Miami (0—9, 0-5 MAC) lost three fumbles and the Falcons (6-3, 4-1) converted all three into touchdowns on their way to handing the RedHawks their worst loss of the season while Bowling Green was logging its biggest win in the series. The Falcons’ previous widest margin of victory was 41-10 in 1984.
“That was tough,” interim coach Mike Bath said. “I think that was kind of a big example of what we’ve been talking about the past couple of weeks. From an offensive perspective, hurting ourselves. From a defensive perspective, making plays and not letting them drive the field like they did. When you put those things together, it’s not pretty, and that’s where we were tonight.
“We thought we had a good plan, but we didn’t execute because of the self-inflicteds.”
Redshirt freshman Austin Gearing made his first career start at quarterback for Miami, replacing fifth-year senior Austin Boucher, who suffered a season- and career-ending knee injury at Ohio on Oct. 26.
Gearing, used primarily as a running quarterback, split time against the Falcons with third-year sophomore Drew Kummer.
Gearing led Miami with 40 yards on 5 carries and was 6-of-6 for 31 yards. Kummer was 9-of-19 for 100 yards.
“Kummer and I knew all week that we’d go back and forth,” Gearing said. “That’s what happened. I felt a lot more smooth and comfortable as the game progressed.”
Bath pointed out that, no matter who was calling the signals or throwing the passes, Miami managed to score just three points.
“You can go through every series, and there was a self-inflicted,” Bath said. “There’s a reason why we’re 0-9 and lost this game. It’s disappointing. You’ve just got to take out the self-inflicteds. Until we do that, it’s going to be the same song-and-dance every game.”
Bowling Green piled up 447 yards of total offense while limiting the RedHawks to 228.
“They’re a good team,” said fifth-year senior defensive end Wes Williams, who finished with seven tackles, including a sack and another tackle for a loss. “They ran a lot of conflict stuff – a bunch of tricky plays – and got the best of us with that. I think it got some of the younger guys confused, and (the Falcons) were able to air it out a little bit.”
Falcons third-year sophomore quarterback Matt Johnson was 20-of-26 for 252 yards and three touchdowns before leaving the game in the third quarter. Third-year sophomore running back Travis Greene added 112 yards on 14 carries.
Even with seeing an apparent touchdown overturned by replay, Bowling Green still was able to open a 24-3 lead by halftime before erupting for three third-quarter touchdowns, one coming after Gates, a senior safety, recovered his second fumble of the game and personally converted it with an 11-yard return that left Bowling Green leading 38-3 with 6:49 left in the quarter.
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