 PITTSBURGH - For over eight months Bowling Green's players and coaches have had to live with the frustration of a 63-7 loss to Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl. All that was wiped away Saturday afternoon at Heinz Field when the Falcons rallied from a 14-0 deficit to defeat No. 25 ranked Pittsburgh, 27-17.
"Our seniors had a statement to make," BG head coach Gregg Brandon said. "That bowl loss lingered. I get asked about that to this day. That's done, I hope."
"That's eight months of getting told they're not good and didn't deserve to be there and all that."
"Our kids. they relish these games. They thrive on being the underdogs and going on the road and having people jeering them before pregame and telling them they can't do this and they can't do that. That's the wrong thing to say to these guys."
Bowling Green's defense pitched a shutout in the second half.
Pittsburgh scored on the opening drive of the game and then pushed its advantage to 14-0 scoring early in the second quarter.
"We were talking to each other after those first couple of scores, we put ourselves in the hole, they were both blown assignments," said BG linebacker John Haneline.
"Our goal the whole time we were preparing for this, just play as one, play as a unit, one heartbeat and one team. Once we were settled in .. getting the butterflies out and everything ....then we got comfortable and it was guys just knew their jobs and we were attacking."
Meanwhile the Falcons' offense used multiple formations and quarterbacks to confound Pitt's defense. Bowling Green had three players take snaps and all three helped put the ball into the end zone. Tyler Sheehan ran for a TD and threw a scoring pass Anthony Turner ran for TD; and Freddie Barnes threw for a score.
"When we get the ball in 'A.T.' and Freddie's hands they can make plays with it," Sheehan said. "It helps us because they (the opposing defenses) have to game-plan for a little bit of everything."
On defense, the Falcons main concern was to stop Pitt's running attack led by LeSean McCoy. BG was able to limit McCoy to 71 carries on 23 carries, taking away his cut-back lanes and not allow him to break a long play. His longest run was 12 yards.
"Their defense had my number. Give them credit," McCoy said.
"We didn't want to let him get open in space," Haneline said about McCoy. "He's very talented ... He makes people miss a lot. We felt like if we packed it in and made him run between tackles, we were going to have success."
"In my eyes I think we did a decent job of that."
Pitt's LaRod Stephens-Howling did have success running the ball early, piling up 68 yards on six carries in the first half. He carried the ball once for seven yards in the second half.
With BG filling the defensive gaps, Pittsburgh went to the pass. Bill Stull was 29-of-51 for 264 yards and a touchdown and one interception.
"We forced them into throwing the ball a little bit more that they wanted to," Brandon said. "We were able to defend the pass pretty well...for the most part. We wanted to force 11 (Stull) to beat us rather than 25 (McCoy).
"In the end we did that and gave us a chance to win the game."
The Falcons forced four turnovers in the game, with Kenny Lewis making a nice strip of the ball after a completed pass and also intercepting Stull in the end zone with just over a minute remaining to close out the Panthers.
Antonio Smith's sack of Stull caused a fumble which Angelo Magnone recovered at Pitt's 11-yard line, setting up BG's fourth TD of the game.
"It was huge," Haneline said about the four turnovers. "During practices and stuff we work on stripping the ball out and everything. When we got out there I heard coach (Doug) Phillips very loud on the sidelines yelling 'strip the ball, get the ball back."'
On offense, BG also started slowly, with four new starters on the line. But the Falcons were able to settle down and put together several productive drives.
"They (BG's offensive line) settled in after the first couple of series and it was key because we knew they were going to come after us," Sheehan said. "They were obviously trying to put a lot of pressure on me and they were pretty effective at it. Once we got done with our little mishaps the first couple of series, I thought we got in rhythm and moved the ball pretty good."
The use of Jimmy Scheidler, who can line up at tight end or as a blocking back, was key for the Falcons. Coming into the game he had made one reception for minus-4 yards in his career. He finished with three catches for 30 yards, including two TD receptions.
"He kind of worked his way into the lineup. In practice ... he just kept making play after play so we got him in the lineup," Sheehan said. "We have a whole bunch of different plays for him. It's nice to have a big guy (6-feet-4, 243 pounds) like that to throw it. He probably has the best hands on the team."
NOTES: Bowling Green's next game is the home opener against Minnesota Saturday with kickoff at 7:30 pm...BG's Chris Bullock rushed seven times for 44 yards and caught seven passes for 49 yards and he had a big play in each of BG's first two scoring drives ... Jahmal Brown was credited with 14 tackles for the Falcons and Smith had 12 ... The victory over a ranked opponent was the first for BG since a 34-18 win over Northern Illinois in 2003.
Jack Carle is the sports editor at the Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune |
