-yard run for a 21-0 lead with 3:07 left in the first half.
The Falcons carried a 21-7 lead into halftime and added to it on their second drive of the second half. From their own 15, Josh Cleveland took the ball around the left end and out-raced the entire KSU defense up-field for an 85-yard score that marked BGSU's longest play of 2016.
Bowling Green’s final two drives were 12 plays, 73 yards in 6:16 and 10 plays, 85 yards in 6:21. Wilson earned his second touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter, and Deric Phouthavong caught his first career touchdown pass with 2:29 left in the game for the final 42-7 margin.
Wilson, Coppet and Cleveland are BGSU's first trio of backs to surpass 100 yards in the same game since Oct. 7, 1978 against Toledo. The Falcons' 420 rushing yards are the most for the team since posting 424 on Oct. 24, 1998 against Kent State.
Bowling Green now has 638 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns in its last two games. This is the most rushing yards in back-to-back contests since 2002; that is also the last year in which the Falcons rushed for four or more scores in back-to-back games.
Wilson, who ran for 146 yards, now has 51 carries, 265 yards and three touchdowns in his last two games. Coppet (105) also has back-to-back 100-yard games, while Cleveland (131) has now hit the century mark twice in 2016.
Morgan threw for 177 yards and two scores,with 81 of those yards going to Ronnie Moore. That helped Moore pass Roger Lewis and Stan Hunter into fourth on BGSU's all-time receiving yards list with 2,691. His 48-yard catch against Kent was his longest of 2016.
Bowling Green's defense was also stellar against the Golden Flashes. The team held KSU to only seven points and just two drives of more than 25 yards. The Flashes ran 40 fewer plays than BGSU and had only 254 total yards. Falcon defenders had a season-high four sacks, led by 1.5 from true freshman Tyrik Jones.
Quarterback Nick Holley, who has produced much of the offense for Kent State this year, was held to a net of four yards on 13 carries. The junior running back forced into QB duty due to team injuries at the latter spot, had gained at least 141 yards in the three previous games and eclipsed the century mark rushing in five of the last six outings. George Bollas also saw action at quarterback for Kent State.
Defensively linebacker Nick Cuthbert followed his 19-tackles performance against Western Michigan (3rd best in nation this year) with 18 stops against BGSU. Freshman cornerback Jamal Parker made his first and second career interceptions and became the sixth Kent State player with an interception this season.
The Falcons are now 3-8 overall and 2-5 in Mid-American Conference games. BGSU will have an opportunity to conclude its 2016 season with a three-game winning streak. The Falcons host the Buffalo at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 25. Kent State will host Northern Illinois will close at home against Northern Illinois (Noon, ET)
(Courtesy of BGSU and KSU Athletics)
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