Game Recap: Bowling Green Falcons 41, Toledo Rockets 26

The Falcons win their third Battle of I-75 under Loeffler, thanks in part to Jordan Oladokun’s two interceptions.

Bowling Green (4-4, 3-1 MAC) and Toledo (5-3, 2-2 MAC) faced off for another edition of the Battle of I-75. Will this one live up to the hype of the last few?

Here’s what happened:

---

• The Falcons won the toss, and deferred to the second half.
• Tucker Gleason would start after missing the last game. The Rockets would go three-and-out on the first series.
• The Falcons would then start in Rocket territory, and take advantage of it quickly, as Terion Stewart would cross the goal line from five yards out to put the Falcons up 7-0.
• Toledo would answer right back with a four-yard touchdown from Gleason to Jerjuan Newton to put the score at 7-7 after the PAT from Dylan Cunanan. The drive was set up in part by a wild Gleason/Newton connection earlier in the drive, with Gleason trying to toss out of a sack and Newton cleverly leaving his assignment to haul in a 34-yard catch.
• After both teams traded three -and-outs, the Falcons would march down the field and cap it off with a touchdown to Harold Fannin, Jr. on a nine-yard play to put the Falcons up 14-7.
• Dylan Cunanan would make a 54-yard field goal early in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 14-10 in favor of the visiting Falcons— who immediately re-built their two-score lead with a touchdown from Connor Bazelak to Levi Gazarek to place the Falcons at a 21-10 margin.
• Tucker Gleason’s next two possessions were Jekyll and Hyde, as he would call his own number to run in for a touchdown of his own on the next drive to put the game back within a score at 21-17— but he would toss a lazy ball in the direction of Jerjuan Newton on Toledo’s next possession, which Jordan Oladokun housed to put BGSU up two scores once again at 28-17.
• The Rockets would get a last second field goal from Cunanan as time expired, putting the halftime tally at 28-20 in favor of the visiting Falcons.
• Toledo came out on fire on both sides of the ball, with the defense forcing a quick punt and Jerjuan Newton burning the Falcons defense for a 64-yard receiving touchdown to get Toledo to within two points. The conversion attempt failed, keeping the margin at 28-26 for BG.
• Bowling Green tacked on two field goals to their tenuous lead over the next two drives, building up an eight-point reserve on two Zach Long field goals to put the tally at 34-26.
• Toledo would try to muster up a comeback attempt, but a second Oladokun INT, a punt and a failed fourth-down would ultimately kill any chance of a comeback— especially with Rahkeem Smith’s killshot from 19 yards out putting the margin at a 41-26 tally with 5:11 remaining all but put the game out of reach.

---

Takeaways

Bowling Green

• Bowling Green’s defense was non-existent for the first half. The defense did make the plays needed in the late stages to give the Falcons a chance to put the game away. If anything, it was the Jordan Oladokun legacy game. Two interceptions, one of them being a pick-six, were ultimately a major part of the difference in this game.
• The Falcons had a quiet 402 yards of offense, 215 of those being on the ground. Terion Stewart, playing in only his second career Battle of I-75, finished with 99 yards and one touchdown. The thing that everyone has to notice: no turnovers.
• Bazelak finished with 171 yards and two touchdowns. While it was a quiet game for Bazelak, he made some good throws.
• The Falcons have won back-to-back games in the Glass Bowl for the first time in 30 years, and now hold a game advantage in the chase for a trip to Detroit, sitting in a three-way tie for second place as of publication.

Toledo

• Tucker Gleason returned to the starting role, and it’s clear that the Rockets were better because of it. Gleason finished with 320 yards and two touchdowns— though he did also have two interceptions. The ceiling of the offense is a lot higher with him under center. He threw both touchdowns to Jerjuan Newton, who finished with a career-high 164 receiving yards. Junior Vandeross III also finished with 106 yards. Perhaps some variety in the passing game could have helped at some point, though.
• The Rockets only ran to the tune of 102 yards, a surprising fact considering BG’s rushing defense hasn’t been particularity stellar. Connor Walendzak ran for 58 yards to lead the way, while Gleason had 26 yards and one touchdown. The Rockets will need to improve here; they can’t rely on Gleason improvising for the whole game.

---

Plays of the Game

Our first play is your weekly scheduled Harold Fannin, Jr. play. His hurdle put the Falcons up 14-7.

Tucker Gleason threw a nice pass to Jerjuan Newton. Newton has good hands.

Our final play of the game, of course, goes to Jordan Oladokun. You know why.

---

Up Next

The Falcons have a break before starting midweek conference play at Central Michigan on Tuesday, November 5th. Time and network to be decided.

Toledo has one more Saturday game this season. They’ll travel to Ypsilanti to take on Eastern Michigan. Game is scheduled for 12:00 pm Eastern time on ESPNU.