BOWLING GREEN — A trio of veteran wide receivers for Bowling Green State University’s football team will be playing their final college game when the Falcons take on Minnesota in Tuesday’s Quick Lane Bowl.

The impact they made in their time in northwest Ohio has certainly meant a lot to the program.

Seniors Austin Osborne, Odieu Hiliare, and Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim, who each transferred to BGSU over the past three years, have been key components in helping the Falcons develop a winning culture. Although injuries have slowed them down at points the last couple seasons, their presence and experience has been beneficial for BGSU coach Scot Loeffler.

“They mean a ton,” Loeffler said. “They’re older guys, they’re great leaders. They’ve come up with some big catches, they block their tails off.

“They’re just awesome people, and I appreciate them. We’re really going to miss them, not only the production on the field, but most importantly how fantastic they are as people.”

All three players made immediate contributions on the field when they joined the Falcons.

Osborne, who has been at BGSU the past three seasons after spending the previous three at Washington, led the Falcons with 64 receptions in his first season with the team (2021). Hiliare, who has been at BGSU the past two seasons after playing three at FCS school Alabama A&M, led the Falcons in receptions (58), yards (747), and also hauled in six touchdowns in his opening season at BGSU (2022).

Ibrahim, who had a pair of 1,000-yard receiving seasons in four years at Alabama A&M before transferring to BGSU this year, has had solid moments for the Falcons as well and has been a factor in run blocking situations.

“They’re great guys, great teammates, great leaders, and they’ll be my friends for life,” BGSU quarterback Camden Orth said. “So the things they’ve been able to do for me, as well as my other teammates, has been awesome.”

Hiliare has played all 12 games this season despite battling a knee injury, as well as appendicitis that required a 36-hour trip to the hospital the week of BGSU’s game at No. 2 Michigan in mid-September. Hiliare made sure to get plenty of treatment and rest in dealing with his injuries.

“Woke up on [a] Wednesday morning, they gave me antibiotics. If it didn’t work, I would have had to go into surgery, so that way I wasn’t going to play,” Hiliare said of his appendicitis. “But thank God the antibiotics worked, and I was able to play in that Michigan game.”

Although he didn’t practice the entire week leading up to the game against the Wolverines, Hiliare hauled in a stellar 30-yard catch from Orth on the Falcons’ first offensive play.

“I felt fresh, to be quite honest,” Hiliare said. “Just a little weak due to losing weight, losing a little strength. But besides that, I was out there ready to go.”

Hiliare has led BGSU’s wide receiver corps this season with 35 catches for 380 yards and three touchdowns. For his BGSU career, Hiliare has 93 catches for 1,127 yards and nine touchdowns after totaling more than 100 catches, 1,300 yards, and 13 touchdowns at Alabama A&M.

“I think that really speaks to who he is as a person and what we have here as a team,” BGSU tight end Levi Gazarek said of Hiliare playing through injuries. “To have guys that want to do that for one another, it means your culture is right. Everybody wants to play.”

Meanwhile, Osborne has compiled 28 catches for 294 yards this season and has 94 for 859 and two touchdowns at BGSU. He had 546 receiving yards in 2021.

Osborne, who missed most of last season with a shoulder injury, said this year has been special for him.

“It’s been amazing. You learn a lot about yourself through adversity, and I had to go to a place I’d never been before. It just made me appreciate the game of football a lot more,” Osborne said earlier this season. “Like this season, I’m not really playing with any stress. … I’ve just been having a lot of fun playing football with the guys, and I think that’s the most important thing.”

Ibrahim has chipped in 19 catches for 213 yards and two touchdowns after registering 163 catches, 2,488 yards, and 22 touchdowns at his previous stop.

“We’re really going to miss them, and it’s a shame that Abdul and O.J., the majority of the season, played banged up,” Loeffler said. “O.J. lost a step because he was banged up the entire year, but fought through it and was able to help our team. Hoping to goodness that he’s healthy for the bowl game and can go out and do what O.J. does, and Abdul, I’m hoping that he can be much more healthy.”

Hiliare said he was grateful for his time at BGSU that saw the Falcons post a 6-7 record in 2022 and a 7-5 mark so far this season. They are the two best records BGSU has had since 2015 as the Falcons reached consecutive bowl games for the first time since making four straight from 2012 to 2015.

“[BGSU] has done a lot. Took me in, a kid from Florida, kid came from (Alabama A&M), took me in, and put me in those positions and those spotlights to make certain plays so that different people can see me,” Hiliare said. “So I’m always going to show gratitude to this town and this team.”

First Published December 24, 2023, 8:36 p.m.