KENT – Another Saturday.
Another game filled with disappointments as the dark clouds were gathering.
But Bowling Green found plenty of rays of sunshine in the fourth quarter, thanks to its defense, the
offensive line, Tyler Sheehan and Freddie Barnes.
The Falcons scored two touchdowns in the final five minutes of the game to slip past Kent State, 36-35 in
Dix Stadium. The victory broke Bowling Green’s four-game losing streak. Three of those defeats were by
seven points.
“We’ve been involved in a lot of games like that this season and we’ve come up on the short end of a
number (of them),” BG head coach Dave Clawson. “It’s certainly credit to our players who kept playing
hard.
“Our offense really executed unbelievable in the fourth quarter. We converted every down we needed to,”
he continued. “Our players executed and showed a lot of heart.”
Sheehan’s 9-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown on third down with five seconds remaining was the
game-winner.
“We knew on their goal-line defense when we spread people out they like to get people on those guys and
they really don’t honor the quarterback run too much,” Sheehan said. “We were just planning on getting
half (of the yardage), but then I saw the guy, lowered my shoulder and tried to make a play.”
“Tyler’s a strong runner. He’s a big kid. He’s got those big legs that don’t look like they fit him. He
used them and he got the touchdown for us,” Barnes said.
The game was filled with records as Sheehan was 44-of-63 passing for 505 yards and four touchdowns with
one interception. The completions, attempts and total yards were all school records. It’s the fourth
500-yard passing game in Mid-American Conference history.
“That’s something I can’t do without the rest of my guys,” Sheehan said about his records. “The line did
a great job up front all day. I could throw as many balls as I want, but if they don’t catch them, I
don’t get any yards. I give all the credit to those guys making plays.”
Barnes, who dropped a key pass at the end of last Saturday’s 44-37 loss to Ohio, responded with 22
receptions for 278 yards and three scores. The receptions and total yards were both school records. Both
the receptions and yards were both the second-most in MAC history. The 22 receptions are also the
third-most in NCAA history.
“I just give all the credit to God because without him I won’t have been able to do any of that, ” Barnes
said. “We’ve been in this position for a couple of weeks now. Last week I let us down, so this week I
felt I had to step it up and that’s really what it was all about.”
Kent State took a 35-23 lead with 12:08 to play on a 3-yard run by Jacquise Terry.
Bowling Green then drove inside the 20, but turned the ball over on downs.
Kent State held the ball for just over three minutes after Bowling Green stalled, but BG’s defense held
and the Falcons got the ball back.
Barnes returned the short punt 15 yards to Kent State’s 45-yard line. Sheehan then hit Barnes with a
short pass and Barnes broke four tackles turning a short gain into a 45-yard TD.
With Matt Norsic’s extra-point, the Falcons were down 35-30 with 4:29 left to play.
“On the field in that type of environment on the road, there’s no time to allow doubt to creep in,”
Barnes said.
Kent State had a quick three-and-out, including a dropped pass, and the Golden Flashes were forced to
punt.
Again it was Barnes with the big play as teammate Willie Geter fumbled the punt, but the ball went right
to Barnes who returned it four yards to the BG 26-yard line with 3:12 left in the game.
The Falcons, led by Sheehan, then showed a great deal of composure moving the ball down the field to set
up the winning TD. BG ran 14 plays on the drive. The Falcons converted two third downs on the drive,
including Sheehan’s TD, and one fourth down.
“I knew with the type of team that we have, we won’t give up,” Sheehan said. “We knew we could move the
ball.
“We were just thinking, get the ball back so we can score a couple of times and the defense did a great
job of doing that,” he added.
Kent State had an 86-yard scoring run on a reverse and an 82-yard return of a blocked field goal to take
a 14-0 lead.
The Falcons rallied with 17 points in the second quarter to take a 17-14 lead at the break.
Kent State regained control of the game with two third-quarter scores, taking a 28-17 lead into the final
15 minutes.
Barnes’ scored on a 2-yard pass from Sheehan less than two minutes into the fourth quarter and to cut
Kent State’s lead to 28-23, as the 2-point conversion failed.
Kent State needed only 1:24 ro regain its two-score lead on Terry’s run.
Then the Falcons responded on both offense and defense to gain the win.
Bowling Green, now 2-4 overall and 1-1 in the MAC, plays at Ball State next Saturday with kickoff at
noon.
Front page: KSU TYSHON GOODE GETS A CARRY. BG 4 Jerett Sanderson AND 24 Jahmal Brown TACKLE. (Photo: Lisa
Scalfaro/Record-Courier)
Story caption: KSU 31 BRIAN LAINHART BRINGS DOWN BG 7 Freddie Barnes WITH HELP FROM 77 LEE STALKER AND 74
SAM FRIST. (Photo: Lisa Scalfaro/Record-Courier)