2023 MAC Football Week 6 Recap: Miami Redhawks 27, Bowling Green Falcons 0

Bowling Green and Miami faced off in a MAC East showdown. Here’s what went down:

• Miami received the opening kickoff and sat on the ball, putting down an incredible 17-play, 85-yard drive taking up the first 11:31 of the game, eventually ending it with a one-yard rushing touchdown by Rashad Amos to take an early 7-0 lead.
• Bowling Green’s first drive stalled out after Connor Bazelak was sacked. BG only had the ball for 1:45.
• Miami would drive down the field once again, but unlike the last drive, this would end in a fumble. BG’s Darren Anders would recover the fumble, but offensive woes squandered the extra possession.
• Miami’s next touchdown drive was one aided by apparent BGSU mistakes, as an interception was wiped by a roughing the passer call and an endzone break-up was called for defensive pass interference. The end of the drive would see Brett Gabbert find Nate Muersch for the short passing TD after the DPI call, granting the RedHawks a 14-0 lead at the halftime break.
• Miami accumulated 202 yards in the first half, while holding BG to just 52 yards. This would also lead to Miami having 11:20 more possession time.
• BG showed great promise moving down the field to start the second half, even converting a fourth down. However, Bazelak was sacked in a third-and-long situation, and Alan Anaya would miss the 46-yard FG attempt to try and make up for it.
• Brett Gabbert would pass to Kenny Tracy for a wide-open touchdown, expanding the score to 21-0 after the PAT.
• Connor Bazelak would throw an interception on the fourth play of the next drive.
• Miami’s Graham Nicholson would nail a 52-yard field goal after the turnover and a 30-yard field goal later on to settle the scoring account at 27-0, all in Miami’s favor.
• Miami moves to 5-1 (2-0 MAC), while BG falls to 2-4 (0-2 MAC).

Takeaways

Here are some takeaways for each team:

Miami

Miami moves to 2-0 in the MAC for the first time since 2010.

There’s no other way to put it, Miami straight up bullied the Falcons. They were able to avenge their 17-13 loss from last season, and show that they have a real shot to get to Detroit.

The highlight of Miami’s offense in this game was their rushing attack. Miami racked up 186 rushing yards total. While there weren’t many explosive runs, Miami was able to keep those mid-distance runs going to extend their drives.

Brett Gabbert only threw for 170 yards. However, Gabbert was very accurate. A 15-of-18 mark with two touchdowns definitely helped the RedHawks advance the ball and extend drives.

No Gage Larvadain? No problem. While Larvadain has been out for the last two games, the RedHawks seem to be doing fine without him. Joe Wilkins, Jr., Kenny Tracy, and Cade McDonald combined for 154 yards.

Miami stifled the Falcons to the tune of 135 yards of offense. That’s their best defensive performance of the year in terms of yardage. Four sacks, five tackles for loss, and one interception also increased the domination factor for Miami.

Miami is on a five-game win streak, their longest since 2019 when they rattled off five in a row. With the way they’re playing, they have a great chance to make it six in a row. The last time Miami won six in a row was 2016 after their 0-6 start that year.

Bowling Green

Bowling Green has started 0-2 in MAC play in three seasons of the Loeffler era (2020-2023). This is the ugliest game the Falcons have had this year. We thought the Liberty game would be the worst, but the Falcons actually scored points in that one.

The only big takeaway from this game for the Falcons is that they are very inconsistent. BG started off slow against Georgia Tech, but found a way to get the offense going. Today, they never found that scoring spark even with a couple of promising drives.

Bowling Green has now been outscored by MAC opponents 62-7. What has to change? Can the Falcons figure it out?

It is still very possible for the Falcons to earn bowl eligibility this year. It will probably have to take the stroke of luck like they had last year, but it is still not out of the question.

Next Up (10/14)

Miami travels to Kalamazoo to play Western Michigan with a 3:30 p.m. scheduled kickoff.

Bowling Green travels to Buffalo with a 3:30 p.m. scheduled kickoff.