In a game eerily similar to the one these two teams played last year, Bowling Green fell behind early but dominated Akron in the second half to earn a double-digit victory.
Today, the Falcons fell behind 14-3 after one quarter of play but outscored Akron 28-0 after that point. Twenty-one of those points came in the second half, as BGSU once again showed a killer instinct that they also exhibited against Tulsa and Kent State.
Akron earned 134 yards in the first quarter but managed just 162 after that point. Meanwhile, the Falcons had only 66 first-quarter yards but racked up 330 during the final three quarters. After a slow start on the ground, BGSU earned 167 rushing yards and held the Zips to just 97. And once again, the Falcons won the battle of efficiency; they held the ball for over 36 minutes and went 9-for-14 on third down plays. They were also 4-for-4 in meaningful red-zone opportunities. Their only red-zone "failure" came on the final drive of the game, when they intentionally ran out the clock.
Jawon Chisholm was Akron's leading rusher but had just 28 yards on nine carries. Kyle Pohl completed 22 of his 37 passes but those went for only 199 yards. L.T. Smith had five catches for 85 yards but only four for 34 outside of his 51-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Zach D'Orazio had just three catches for the Zips.
BGSU's Matt Johnson again played as well as anyone could possibly expect. He was not sacked in the second half after being sacked six times in the first 30 minutes. He completed 18 of 24 passes for 229 yards and did not turn the ball over while throwing two touchdowns. Travis Greene led all runners with 24 carries and 142 yards plus a touchdown. He also had four catches for 71 yards and another score. Shaun Joplin led the receivers with five catches, 78 yards and a TD.
Akron drops to 1-4 on the season (0-1 MAC) and will host Ohio next Saturday at 2:00 p.m. on ESPN3. Bowling Green improves to 4-1 (2-0 MAC) and will host Massachusetts next Saturday for homecoming. Game time is 3:30 p.m., and it will also be on ESPN3.