Falcons Open Loeffler Era With 46-3 Win Over Morgan State

Thursday, August 29

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

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Morgan State

0-1

1st

2nd

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4th

Morgan State

Bowling Green

August 29, 2019 | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: by BGSU Athletic Communications

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Scot Loeffler era began with a dominant 46-3 victory over the Morgan State University Bears on Thursday night (Aug. 29) at Doyt L. Perry Stadium on the campus of Bowling Green State University.

PHOTO GALLERY

The Falcons earned all the points they would need on the opening drive of the 2019 season, as Darius Wade led a 12-play, 76-yard drive that culminated in a two-yard Andrew Clair touchdown run. In fact, BGSU's total yards on that opening drive eclipsed the Bears' total (70) for the entire game.

Wade finished the game with 253 yards and three touchdown passes, while four different Falcons reached the end zone. The BGSU defense permitted just 24 yards passing and 70 yards overall, and it recorded its first safety in eight years.

Bowling Green begins the season 1-0 for the first time since 2013. The Falcons are now 13-2 all-time in season openers at Doyt Perry Stadium. Loeffler is the first BGSU coach to win his first game since Dave Clawson in 2009.

OFFENSIVE NOTES
• Bowling Green featured a balanced attack that accumulated 620 total yards, 326 on the ground and 294 in the air.
• The 620 yards are the most by a Falcons' offense since earning 597 versus Kent State in 2016. Their last game with 300 or more rushing yards occurred one week later in the 2016 season finale against Buffalo (346).
• BGSU earned 37 first downs, including 20 passing and 16 rushing. Their third- and fourth-down offense contributed to that, as they went 9-for-17 on third down and 2-for-3 on fourth.
• Darius Wade began his Falcon career by going 22-for-32 for 253 yards and three touchdowns. He completed passes to eight different receivers. He also earned 42 rushing yards for 295 yards of total offense.
• Grant Loy played during the fourth quarter and contributed a career-best 60 rushing yards while completing three passes for 41 yards and a touchdown.
• Andrew Clair led the team with 86 yards rushing and moved into 23rd place on BGSU's career rushing list (1,513).
• Davon Jones received the first 16 carries of his career and recorded 76 yards and a touchdown.
• Bryson Denley carried the ball nine times for a career-best 49 yards rushing.
• Julian Ortega-Jones led BGSU with five receptions for 69 yards; they were the first catches of his career. Christian Sims also caught the first two passes of his career, one of which went for a touchdown.
• Quintin Morris tied a career-high with two touchdown receptions. In total, he caught five balls for 65 yards.
• In his first start for the Falcons, Austin Dorris caught two passes for 13 yards.
• Five players earned their first career starts for BGSU against Morgan State: Austin Dorris, Darius Wade, Julian Ortega-Jones, Sam Neverov, and Tim Blair.

DEFENSIVE NOTES
• BGSU's defense allowed just 24 yards passing and 70 total yards. Both totals are the fewest by a Falcon defense since they held Eastern Michigan to four yards passing and 65 total yards in a 58-7 win during the 2013 season.
• Andrew Bench forced the Bears' Doc Bonner into intentional grounding in the end zone late in the fourth quarter. The resulting safety is BGSU's first since Chris Jones recorded one on Sept. 1, 2011.
• Jerry Roberts and Brandon Perce led Bowling Green with seven tackles, each establishing a new career single-game high. Each also earned a half-sack apiece, the first of their careers.
• Kholbe Coleman recorded the first sack of his career during the first half. On the play, he forced and recovered a fumble. It was the second forced fumble and third fumble recovery of his career. He also earned four other tackles.
• Darren Anders and Melvin Jackson were each credited with a sack of the Morgan State quarterback; it was the first career sack for both players.
• A total of 23 different players earned at least one tackle against the Bears.
• BGSU did not allow a point until they led 30-0 and only three in total. They permitted no drives longer than six plays or 25 yards. The three points allowed is the fewest for a BGSU defense since the Falcons shut out Kent State 48-0 in 2015.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
• Nate Needham connected on six of seven extra points and one of two field goal attempts. He drilled six kickoffs for an average of 57.2 yards, including two touchbacks.
• Mason Lawler served on the kickoff team for the first time in his career, and completed two kickoffs for an average of 55.5 yards.
• Matt Naranjo punted once in the first half, a 28-yarder that was downed inside the MSU 20.
• True freshman Jake Rodgers served as the primary punt returner and finished the game with three returns, including a long of 11 yards.
• Three different players returned kickoffs for BGSU, with Bryson Denley posting the longest (26 yards).

UP NEXT
Bowling Green will begin the road portion of its 2019 schedule with a trip to Manhattan, Kansas on Saturday, Sept. 7 to face the Kansas State Wildcats. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, and the game will be televised on the Fox Sports family of regional networks. The Wildcats open their season on Saturday (Aug. 31) against Nicholls.

NEXT DAY NOTES
• The BGSU defense held an opponent below 100 yards of total offense for the first time since holding Eastern Michigan to 65 yards on Nov. 23, 2013.
• Bowling Green's four first-downs allowed and two rushing first-downs allowed were both just one shy of the school record, set in a win over Defiance College in 1956.
• BGSU ran 101 plays, the most since running 105 in a win at Maryland on Sept. 12, 2015.
• Nine different receivers caught a pass. In 2018, BGSU saw nine different pass catchers just one time (vs. Miami).
• BGSU had 37 first downs, two shy of the school record of 39 set in 2015 in a win over Purdue.