Article published November 04, 2009
Falcons rally past Buffalo
Sheehan connects with Barnes for TD in final minute
By DONALD EMMONS
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
BUFFALO - Bowling Green State University trailed Buffalo for most of the game Tuesday night at UB Stadium.
The Falcons trailed the Bulls by as much as 13 points in the second half.
Yet, quarterback Tyler Sheehan and his favorite target - Freddie Barnes - were on the Falcons' side with the outcome on the line.
The MAC's top passing tandem came through to lead the Falcons to a 30-29 come-from-behind victory over the Bulls in a contest between two Mid-American Conference East Division rivals.
Sheehan connected with Barnes on a game-deciding 19-yard touchdown pass with 39 seconds remaining to keep the Falcons' conference title and bowl bid hopes alive.
"As I was looking inside, I saw Freddie completely beat his guy on the outside," said Sheehan, who completed 22 of 40 passes for 313 yards. "I just knew I had to throw a good ball, and the rest is history."Barnes' last grab of the night was his eighth of the game for 122 yards. He has 107 catches for the season, which stands as a MAC single-season record.
"I just knew it was now or never," Sheehan said. "It's my senior year. I still want to go to a bowl game and potentially go to a MAC championship. We needed this one and all the rest of them."
Yet, it didn't look good for the Falcons (4-5, 3-2 MAC) early against the Bulls (3-6, 1-4).
The Bulls opened the contest by marching right down the field.
Buffalo quarterback Zach Maynard led the Bulls on a nine-play, 80-yard scoring drive that concluded with Bulls running back Ike Nduka plowing his way through the Falcons defense for a three-yard touchdown run with 10:26 to play in the first quarter.
Maynard found early success passing or running with the football.
But the Falcons' special teams came through before the quarter was over to set up their first score.
Buffalo punter John Rachuna bobbled a snap, and before he could get a clean punt off, BG's Marquise Quiles came through the middle of the line and blocked the punt attempt. P.J. Mahone scooped up the loose ball and returned it to Buffalo's 1-yard line.
Two plays later, Willie Geter took a handoff from Tyler Sheehan and scored to tie the score at 7 with just over four minutes to play in the opening quarter.
Buffalo went ahead 14-7 by putting together a 14-play, 80-yard scoring drive that benefited from a penalty called on Jerett Sanderson for running into the kicker on a field goal attempt. The Bulls' drive resumed inside the Falcons' 10 and Mario Henry scored on a two-yard run a few plays later with 13:26 left in the second quarter.
However, BG responded with another long drive, marching 82 yards on 14 plays, with Geter capping off the drive with his second one-yard touchdown of the night. He scored with 6:16 remaining in the half to make it 14-13.
The Falcons remained a point behind after Matt Norsic's extra-point try was ruled no good by the game officials, even though replays of the kick revealed it went inside the crossbars.
Nevertheless, the Falcons' defense would be tested by the Bulls one more time before the half.
And it resulted in Buffalo taking a 21-13 advantage into halftime.
Maynard capped a nine-play, 81-yard drive by connecting with Jesse Rack on an 18-yard touchdown completion with 2:34 left in the half.
Norsic nailed a 34-yard field goal to cap off the Falcons' opening drive in the third quarter to make it a 21-16 contest with 12:23 left in the period.
But the Bulls scored again before the quarter ended to take a 29-16 lead into the final quarter.
Again, a Falcons' miscue set up the Bulls' scoring opportunity. Geter muffed a punt, and the Bulls recovered the loose ball inside BG's 10-yard line, which led to Buffalo's Jeffvon Gill capping a one-play drive with a five-yard touchdown run with 9:07 left in the third quarter.
Mahone produced his second significant play on special teams when he blocked and recovered a punt inside Buffalo's 20 early in the fourth quarter. It led to Sheehan scoring on a five-yard keeper to make it 29-23 with more than 10 minutes left in the game.
It helped set the stage for BG's comeback.
Contact Donald Emmons at:
demmons@theblade.com
or 419-724-6302.
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