Article published November 28, 2009
Special teams mistakes costly for Rockets
BOWLING GREEN - The early minutes of yesterday's Toledo-Bowling Green football game were not pleasant for Tim Beckman, the UT special teams coordinator. And the final minutes were no more pleasant for Tim Beckman, the UT head coach.
The in-between part wasn't bad at all. The Rockets had 485 yards of total offense and scored 24 straight points and seemingly had all the momentum as the game shifted into the stretch run. Defensively, Toledo looked to be the first opponent this season to grasp the obvious, that slowing down Freddie Barnes was the way to stop Bowling Green.
But all those good Rocket vibes disappeared after Barnes made a big play for a Falcons touchdown and after UT's Eric Page was ruled to have fumbled near the BG 10 as the Rockets drove to re-tie the score. BG defender P.J. Mahone held Page up, Adrien Spencer stripped the ball away, and Jerett Sanderson fell on it.
Beckman suggested to referee Tom McCabe that the play should have been blown dead as Page's forward progress was stalled. McCabe said it wasn't reviewable. Upon learning that, Beckman suggested the call was a steaming pile of dung. McCabe figured that was the time to throw a flag.
Buoyed by that 15-yard running start and a subsequent 61-yard run by Willie Geter, BG soon had another touchdown and the final score was 38-24 in favor of the Falcons, who won for the sixth time in seven games and might very well be bound for a bowl game.
It didn't figure there would be any such late drama when Bowling Green led 24-0 at the end of one quarter. Yes, 24-0. That was after blocking two successive Toledo punts, recovering a muffed punt reception by UT, and thus scoring three touchdowns on drives of 26 yards, 20 yards and 1 yard. Then there was another Rocket fumble that produced another short field that resulted in a BG field goal."You can't make those mistakes against anybody, especially a rival," Beckman said. "It certainly changed the complexion of the game."
But the Rockets had the wherewithal to fight back and somehow turned that 24-0 into 24-24 before succumbing to a third straight loss to BG and a fourth straight losing season.
"That's probably the worst quarter I've ever been a part of," UT receiver Stephen Williams said. "But we kept our heads up. We couldn't get discouraged. It was the last game. There was nothing else to play for. We had to keep fighting."
The battle cry was sounded for the final time by Barry Church, the Rockets' best defensive player. In the proud football tradition of giving no quarter and always forcing the opponent to run another play, Church sold out and suffered a concussion that ended his UT career late in the first quarter on a hit that knocked Sheehan out of bounds inches short of the UT end zone. Sure enough, the Falcons never got that final yard and settled for a field goal.
"We had a chance to put [the Rockets] away right there at 31-0 and make them one-dimensional, but we shot ourselves in the foot with a penalty," BG coach Dave Clawson said. "The momentum seemed to shift."
Austin Dantin, a freshman quarterback starting for the third time for UT, passed for 326 yards. Williams had eight catches. Freshman receiver-kick returner Page had 280 all-purpose yards. The running game clicked. A much-maligned defense stiffened. BG's Barnes had his normal collection of catches, though very few yards to show for them.
But the Falcons have been in an excruciating number of close games this season. This would be the sixth time they would win after either trailing or being tied in the second half. Three of their losses have been seven-point decisions.
So even with the score tied and the tide turned, not to mention his offense seemingly in the tank, Clawson wasn't about to panic.
And, sure enough, BG got it done. Not surprisingly, the nation's leading receiver, Barnes, made the key contribution.
The Falcons drove to the UT 17 and faced a third-and-seven play. Sheehan tossed a little swing pass to the left hash. Barnes took it toward the sideline, made a cut that froze a couple would-be tacklers and BG was back in the lead.
"The situation was nowhere we hadn't been before," Clawson said. "I don't think our guys ever press or get nervous."
And when the Falcons' defense came up big with the strip and fumble recovery, UT's Beckman had the same sinking feeling at the end that he had at the start.
UT came back from the dead with a lot of big plays, but BG made the winning plays. Another long season is over for the Rockets. And it's likely to get longer for the Falcons, who couldn't be happier.
Contact Blade sports columnist
Dave Hackenberg at:
dhack@theblade.com
or 419-724-6398
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