Bowling Green head coach Dave Clawson, right, talks with an official during the second half of the NCAA college football Military Bowl against San Jose State at RFK Stadium, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012, in Washington. San Jose State won 29-20. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Defensively, Bowling Green played well enough to win the Military
Bowl Thursday at RFK Stadium.
The Falcons’ offense was a different story and San Jose State took advantage of
Bowling Green’s struggles on the way to a 29-20 victory.
“We’re obviously disappointed with the outcome of today’s game. We just made too many
mistakes,’’ BG head coach Dave Clawson said. ‘’We didn’t make enough plays on
offense. We didn’t generate enough yards. We didn’t generate points. At some
point, you have to score points to win games.
“We’ve struggled with that all year and when we have played the better teams on our
schedule that’s where we came up short,’’ he added.
The Falcons generated only 264 yards in the game as San Jose State’s defense
basically shut down BG’s passing attack and also made it difficult for the
Falcons to run the ball.
“We had a hard time blocking them. They were good up front,’’ Clawson said. “We
really didn’t get any push … I don’t think we played as well as we needed on the
O-line.”
Sixty-two of BG’s yards came on a 12-play drive that led to a field goal in the first
quarter. The Falcons’ other 57 plays generated 202 yards, an average of 3.54
yards per play.
Matt Schilz was 16-of-35 for 159 yards and the rushing attack managed 105 yards due,
in part, to John Pettigrew’s 42 yards on three carries in the fourth quarter.

“They are very active … We just didn’t get good blocks and sometimes we had
communication breakdowns,’’ said BG’s Jordon Roussos, the starting right
offensive tackle, about SJS’ defensive front.
San Jose State’s David Fales was 33-of-43 passing for 395 yards and was voted the MVP
of the bowl game. The Spartans, because of a couple of trick plays that did not
work, were held to minus-15 yards rushing.
“That’s the best passing offense we’ve faced all year,’’ Clawson said. “Even when we
held him down, he was still completing balls. We did a nice job of rallying to
the football and preventing yards after the catch.
“He’s a very accurate quarterback and they are very dynamic at wide out,’’ Clawson
continued. “We had some kids in our secondary cramp up in the fourth quarter.
When it was their starting receivers against our second-string secondary, they
were ripping us pretty good.’’
Still, the Falcons had the lead in the fourth quarter after Pettigrew scored on a
1-yard run with 10:26 left in the game. Pettigrew had ripped off a 34-yard gain
on a third-down play before the TD. With Stephen Stein’s PAT, the Falcons were
up 20-19.
However, BG’s defense could not get a stop on the Spartans’ next possession as Fales
moved his team into position for a 27-yard field goal from Austin Lopez with
4:43 left in the game. Fales was 7-of-10 passing for 80 yards on the drive that
gave SJS a 22-20 lead.
Two offensive plays after the field goal, Schilz was sacked by Travis Johnson and
fumbled. The ball was recovered by SJS’s Keith Smith as BG’s 24-yard line. Five
plays later, De’Leon Eskridge scored on a 1-yard run with 2:34 left in the game,
and with the PAT, the Spartans were up 29-20.
The Falcons then turned the ball over on downs and the Spartans ran out the clock to
secure the win.
‘’They made more plays than us and they deserved to win the game,’’ Clawson said.
San Jose State opened the scoring on its second possession of the game when Fales hit
Kyle Nunn with a 33-yard scoring pass. Fales was 3-of-3 on the drive for 76
yards.

