Bowling Green's Sheehan sets record in win

Bowling Green Falcons 2009 ... Head Coach: Dave Clawson

2009 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 6-6
2009 Record: 5-5

9/3 Troy W 31-14
9/12 at Missouri L 27-20
9/19 at Marshall L 17-10
9/26 Boise St L 49-14
10/3 Ohio L 44-37
10/10 at Kent St W 36-35
10/17 at Ball St W 31-17
10/24 Central Mich L 24-10
10/31 OPEN DATE
11/3 at Buffalo W 30-29
11/12 at Miami W 35-14
11/20 Akron
11/27 Toledo

2009 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 5-7
2009 Record: 6-6

8/30 at Pitt W 27-17
9/6 Minnesota L 42-17
9/13 at Boise State L 20-7
9/20 OPEN DATE
9/27 at Wyoming W 45-16
10/4 Eastern Michigan L 24-21
10/11 at Akron W 37-33
10/18 Miami Univ. L 27-20
10/25 at No Illinois L 16-13
11/1 Kent State W 45-30
11/8 at Ohio W 28-3
11/15 OPEN DATE
11/21 Buffalo L 40-34 2OT
11/28 at Toled0 W 38-10

Bowling Green Falcons

Nov. 20
at Bowling Green 36 … Akron 20
Tyler Sheehan became the Bowling Green record-setter for completions and threw for 338 yards with two third quarter touchdown passes to Freddie Barnes on the way to a 30-13 lead. Akron got two touchdown passes from Patrick Nicely including a 34-yarder to Andre Jones early in the fourth to pull the Zips within ten, but Keith Morgan put the game away on the ensuing kickoff taking it 41 yards for a score.
Player of the Game: Bowling Green WR Freddie Barnes caught 12 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran four times for 15 yards.
Akron: Passing: Patrick Nicely, 22-32, 259 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Broderick Alexander, 13-46, Receiving: Andre Jones, 8-114, 1 TD
Bowling Green: Passing: Tyler Sheehan, 23-32, 338 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Chris Bullock, 8-90, 1 TD, Receiving: Freddie Barnes, 12-197, 2 TD
What It All Means: The Falcons are closing strong. With three wins in a row, and with the offense playing consistently well, they have a chance to finish up with a nice 7-5 record with a home win over Toledo next week. Tyler Sheehan and Freddie Barnes continue to form an unstoppable passing combination, and Chris Bullock even added a little bit of pop to one of the nation’s worst running games. The defense is still a problem, and it’s going to be bombed on by the Rockets, but as long as Sheehan and Barnes are productive, a winning season is still possible. 

Nov. 12
Bowling Green 35 … at Miami University 14
Tyler Sheehan threw three touchdown passes and Freddie Barnes caught scoring passes from 59 and two yards and ran for a 19-yard score, and the Bowling Green defense forced five turnovers. Miami stayed in the game with two short Zac Dysert touchdown runs for a 14-14 tie at halftime, but it was all Falcons in the second half highlighted by a 20-yard Willie Geter touchdown play. Bowling Green outgained MU 349 yards to 295.
Player of the Game: Bowling Green WR Freddie Barnes caught ten passes for 109 yards and two scores, and he ran three times for 25 yards and a score.
Bowling Green: Passing: Tyler Sheehan, 21-33, 199 yds, 3 TD
Rushing: Chris Bullock, 11-82, 1 TD, Receiving: Freddie Barnes, 10-109, 2 TD
Miami University: Passing: Zac Dysert, 29-48, 259 yds, 3 INT
Rushing: Andre Bratton, 4-31, Receiving: Jamal Rogers, 8-81
What It All Means: Bowling Green might not be that pretty and it might be struggling to consistently move the ball when Freddie Barnes isn’t producing, but there’s hope for a nice close to the season with relatively easy home games against Akron and Toledo. Win those, and this is a 7-5 yards after a 1-4 start. However, with an awful running game and poor play from the defensive front, it’s not a layup to win those last two games, and at this point in the year, the team isn’t going to make any radical changes from what’s working: Tyler Sheehan to Freddie Barnes. 

