The Bowling Green State University football team fell just short on Tuesday afternoon (Dec. 26), as the University of Minnesota downed the Falcons, 30-24, in the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field.
Connor Bazelak threw for 221 yards and a touchdown for the Falcons (7-6), and Odieu Hiliare had 10 receptions for 152 of those yards. Hiliare caught the TD pass, and Bazelak and PaSean Wimberly each ran for a score.
The Falcons had a 303-281 lead in total offense in the game. Darius Taylor provided the bulk of the offense for the Golden Gophers (6-7), rushing for 208 yards on 35 carries.
Defensively, Patrick Day had a game-high 10 tackles, while Joseph Sipp Jr. made seven stops.
FROM THE INTERVIEW ROOM – HEAD COACH SCOT LOEFFLER
"I thought both teams played extremely hard. Both teams had some adversity they had to overcome, with people not playing, but my hat's off to Minnesota. They were able to make a few more plays than us, but overall, we can't look at this as a negative. We lost a football game, but we played our tails off."
"We were out-manned a little bit, with their defensive front on our offensive front, but our offensive front battled and were able to put us in position to attempt to get an onside kick."
"We had a couple opportunities early that we missed, but I'm happy with what we tried to accomplish on both sides of the ball. I'm really proud of the seniors, I'm proud of where this program is going. I told the guys that we've come up short twice in Ford Field now, and these were dress rehearsals. We'll be back. We'll be back to Ford Field."
HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Falcons got off to a tremendous start, as BGSU needed just three plays to go 75 yards for a score on the opening drive. Connor Bazelak found Odieu Hiliare for 12 yards, before Jamal Johnson ran right for 17 yards. Then, Bazelak found a wide-open Hiliare for 46 yards and a score with just 1:13 gone. Alan Anaya's point-after-touchdown try was good.
• Minnesota answered on the next drive, however, going 75 yards for a score. Darius Taylor accounted for 55 of those 75 yards, with 43 on the ground and 11 on a pair of receptions. The Golden Gophers scored on a four-yard pass from Cole Kramer to Elijah Spencer. Minnesota went for two, and on a running play, kicker Dragan Kesich was stopped short of the goal line by Anthony Hawkins.
• The Falcons picked up three first downs on the next drive, and BGSU got as far as the Minnesota 35-yard line before the drive stalled late in the opening quarter.
• The BGSU defense forced a three-and-out, with Patrick Day tackling a Minnesota ball-carrier one yard short of the line to gain and forcing a punt on the second play of the second quarter.
• The Gophers took the lead with 8:57 remaining in the half. A 31-yard gain by Kramer on a QB keeper gave Minnesota a first down in BG territory, and a direct snap to Taylor resulted in an 11-yard pickup on the next play. The Gophers got into the red zone, but the Falcons held, and Kesich hit a 31-yard field goal to give Minnesota a 9-7 lead.
• The first play of the next drive saw Bazelak hook up with Hiliare for a 23-yard gain, and the duo teamed up for a nine-yard completion on the next play to put BG into Minnesota territory. Harold Fannin Jr. then rushed for three yards and a first down on the next play. A penalty and a sack, however, forced BG to punt, with Kleather's kick putting the Gophers at their own 15-yard line.
• After an exchange of punts, Cashius Howell hit Kramer on the first play of the next drive, resulting in a wobbly pass that was intercepted by Darius Lorfils. The Falcons capitalized on the turnover, as Anaya hit a 33-yard field goal to give BGSU a 10-9 lead with 1:38 left in the half.
• BGSU forced another Minnesota three-and-out, with Deshawn Jones Jr., making a key stop on third down, and BG took that one-point lead into the half.
• Howell came up with his second QB hurry on the first play of the second half, as another altered pass fell to the turf. But, the Gophers then drove into BGSU territory, picking up all of their yards on the ground. Taylor did most of the work on the 78-yard scoring drive, but it was Kramer who took the ball the final yard for the score. Kesich's PAT gave the Gophers a 16-10 lead with 9:20 remaining in the third quarter.
• Then, a 27-yard punt return gave the Gophers the ball at the BG 27-yard line. From there, Minnesota picked up 20 yards on the next five plays, before Kramer found Jameson Geers on a 7-yard scoring toss with 4:18 left in the third period.
• Each team was forced to punt before PaSean Wimberly broke off a 42-yard carry on the first play of BGSU's first fourth-quarter drive. Two plays brought up a third-and-11 situation, but Bazelak found Austin Osbourne for eight yards, then stood in the pocket and hit Hiliare for 15 yards on a fourth-and-3. Two plays later, Wimberly rushed right, turned the corner and went 18 yards for a touchdown with 11:10 left in the fourth quarter. Anaya's kick made it a six-point game.
• The Gophers answered, however, as Taylor took a direct snap and went 17 yards for a score with 8:03 to go.
• BGSU moved down the field on the ensuing drive. Bazelak found Fannon for 10 yards on a third-down play to move the chains, and the BG QB then hooked up with Fannin on a third-down play to bring up a fourth-and-2. On the next play, he hit Hiliare for six yards.
• Then, a Bazelak-to-Fannin connection picked up 29 yards to put BGSU at the Minnesota 20. A 15-yard completion to Hiliare set up the Falcons at the 5, and Bazelak capped the 14-play, 75-yard scoring drive with a 2-yard run up the middle. Anaya cut the Minnesota lead to 30-24 with 2:33 to go.
• The Gophers, however, recovered the ensuing onside kick, and Minnesota was able to run out the clock and salt away the win.
BGSU TEAM NOTES
• Bowling Green played in its 15th bowl game.
• The Falcons are 5-10 all-time in bowl games.
• Bowling Green played in its seventh all-time game in Ford Field.
• Bowling Green played its fourth bowl game in Ford Field, including second-straight Quick Lane Bowl.
• Bowling Green forced a turnover for the 14th-straight game. The streak started at the 2022 Quick Lane Bowl.
BGSU PLAYER NOTES
• WR Odieu Hiliare finished with 152 receiving yards, giving him his eight-career 100+-yard receiving games.
• Hiliare also had 10 receptions pushing him past 200 career catches. He finishes his career with 206 for his career that also includes his time at Alabama A&M.
• Hiliare surpassed 100 receptions for his BGSU career. He concludes his BGSU career with 103 Falcon catches. He is the 34th Falcon to reach 100 receptions.
• The Quick Lane Bowl was the 50th and final college game of Hiliare's career.
• ILB Darren Anders appeared in his 54th career game, which puts him in a tie for No. 2 all-time in BGSU history. He is tied with former WR Ryan Burbrink.
• S Darius Lorfils notched his second career interception in the second quarter. It is the second of the season and he now has interceptions in back-to-back games.
• PaSean Wimberly had a career-long 42-yard rush in the fourth quarter. The 42 yards on the rush eclipsed his previous career best for a game.
• Wimberly finished the game with 63 rushing yards, which was a career high.
• QB Connor Bazelak finished with 221 passing yards. It is the fifth time this season and 28th time in his career he has thrown for over 200 yards.
BGSU STATS LEADERS
• Odieu Hiliare – 10 receptions, 152 yards, 1 TD
• Connor Bazelak – 22-of-38, 221 yards, 1 TD
• PaSean Wimberly – 3 carries, 63 yards, 1 TD
• Harold Fannin Jr. – 5 receptions, 50 yards
• Patrick Day – 10 tackles, 1 PBU
• Joseph Sipp Jr. – 7 tackles, 1 TFL
