Bowling Green State University lost its number 25 spot in the coaches' rankings after a 29-17 loss to Northern Illinois University last week, and has fallen even further out of the rankings as they fell to the University of South Florida Bulls (8-2) 29-7 this past Saturday. This marks the Falcons' second consecutive loss, bringing their record to 8-2, 5-1 MAC, while South Florida furthered the nation's second-longest Division I-A home winning streak to 19 games. BGSU Head Coach Urban Meyer expressed concern in his team's recent losing streak following the game.
"We knew coming into this game exactly what we were getting into," said Meyer. "I don't think anyone was shocked at the speed and at the level of talent that our opponent had. (But) I was extremely disappointed in our offense - that's two weeks in a row we were beaten to the punch."
Bowling Green's highly explosive offense proved to be highly ineffective as quarterback Josh Harris only went 10-24 with one interception and 84 yards. Harris was also the leading rusher for Bowling Green as he ran 17 times for 80 yards with the first and only touchdown at 12:01 in the first quarter. BGSU's seven points were a far cry from their scoring average of 44 points per game, as they were held scoreless through the rest of the game.
Bulls' quarterback Marquel Blackwell went 21-40 with one TD and 220 yards on the day. Clenton Crossley led the team in rushing with 19 carries for 90 yards and a two-yard touchdown run. DeJuan Green also had eleven rushes for 33 yards and a nine-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Bowling Green faces struggling Eastern Michigan University (3-8, 1-6 MAC) next week.
The Northern Illinois University Huskies defeated the ailing Eastern Michigan University Eagles 49-21 in Ypsilanti, Mich. and remain unbeaten in the conference. NIU's offense was difficult to defend as the Huskies amassed 448 yards of total offense - in fact, they scored so quickly on each possession that the Eagles actually had a longer time of possession in the game (43:18 to 16:01).
The Huskies Michael Turner, the leading rusher in the nation, ran 21 times for 225 yards and a MAC-record five touchdowns (1, 42, 10, 3, and 10-yard runs respectively) in the game. Turner leads the MAC with 19 touchdowns, 1702 rushing yards, and 114 points on the year. Quarterback Josh Haldi went 7-11 with 209 yards and two touchdowns, and wideout Dan Sheldon had five catches for 186 yards and one touchdown.
EMU's running game was anemic at best, with 36 rushes for 21 yards. Quarterback Troy Edwards threw for decent numbers as he finished 27-43 with 272 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. He was also sacked seven times for losses totaling 58 yards. Wide receivers Kevin Walter and Chris Roberson were recipients of Edwards' TD passes. Walter caught ten passes for 136 yards while Roberson hauled in seven throws for 67 yards.
The loss puts Eastern Michigan in last place in the MAC West division with a 1-6 MAC, 3-8 overall record while first place Northern Illinois outs its undefeated MAC record of 7-0 on the line against 5-1 Toledo next week.
Toledo defeated Western Michigan 42-18 as quarterback Brian Jones threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for another ... Ball State topped Central Michigan 38-21 as Andy Roesch went 22 of 32 for 304 yards and five touchdowns. Running back Marcus Merriweather had his eighth 100 yard rushing game this season, and 19th of his career - both school records ... Central Florida's defense held Kent State to six points while UCF scored 32 behind Ryan Schneider's 269 yard, two-touchdown performance. Kicker Matt Prater split the uprights four times with field goals, tying a school record.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
