A pivotal late third quarter sequence dooms the Falcons’ upset bid in front of a hostile Kyle Field atmosphere.
100,000 seat college football cathedrals have become the norm for the Bowling Green Falcons in 2024.
These loud, packed, hostile environments served as the backdrop for two of the Falcons’ first three contests in a season equipped with lofty expectations. In Week 2, Bowling Green put forth a valiant effort at Penn State, ultimately falling 34-27 in a competitive 60-minute bout.
Two Saturdays later, the Falcons traveled to a different region of the country as heavy underdogs with a ranked opponent standing on the opposite sideline. Once again, an incredibly similar one-score defeat transpired. Bowling Green couldn’t outlast Texas A&M in a 26-20 decision, but the Falcons showed moments of promise in their first trip to the state of Texas since 1988.
“I think what happened over these last two weeks, we’re gonna look back at it as great lessons,” Bowling Green head coach Scot Loeffler said. “To make a run at this thing, you gotta do things right. We have this saying that we want to ‘close the deal,’ and closing the deals occurs from Sunday to the last walkthrough. I think we’re doing a good job of it… but we’ve got to tighten it up, because we’re close. We’re close.”
One late third quarter sequence proved to be the deciding factor in the closely-contested fight. Bowling Green was riding a tidal wave of momentum, fresh off a touchdown to narrow its deficit to three. After forcing a third down stop, Trey Johnson blocked the punt and the Falcons took control of the ball eight yards away from taking the lead. The offense stalled by failing to move a yard forward on the following three plays, but to make things worse for the underdogs, they shanked a 28-yard field goal to come up empty-handed.
“It’s a tough feeling coming that close in that situation,” Johnson said. “We had chances to bounce back and we didn’t. We just have to be better in all phases of the game and come back better next week ready to go.”
Texas A&M notched field goals on each of its next two possessions to escape the upset bid. However, the first of the two field goals did not occur without controversy, as the kick sailed over the left upright while veering far to the left in a call that was not reviewed. Bowling Green managed to respond to Texas A&M’s six fourth quarter points with a field goal in the final minute, but the Falcons’ failure to recover a late onside kick sealed their fate.
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Bowling Green went down swinging. The Falcons dove deep into the bag of tricks, concocting every deceitful play possible to record a statement victory in College Station. An onside kick and halfback pass in the red zone were among the unsuccessful gadget plays, but one eventually proved to be a game-changer.
“We said we had to make two big plays, so we rolled the bones and tried a surprise onside and didn’t execute it well,” Loeffler said. “Blocked punt — we thought we could get one. We actually thought we had a fake punt, but we were never able to try it. We’re gonna be aggressive on special teams. That’s who we are.”
With roughly five minutes left in the third quarter, backup quarterback Lucian Anderson checked in, handed the ball to running back Terion Stewart, who pitched it to wide receiver Rahkeem Smith on a reverse. Fueled by a downfield block by Anderson, Smith turned on the jets for a 40-yard house call to make it 20-17, Aggies.
“It was a great call at the right time,” Loeffler said of the reverse. “I thought Lucian was exceptional on the play. It was a great block. It’s not earth-shattering. He did it in practice. He did an unbelievable job on that play in practice and he executed it well.”
It wasn’t the Falcons’ only explosive touchdown of the night. After being barred from the end zone in the first half, they unleashed the fireworks immediately coming out of halftime. On the initial play of the third quarter, quarterback Connor Bazelak delivered a deep shot to star tight end Harold Fannin Jr., who hauled in an over-the-shoulder grab and maneuvered past several defenders en route to a 65-yard touchdown.
“It was a busted coverage and I knew Connor had to throw it to me,” Fannin said. “When I caught it, I’m looking like, ‘I’m trying to run. I’m trying to score,’ but the guy catches up to me. I just made a few Us and then I scored.”
Fannin attained 145 yards with eight receptions on the night, shattering his career-high he set one game ago at Penn State.
“It’s been fun,” Fannin said on having back-to-back career-highs in hostile environments. “The atmosphere was great. You’ve gotta be hyped. You’re away in a hostile environment… I worked hard like anybody else, so I just let it loose. It’s football. I’ve been doing it since I was young. I don’t really think about it — just go out there and do my best and have no regrets.”
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Bowling Green consistently moved the ball in the first half, but it didn’t translate to the scoreboard. Each of the Falcons’ first four series invaded Texas A&M territory, but three of them stalled shortly after midfield and resulted in punts, while the other produced a chip shot field goal. The field goal was far from the desired outcome of Bowling Green’s first scoring drive, which saw a Fannin touchdown wiped away due to holding.
“The longer the drive, the more tired people get and they’re not really executing,” Fannin said on the inability to finish first half drives.
Texas A&M only manufactured two touchdown drives the entire night, as Bowling Green showcased a solid defensive showing. The Falcons prevented explosive back-breakers from kickoff to final whistle, only yielding two plays exceeding 20 yards and zero spanning at least 30 — a massive improvement from the Penn State game. Despite only two stops behind the line of scrimmage, Bowling Green forced a trio of three-and-outs, providing the offense sufficient opportunity to keep the door ajar.
“We thought we were most concerned with the running game and giving up explosive runs,” Loeffler said on the defensive strategy.
However, one defensive lapse may stick out among Bowling Green faithful. In the waning moments of the second quarter, Texas A&M dug out of a 3rd and 23 and wound up cashing in for three points in a lower-scoring contest where every field goal proved essential.
Texas A&M (3-1, 1-0 SEC) claimed its third consecutive victory after surviving the scare from the Falcons. Bowling Green (1-2, 0-0 MAC) rides a 2-game skid into its non-conference finale vs. Old Dominion, but back-to-back close losses in 100,000 capacity environments versus ranked competition instill confidence into what this team is capable of accomplishing.
“As painful as this is, this was great,” Loeffler said. “Everything’s gonna matter. All our habits during the week, how we eat, how we hydrate, how we approach practice, what we do in practice — it’s gonna matter. That’s what the good championship teams can do all the time.”