That’s because the Falcons dropped their MAC opener and Homecoming game, 24-21, to Eastern Michigan Saturday.

“To be brutally honest as a team we didn’t perform. We didn’t play very well,” said BG senior linebacker John Haneline. “We left a lot of plays out on the field today, something we always talk about that we don’t want to do.

“It hurts .... We had the fan support again. You could hear them out there and we let them down. For me and the team it’s mind-boggling right now what’s going on,” he continued.

 

“We hit a little adversity and it got ugly for us.”

Tyler Sheehan, Bowling Green’s quarterback, knows there will be a sense of urgency this week as Bowling Green prepares for a game at Akron.
 

“We can’t lose any more on the way out if we want to get where we want to be,” Sheehan said. “Akron, we’ve watched them. They put up a tough game against Cincinnati.
 

“It’s going to be a challenge for us. This will tell how we’ll be for the rest of the year; how we bounce back.”
 

The Eagles scored what proved to be the game-winning touchdown with 36 seconds remaining in the game on Andy Schmitt’s 16-yard pass to a wide-open Tyler Jones on the right-side boundary.
 

“The coverage was awful,” BG head coach Gregg Brandon said. “That was a critical error at a huge time of the game. It’s just disappointing that that occurred.”
 

Eastern moved into position for the touchdown after Josh Leduc’s 22-yard diving reception to the 16-yard line survived review.

“The coverage on the catch that they reviewed, was pretty good I thought. We were there,” Brandon said. “The kid made a great play.”

After EMU’s touchdown, the Falcons returned the ensuing kickoff to the 45-yard line, but a 15-yard late hit penalty moved the ball back to the 30.

Bowling Green was able to pick up 34 yards, but that left Sinisa Vrvilo with a 53-yard field goal attempt for the tie. His effort was a line drive that missed to the left.

“It’s unfortunate that we get the penalty on the kickoff or we’re kicking a field goal to tie the game,” Brandon said.

“It’s just the undisciplined little things like jumping offsides on third down,” he continued. “We’ve got to fix those things either with the players we are playing with or we need to replace some guys.”

The Falcons scored first on a 6-yard pass from Sheehan to Jimmy Scheidler and led 7-0 after the first quarter. The Eagles scored in the second quarter and it was 7-7 at the half.

Eastern Michigan opened the second half with a field goal to take a 10-7 lead.

The Falcons answered with a 46-yard scoring pass from Sheehan to Adrian Hodges. Hodges broke a tackle after catching the ball and then streaked between the EMU defense into the end zone. It was the first career catch and TD for the redshirt freshman from Jacksonville, Fla.

Eastern regained the lead with nine seconds remaining in the third quarter on Dwayne Priest’s 8-yard run which capped a 78-yard 13-play drive, all on the ground. With the extra-point, EMU took a 17-14 lead into the final quarter.

Sheehan’s 8-yard scoring run, set up by a nice 48-yard pass play from Sheehan to Jermiah Kelley, put the Falcons up 21-17 with 5:11 remaining

That set the stage for EMU’s final drive.

“It was nice to be able to spoil someone else’s Homecoming, “said EMU head coach Jeff Genyk, who is a Bowling Green State University graduate.

NOTES: BG is now 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the MAC while EMU is 2-4, 1-2 ... The Homecoming crowd was 16,217 ... EMU held a 12:52-2:08 edge in time of possession in the third quarter ... Anthony Turner returned to BG’s lineup and was the team’s leading rusher with 55 yards on eight carries. Turner also caught two passes for six yards ... Tailback Willie Geter was sidelined with a leg injury for the Falcons ... Scheidler’s TD catch was his fourth of the season, tops on the team.