Oct. 3
Bowling Green 30 … at Buffalo 29
Down 13 going into the fourth, Bowling Green scored 14 unanswered points with Tyler Sheehan running for a four-yard score early in the quarter and connecting with Freddie Barnes for an 18-yard score with 39 seconds to play. The Falcons also got two one-yard Willie Geter touchdown runs to offset short UB touchdown runs from Ike Nduka and Mario Henry. The Bulls were able to get up on an 18-yard Jesse Rack touchdown catch and a five-yard run from Jeffvron Gill, but it wasn’t enough to hang on.
Player of the Game: Bowling Green QB Tyler Sheehan completed 22-of-40 passes for 313 yards and a touchdown with an interception, and hr re ran for a team-leading 20 yards and a score.
Buffalo: Passing: Zach Maynard, 13-27, 149 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Jeffvron Gill, 23-172, 1 TD, Receiving: Brett Hamlin, 3-54
Bowling Green: Passing: Tyler Sheehan, 22-40, 313 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Tyler Sheehan, 6-20, 1 TD, Receiving: Freddie Barnes, 8-122, 1 TD
What It All Means: With a passing game like Bowling Green has, it’s able to come back when needed. Tyler Sheehan and Freddie Barnes stayed hot to overcome yet another rough day from the run defense and another poor day from the defensive front. It’s not a good thing when safety P.J. Mahone is the main tackler with ten stops. With a favorable finishing kick, with Miami coming up next week, the Falcons have an honest shot of finishing 7-5 as long as Sheehan and Barnes continue to be Sheehan and Barnes. 

Oct. 24
Central Michigan 24 … at Bowling Green 10
Central Michigan survived a 55-pass attempt day from Tyler Sheehan, and another monster game from WR Freddie Barnes, with a four-yard Antonio Brown touchdown run and a 29-yard catch, and a nine-yard Bryan Anderson touchdown grab. The CMU defense gave up passing yards, but allowed just 20 rushing yards and kept the Falcons out of the end zone after a 24-yard Barnes catch early in the second quarter.
Player of the Game: Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour completed 16-of-22 passes for 14 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran 22 times for 128 yards.
Bowling Green: Passing: Tyler Sheehan, 35-55, 341 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Willie Geter, 11-42, Receiving: Freddie Barnes, 14-172, 1 TD
Central Michigan: Passing: Dan LeFevour, 16-22, 147 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Dan LeFevour, 22-128, Receiving: Antonio Brown, 5-68 
What It All Means: The Falcons aren’t even pretending to run the ball, and while the monster numbers put up week after week by QB Tyler Sheehan and WR Freddie Barnes are impressive, they’re not producing enough results. There’s no reason to get too upset about losing to Central Michigan, the best team in the MAC, but it would’ve been nice to come up with a big home win in the midst of a rough stretch. The Falcons were coming off two road games and have to go away to deal with Buffalo and Miami in the following two weeks.

Oct. 17
Bowling Green 31 … at Ball State 17
Bowling Green got up to a 24-0 lead and coasted from there as Freddie Barnes caught touchdown passes from 21, 33, and six yards out. Ball State got on the board with a 30-yard Eric Williams touchdown run in the third quarter, but the Falcons responded with a 26-yard Chris Bullock run. Williams added a late two-yard score for the Cardinals.
Player of the Game: Bowling Green WR Freddie Barnes caught ten passes for 160 yards and three scores
Ball State: Passing: Tanner Justice, 6-21, 92 yds
Rushing: MiQuale Lewis, 18-115, Receiving: Briggs Orsbon, 5-76
Bowling Green: Passing: Tyler Sheehan, 28-41, 376 yds, 3 TD
Rushing: Willie Geter, 17-52, Receiving: Freddie Barnes, 10-160, 3 TD
What It All Means: Tyler Sheehan and Freddie Barnes continue to be amazing. Mediocre secondaries like Ball State’s have no prayer of keeping Barnes in check, but problems with the run defense and no pressure from the line continues to mean that blowout wins are turning into close games. With Central Michigan up next, the Falcons have to come up with a defensive performance it hasn’t had yet this year, and the passing game has to keep on working to make up for the nation’s worst running attack. BGSU is averaging just 67.6 yards per game on the ground.

