Article published November 21, 2009
BG wins 3rd in row
Bowl-eligible Falcons soar in 2nd half
Bowling Green's Keith Morgan returns an onside kick for a touchdown against Akron.
 VIEW: BGSU - Akron photo gallery (Nov. 20, 2009)
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THE BLADE/DAVE ZAPOTOSKY
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By DONALD EMMONS
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
BOWLING GREEN — For one half, Akron outplayed Bowling Green State University Friday night at Perry Stadium.
But BG's offense needed only one quarter to ensure the Falcons' first three-game win streak of the season.
Tyler Sheehan threw two touchdown passes to Freddie Barnes in the third quarter for the Falcons, who outscored the Zips 27-10 in the second half en route to a 36-20 victory before a crowd of 9,163.
BG (6-5, 5-2 Mid-American Conference) which trailed 10-9 at halftime, officially became bowl eligible with the victory.
“It's a good win,” BG coach Dave Clawson said. “It was one of those games we had to find a way to get it.”
The Falcons looked no further than to their prolific passer and his catch-happy receiver in the third quarter, when Sheehan and Barnes produced touchdown passes of four and 15 yards.
Barnes finished with 12 catches for 197 yards. Most of those totals — seven catches for 116 yards — occurred in the momentum-swinging third quarter.
“In the second half, we just got the ball rolling and coach was calling great plays and the rest is history,” said Barnes, who raised his nation-leading receptions total to 129.
Meanwhile, Sheehan finished the night completing 23 of 32 passes for 338 yards.
The Falcons defense and special teams also scored against the Zips (2-9, 1-6 MAC). The defense recorded a safety and Keith Morgan capped the scoring for BG when he returned an Akron onside kick 41 yards for a touchdown with 10:44 left in the game.
“We're not a pretty crew on defense but we have found ways to get it done and keep people out of the end zone when we had to,” Clawson said. “Offensively, what can you say, it runs through Tyler and Freddie.
“I thought our offensive line protected well and we ran the ball when we needed to at the end, which is encouraging.”
The Falcons took the opening possession of the third quarter and drove 73 yards on 14 plays with Sheehan flipping a shuttle pass to Barnes for a four-yard touchdown completion to give BG a 16-10 lead with 7:27 left in the period.
The Sheehan-to-Barnes air attack finished off the Falcons' next possession by teaming up for their second touchdown pass of the night to make it 23-10 with 4:28 left in the third quarter.
Despite the Zips defense concentrating on Barnes' whereabouts all over the field, he still managed to record his seventh game with at least 10 catches.
“This was a team that clearly wanted to bracket him [Barnes],” Clawson said. “The guys were looking at nobody else. There were four [pair] of eyes on him at all times.
“Again, for Freddie, 12 catches is kind of the norm. Twelve catches, considering what they were trying to do to him coverage-wise is very impressive.”
The Zips struck first by taking the opening kickoff and marching 68 yards in 10 plays with Branko Rogovic booting a 27-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead.
BG responded with a 73-yard, six-play scoring drive to go up 7-3 on Willie Geter's four-yard touchdown run with 8:25 left in the quarter.
But Akron regained the lead with a long scoring drive that chewed up more than nine minutes.
Akron freshman quarterback Patrick Nicely (22-32-259-1) led the Zips on the 17-play, 86-yard scoring drive that concluded with him finding Jeremy Bruce on a 10-yard touchdown completion to take a 10-7 lead with 8:28 left in the second quarter.
It looked like BG's offense was going to produce another score before the half, but the Zips came through with a goal-line stand late in the second quarter. BG drove 81 yards on 13 plays, only to come up inches short of a touchdown on the final two plays of the drive.
With BG at Akron's 2-yard line, Barnes took the snap from center and gained only one yard on third down.
The Falcons' opted to go for it on fourth-and-goal and Sheehan was stopped, giving Akron possession at the 1-yard line.
However, the Falcons defense came through with a safety when Jerret Sanderson, Jahmal Brown, and Adrien Spencer tackled Akron's Broderick Alexander in the Zips' end zone.
“It was great,” Brown said of the safety. “We were kind of upset the offense didn't score but stuff like that happens. We knew we had to go out there and we even had to get a safety or keep them down there to give the offense good field position.”
Chris Bullock rushed for 90 yards on eight carries, including a one-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to increase BG's lead to 30-13.
Contact Donald Emmons at:demmons@theblade.comor 419-724-6302
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