Sixty minutes weren’t enough for Bowling Green and Eastern Kentucky.
And neither were one, nor two, nor even three overtimes.
It took seven extra sessions in all for the FCS’s Colonels to upset the Falcons 59-57 at Doyt Perry Stadium on Saturday — the longest game in Bowling Green football history and only the seventh FBS game since the institution of overtime in 1995 to require seven overtime periods.
“I thought we did some good things in the second half. I thought we did some good things on offense,” coach Scot Loeffler said. “We just couldn’t get a stop at the end.”
A two-point conversion pass from Eastern Kentucky quarterback Parker McKinney to running back Braedon Sloan represented the winning points in the third FCS-over-FBS upset of the young 2022 season.
Wild momentum swings in both directions marked the contest, which took nearly four-and-a-half hours of real time. More than a third of the game’s 116 combined points were scored after the conclusion of regulation, including 14 in the third overtime and later on seven two-point conversions.
Long before any of the game’s overtimes, the Falcons jumped out to a 17-7 lead via a 31-yard rushing touchdown from senior quarterback Matt McDonald with 5:39 left in the half.
Eastern Kentucky quickly erased the deficit with 17 points before the intermission, highlighted by a bad Bowling Green snap from the Falcons’ own 28 that turned into a touchdown for Colonels linebacker Jadyn Bost.
Bowling Green appeared to take control of the game with 3:39 on the clock. On 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard line, sophomore running back Jaison Patterson waltzed into the end zone to give the Falcons a 38-31 lead.
“We came [in] at halftime, and we knew we just had to work together,” senior wide receiver Odieu Hilaire said. “As we went out there, we tried executing that.”
The go-ahead drive was initiated by a blocked punt from junior running back Pasean Wimberly — his second in as many weeks.
Eastern Kentucky took the ball on its own 25, withstood a sack on its first scrimmage play from sophomore defensive lineman Adrian Wilson, and drove down to the Bowling Green 15-yard line. McKinney appeared to miss a pass to tight end Dakota Allen on 3rd-and-five, but junior Falcons safety Patrick Day was whistled for pass interference.
McKinney then hit wide receiver Jaydn Higgens from three yards out for a touchdown as time expired. An extra point from kicker Patrick Nations tied the game, sending the game into overtime.
“As long as we have [McKinney], we have a chance,” acting Eastern Kentucky coach Garry McPeek said. “We had to get one at the end there, and we used every second of that last drive. In that situation to go 70, I wouldn’t want anybody but [McKinney] to run that show for me.”
Bowling Green appeared to be in good shape after scoring on its possession in the first overtime on a 3-yard pass from McDonald — who finished with 283 yards, five touchdowns, and no interceptions — to sophomore running back Ta’Ron Keith. The Colonels replied with a quick, three-play scoring drive punctuated by a 3-yard touchdown from running back Kyeandre Magloire —kicking off a back-and-forth with few parallels in college football history.
Sloan rushed for a 4-yard touchdown to start the second overtime, but McKinney’s two-point pass was offline.
It was a rare misstep for the redshirt junior from Coalfield, Tenn., who completed 33 of his 47 attempts for 324 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception.
McDonald found Hiliare for the tying touchdown, but failed on the two-point conversion as the Falcons were whistled for holding.
The teams entered the two-point shootout portion of the night’s proceedings tied at 51, and battled in a sequence that included an 18-yard conversion from McKinney to Higgins a play after the latter was called for offensive pass interference.
“[Battling through seven overtimes] is something that we probably weren’t capable of these last two seasons,” McDonald said. “It was definitely a positive, and there were good things, but it still sucks.”
Finally, in the seventh overtime, McDonald missed to tee up McKinney’s winner. It marked the first loss by Bowling Green to an FCS team since it lost to South Dakota on Sept. 9, 2017.
Despite the loss — and the fact that the Falcons’ next opponent, Marshall, pulled a stunning upset of No. 8 Notre Dame on the road — Loeffler remained confident the Falcons can turn things around.
“We’ve got to find a way to beat these FCS opponents,” Loeffler said. “We didn’t tonight, but there’s a lot of football left.”
First Published September 11, 2022, 1:45 a.m.
