Game Recap: Bowling Green Falcons 27, Kent State Golden Flashes 6

Bazelak throws two touchdowns on sore ankle, leads Bowling Green to 63rd win against Kent State.

Bowling Green and Kent State faced off for the 92nd time on Saturday. Here’s what went down:

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• The Flashes won the toss, and deferred to the second half.
• Both teams would trade punts on their first possessions before BGSU marched 98 yards down the field and took the 3-0 lead on a Zach Long field goal.
• Kent State would respond with a field goal of their own by Will Hryszko to make it 3-3.
• BGSU built up a lead on two scores, with Connor Bazelak finding Malcolm Johnson, Jr. for a 50-yard touchdown and Zach Long scoring on a placekick to put the score at 13-3.
• After some punts were traded, Kent State would be able to get into field goal range to narrow the score on a Hryszko field goal to make it 13-6 Bowling Green.
• The Falcons would have one more drive before te end of the first half, and Lucian Anderson III would take it himself to make the score 20-6 after the PAT by Long. Kent State would not attempt any heroics, and kneeled out to the halftime break.
• The Golden Flashes received the second half kickoff, but couldn’t do anything with it. This would be the case over most of the second half, as KSU would go punt, punt, interception, interception on their first four possessions of the contest. Edward Rhambo and Patrick Day would notch the respective turnovers for BGSU.
• BGSU would score on the Rhambo turnover via Jamal Johnson receiving touchdown to put the score at its final tally of 27-6, handing Kent State their 16th straight loss dating back to last season.

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Takeaways

Bowling Green

• Harold Fannin, Jr. broke the BGSU records for single season receiving yards and career receiving yards, both at the tight end position. Fannin finished with ten receptions for 171 yards.
• Sore ankle? No problem for Bazelak. He finished 23/27 for 313 yards and two touchdowns in a clean game. You could tell his ankle was hurting with some of the running he did.
• The Falcons had a tough day just putting the game away, but their second half defense made sure to not give anything to Kent State. The Falcons only gave up 204 yards of offense, 78 passing yards and 126 rushing yards.
• There’s still a lot to figure out for the Falcons, who sit at 3-4 overall, but anytime you can get a win in MACtion, it feels great— especially in a rivalry contest.

Kent State

• It was a tough game for Kent State overall. After showing flashes of brilliance the past two weeks (pun absolutely intended), they couldn’t get it going on offense. Ulatowski was an abysmal 7-of-27 for 78 yards and two interceptions
• The bright spot for the Flashes was Ky Thomas rushing for 121 yards. The Falcons had trouble stopping Thomas all day.
• The Flashes weren’t able to stop Connor Bazelak. They were able to limit the Falcons to 123 total rushing yards. Despite that, Kent State still gave up 436 yards of offense.
• Kent State still has not had a lead at any point this season, and at this point in the season, it’s entirely reasonable to wonder if they will ever get one.

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Plays of the Game

The first play of the game belongs to Harold Fannin, Jr. The guy might have magnets in every part of his body.

The final play goes to the Falcons as well. Bazelak found Malcolm Johnson, Jr. to get their first touchdown of the day.

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Up Next

The Falcons head north. It’s the Battle of I-75. Kickoff is set for 3:30 pm EST on October 26th. Kent State travels to Kalamazoo to take on Western Michigan. Kickoff is set for 3:30 pm EST on October 26th.