The Bowling Green Falcons lead the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, 6-0, after two quarters. To say that the score is surprising would be a major understatement -- I think most people believed this would be a high-scoring affair.
Tulsa had their opportunities but could cash none of them in. They missed a mid-range field goal in the first quarter, then failed on two red-zone attempts in the second quarter, with a fumble and another missed field goal.
Meanwhile, Bowling Green cashed in their two opportunities by converting on both of their field goal attempts. The only downside to the last one is that Falcons' head coach Dave Clawson left a timeout on the field before halftime. With under 30 seconds left, Matt Johnson completed a pass for a first down inside the 20. Rather than call one of his two timeouts, Clawson decided to have Johnson spike the ball to kill the clock. After an incompletion on second down, Johnson hit a pass in the middle of the field, but short of the first down, with six seconds left. Clawson immediately called a timeout, and BGSU kicked a field goal on fourth down.
Of course, if Clawson had called timeout after the earlier completion, the Falcons would have had one final play with those six seconds in which to try and score a touchdown. Let's hope those four points don't come back to haunt Bowling Green.
Here are some first-half stats:
Total yards: BGSU 197 (45 plays), Tulsa 162 (36 plays)
First downs: BGSU 13, Tulsa 6
Time of possession: BGSU 18:13, Tulsa 11:47
Penalties-yards: BGSU 1-5, Tulsa 4-25
Passing: BGSU - Johnson 6/16, 84 yds, 1 INT; Schilz 1/4, 12 yds, Tulsa - Green 9/20, 116 yds
Rushing: BGSU - Greene 14-43; Johnson 6-43, Tulsa - Douglas 8-18; Green 5-14; Watts 2-9
Receiving: BGSU - Gallon 2-20; Joplin 1-21, Tulsa - Watts 4-34, Garrett 3-29