COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Bowling Green State University’s football team was at it again on Saturday night, but a remarkable effort against a ranked power conference opponent came up one touchdown short once again.

BGSU made numerous stops defensively in the first half, big plays offensively in the second, and had key moments in special teams in battling No. 25 Texas A&M neck and neck. The Aggies, though, held on late to edge the Falcons 26-20 in front of just under 100,000 fans at Kyle Field.

After falling 34-27 to then-No. 8 Penn State on Sept. 7, BGSU was one or two more big plays away from pulling off an upset as the Falcons, who faced ranked Associated Press opponents in back-to-back games for the first time, fell to 1-2.

“It’s definitely gut wrenching, I would say, to come up short in these big games that would potentially have us ranked. So that’s hard to deal with, but we played hard and we know we’ve got to bounce back and be better next week,” BGSU wide receiver Trey Johnson said.

Highlights were aplenty for the Falcons in all three phases as coach Scot Loeffler went deep into his playbook. The defense held strong on numerous occasions in the first half to keep the Falcons within 10 points, and the offense got going with big play after big play in the third.

A critical moment, though, came late in the third quarter when BGSU failed to score when it had a golden opportunity to tie or take the lead.

While trailing 20-17 and after forcing a Texas A&M (3-1) three-and-out, Johnson blocked Tyler White’s punt, and the Falcons took over on the Aggies’ 8-yard line. Johnson went untouched from the right side of the line to get to the Aggies’ punter.

BGSU, though, came away empty handed. A trick play in which running back Justin Pegues took the handoff and tried to pass the ball to Harold Fannin, Jr., in the end zone didn’t work, and Jackson Kleather missed a 28-yard field goal two plays later as Texas A&M maintained the lead.

“Going back to everything matters, we called deception that Harold Fannin’s wide open from here to Bowling Green in the end zone. We didn’t execute the play because of some things that we did actually in practice, and it’s my responsibility,” Loeffler said. “I didn’t get it fixed.

“But we gave up penetration, and we had a chance to go up, which would have changed the momentum and the swing. So that’s my responsibility. I’ve got to get that done, and we will. We’re going to be on point.”

Texas A&M responded with a 34-yard field goal from Randy Bond on the next possession, and he added a 42-yard field goal midway through the fourth to put the Aggies up 26-17. BGSU pulled within six after Kleather’s 23-yard field goal with 51 seconds left, but Texas A&M recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock.

“I think what happened over these last two [games], we’re going to look back at it and we’re going to go ‘What great lessons,’” Loeffler said. “To make a run at this thing, you’ve got to have elite habits all the time, and you’ve got to do things right.

“We have this saying that we want to close the deal, and closing the deal occurs Sunday through Friday, actually Sunday through the last walk through. I think we’re doing a really good job with it, but I think all of us, every support staff member, every staff member, myself, every player, we’ve got to tighten it up because we were close. Close.”

BGSU opened the third quarter with a bang as quarterback Connor Bazelak found a wide-open Fannin, who made a nice over-the-shoulder catch, ran up the right sideline, and juked a Texas A&M defender twice to score from 65 yards out and pull the Falcons within 13-10.

On BGSU’s next possession, backup quarterback Lucian Anderson III — on his first play of the game — handed the ball off to Terion Stewart, who narrowly missed a tackle from a Texas A&M defender and pitched it back to Rahkeem Smith.

The wide receiver took the reverse 40 yards for a touchdown with 5:24 left in the third. Anderson threw a key block along the left sideline on the play as well.

“That was pretty good, I loved it,” Smith said of Anderson’s block. “We have to put our bodies on the line for each other, and I feel like he showed us that we have to do that.”

Fannin totaled a career-high 145 yards on eight catches — one game after setting career highs in receptions (11) and yards (137) at Penn State — while Bazelak threw for 250 yards, one touchdown, and one interception on 20 of 36 passing. Stewart, who missed the Penn State game with an ankle injury, had 42 rushing yards on 13 carries.

Marcel Reed was 16 of 29 passing for 173 yards and two touchdowns, and added 91 rushing yards on 12 carries, for the Aggies. Texas A&M had 235 rushing yards while limiting BGSU to 89.

First Published September 22, 2024, 4:55 a.m.