TULSA, Okla. — Bowling Green made too many mistakes to be able to compete with Tulsa Saturday night. The Falcons threw three interceptions and had two touchdowns called back because of penalties as Tulsa posted a 33-20 non-conference win.
All told, BG was hit with nine penalties for 96 yards, including an offensive pass interference penalty which wiped out a touchdown, three holding calls, one of which canceled a TD, and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Falcons’ bench.
The Falcons are now 0-2 on the season for the first time since the 2000 team started the year 0-4.
“You take 14 points off the board and that’s tough to overcome in any game,” BG head coach Dave Clawson said. “The officials saw it and they called it. We had some guys competing hard and making plays and the officials saw it a different way.”
With BG hurting itself, Tulsa ran 87 offensive plays and finished with 548 yards in total offense. The Golden Hurricane were able to overcome two turnovers of their own, both of which led to BG touchdowns. Tulsa’s G.J. Kinne threw for 350 yards and two touchdowns. “It’s not an accident, they’re good,” Clawson said.
Clawson was pleased with the resiliency of his defense, which held Tulsa to two field goals in the second half. “A lot of times you see a defense when they don’t have success, guys start hanging their heads and pointing fingers and our guys don’t do that,” Clawson said. “They keep working hard and they keep battling.”
Bowling Green quarterback Matt Schilz ran for two scores, but was hurt by five sacks, and he also threw three interceptions. Schilz was 29-of-40 passing for 262 yards with Kamar Jorden making 14 catches for 168 yards. BG had 303 yards in total offense.
The offensive line had trouble at time swith Tulsa’s blitz defense. The problem was compounded early in the second half when veteran center Ben Bojicic had to leave the game with a leg injury and Nick Torresso, who is untested as a college center, played the rest of the game at center. Bojicic was on crutches on the sidelines in the second half. True freshman Dominic Flewellyn took over for Torresso at left guard.
“We had some inopportune breakdowns,” Clawson said. “This is going to happen early. I don’t like it, (but) I can’t tell you it’s unexpected.”
Clawson was not pleased that the Falcons weren’t able to get a consistent running attack going to add balance to the offense. With Schilz having a net rushing yardage total of minus-21 yards because of the sacks, BG finished with 41 yards on the ground. Willie Geter led the way with 50 net yards on 15 carries, but he also had 20 yards in losses.
“We need to get much better running it to get through the season and get through the MAC (Mid-American Conference),” Clawson said.
The Falcons took an early 7-0 lead after Angelo Magnone recovered a Tulsa fumble at the 44-yard line. Schilz capped an 11-play drive with a 1-yard quarterback sneak and with the PAT, BG was up 7-0 just five minutes into the game.
The Golden Hurricane responded with a field goal, as BG’s defense held inside the 10-yard line, and then turned a BG interception into a touchdown to take a 10-7 lead after 15 minutes.
The Falcons missed a golden opportunity after Tulsa kicked a field goal to make it 13-7 with 7:39 left in the half. Tyrone Pronty returned the ensuing kickoff 49 yards and Tulsa was hit with a personal foul penalty at the end of the return, giving BG the ball at the Hurricane 30-yard line.
However, BG threw an interception and Tulsa followed with a touchdown to make it 20-7 with 3:09 left in the half.
BG’s Dwayne Woods intercepted a Kinne pass and returned the ball to the 1-yard line later in the half. Geter would get the TD to close the gap to 20-14 with 1:24 left in the half.
Tulsa then got a back-breaking TD, going 74 yards in six plays, using only 47 seconds, with Kinne hitting Trae Johnson for the score with just 32 seconds left in the half.
Bowling Green had a Schilz-to-Jorden touchdown pass wiped out as time expired in the first half when Jorden was called for offensive interference.
The Falcons also were hit with a holding call early in the third quarter, wiping out a 79-yard scoring effort by Jorden on a pass from Schilz. Jorden’s highlight-reel run after the catch, was to no avail.
Tulsa kicked two field goals in the third quarter to take a 33-14 lead into the final 15 minutes.
Schilz scored on a 2-yard run with 9:54 to go, but the PAT pass failed and Tulsa maintained a 33-20 lead. BG’s third interception of the game with 5:32 remaining wiped out the Falcons’ final hope for a comeback.
“Our guys battled, they played hard and they competed in the second half ... We’ve got to continue to grow and that’s our challenge as a team and as coaches,” Clawson said. |