Bowling Green defensive tackle Chris Jones, foreground, runs with a fumble recovery as San Jose State quarterback David Fales (10) watches. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The Falcons countered with what turned out to be their best possession of the game,
resulting in a 28-yard field goal from Tyler Tate.
On SJS’s next possession, BG’s defense held and Gabe Martin blocked a punt, giving
the Falcons the ball at the Spartans’ 24-yard line. The Falcons had to settle
for a 33-yard field goal from Tate to pull within 7-6.
San Jose State took advantage of a poor BG punt to kick a 36-yard field goal with
1:40 left in the first half to take a 10-6 lead into halftime. Fales was 3-of-3
for 54 yards on the drive.
Bowling Green’s defense set up a touchdown early in the third quarter. Charlie Walker
sacked Fales, forcing a fumble. Chris Jones picked up the fumble and returned it
21 yards to SJS’s 8-yard line. Anthon Samuel then scored on an 8-yard run and
with the Stein’s PAT, the Falcons held a 13-10 lead.
“Charlie did a great job coming off the edge and getting the ball out,” Jones said.

San Jose State regained the momentum when Bené Benwikere’s blocked punt resulted in a
safety, cutting BG’s lead to 13-12.
The Spartans then took the ensuing free kick and went 68 yards in six plays to score
on Fales’ 18-yard pass to Chandler Jones. With Lopez’s PAT, San Jose State held
a 19-13 lead setting the stage for the critical fourth quarter. Fales was 4-of-5
for 62 yards on the drive.
N). 24 SAN JOSE ST. 29, BOWLING GREEN 20
San Jose St. 7 3 9 10 — 29
BGSU 3 3 7 7 — 20
First Quarter
SJS—Nunn 33 pass from Fales (Lopez kick), 10:05. Drive: 4 plays, 49 yards, 1:45.
BG—FG Tate 28, 3:57. Drive: 12 plays, 62 yards, 5:58.
Second Quarter
BG—FG Tate 33, 14:55. Drive: 4 plays, 9 yards, 2:05.
SJS—FG Lopez 36, 1:40. Drive: 5 plays, 54 yards, 2:56.
Third Quarter
BG—Samuel 8 run (Stein kick), 12:05. 1 play, 8 yards, 0:05.
SJS—Safety, 4:18.
SJS—C.Jones 18 pass from Fales (Lopez kick), 2:16. Drive: 6 plays, 68 yards, 3:47.

Fourth Quarter
BG—Pettigrew 1 run (Stein kick), 10:26. Drive: 8 plays, 68 yards, 3:47.
SJS—FG Lopez 27, 4:43. Drive plays: 13 plays, 68 yards, 5:37.
SJS—Eskridge 1 run (Lopez kick), 2:34. Drive: 5 plays, 24 yards, 1:48.
A—17,835.
SJS BG
First downs 19 12
By rushing 1 6
By passing 17 6
By penalty 1 0
Rushes-yards 23-(-15) 30-105
Passing 395 159
Comp-Att-Int 33-43-0 16-35-0
Avg. gain per play 5.8 4.1
Sacks-yards lost 1-9 2-7
Punts-Avg. 7-31.9 8-27.8
Punt returns 1-24 1-0
Kickoff returns 4-61 6-161
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 1-1
Penalties-Yards 4-30 5-55
3rd-down conversions
3-13 7-18
4th-down conversions 0-0 0-1
Red-zone conversions 4-4 4-4
Time of Possession 30:48 29:12
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—San Jose St., Eskridge 13-33, Liaina 1-2, Team 3-(minus 4), Fales 1-(minus
9), C.Jones 1-(minus 12), Nunn 1-(minus 12), Ervin 3-(minus 13). Bowling Green,
Pettigrew 7-59, Samuel 17-32, Hopgood 2-13, J.Stokes 1-1, Schilz 3-0.
PASSING—San Jose St., Fales 33-43-0-395. Bowling Green, Schilz 16-35-0-159.
RECEIVING—San Jose St., Grigsby 9-134, Carr 7-50, C.Jones 6-73, Otten 3-36, Eskridge
3-6, Ervin 2-49, Liaina 2-14, Nunn 1-33. Bowling Green, Gallon 7-73, Burbrink
3-46, Bayer 2-12, Samuel 2-12, Joplin 1-10, Hopgood 1-6.