Oct. 10
Bowling Green 36 … at Kent State 35
Tyler Sheehan scored on a nine-yard touchdown run with five seconds to play to cap off a wild, record-setting day. Sheehan and WR Freddie Barnes combined for 22 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns with scoring grabs from two, eight, and 45 yards out with the final touchdown coming to pull the Eagles within five before Sheehan’s heroics. Kent State started off the game with two huge plays with Sam Kirkland running for a 86-yard touchdown and Quinton Rainey taking a blocked field goal 82 yards for a score. The Golden Flashes got two Jacquise Terry touchdown runs in the second half to go up by 12, but the D couldn’t hold on.
Player of the Game: Bowling Green WR Freddie Barnes caught 22 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns
Kent State: Passing: Spencer Keith, 10-20, 141 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Sam Kirkland, 1-86, 1 TD, Receiving: Kendrick Pressley, 2-71
Bowling Green: Passing: Tyler Sheehan, 44-63, 505 yds, 4 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Chris Bullock, 8-32, Receiving: Freddie Barnes, 22-278, 3 TD
What It All Means: It might have taken a special effort and a record-setting day to beat a bad Kent State team, but give Tyler Sheehan and Freddie Barnes for being able to get the team back into the game when it kept getting down. The defense wasn’t awful, giving up 86 of the 343 yards on one play in the first two minutes, but it wasn’t clutch until the final few minutes. This game was all about Sheehan and Barnes, who were unstoppable and proved they get they could be the difference when needed. Next up is the layup against Ball State, but the defense, particularly the line, has to get better in a hurry before facing Central Michigan.

Oct. 3
Ohio 44 … at Bowling Green 37
Theo Scott threw two touchdown passes and ran for a 68-yard touchdown as Ohio outlasted Bowling Green in a shootout. Falcon QB Tyler Sheehan kept up the pressure with 390 passing yards and two touchdown passes along with a five-yard run, but Ohio was able to get up early and stayed ahead starting with a 72-yard punt return for a score from LaVon Brazill. Down seven late, BGSU got down to the Ohio 14 late but stalled.
Player of the Game: Ohio QB Theo Scott completed 11-of-19 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran four times for 82 yards and a score.
Bowling Green: Passing: Tyler Sheehan, 38-52, 390 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Willie Geter, 19-70, Receiving: Freddie Barnes, 7-84
Ohio: Passing: Theo Scott, 11-19, 203 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Chris Garrett, 16-120, 2 TD, Receiving: LaVon Brazell, 4-93, 1 TD 
What It All Means: At some point, all the yards and all the production from Tyler Sheehan has to start turning into points on a regular basis. The defense couldn’t do anything to slow down an Ohio offense that’s good, but not necessarily great, and while Sheehan kept the chains moving and he threw extremely well to get back in the game late, it wasn’t enough in a game that could’ve turned around the quickly plummeting season. With Kent State and Ball State up next on the road, the offense has to find some balance and the D has to start getting into the backfield. BGSU can win those games on firepower alone, but there’s little margin for error.

Sept. 26
Boise State 49 … at Bowling Green 14
Boise State blew up in the second quarter with 29 points on an 18-yard Titus Young touchdown run and a 25-yard dash, and Austin Pettis struck on a catch from 17 yards out and Doug Martin ran for a 34-yards score. It got uglier in the second half with a 71-yard Jeremy Avery helping the Broncos get out to a 43-0 lead before Bowling Green finally got on the board with a seven-yard Tyler Sheehan touchdown pass to Adrian Hodges and a Sheehan six-yard scoring dash.
Player of the Game: Boise State RB Doug Martin ran 13 times for 116 yards and a score.
Bowling Green: Passing: Tyler Sheehan, 16-29, 137 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Willie Geter, 8-43, Receiving: Adrian Hodges, 6-56, 1 TD
Boise State: Passing: Kellen Moore, 17-21, 247 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Doug Martin, 13-116, 1 TD, Receiving: Titus Young, 6-58 
What It All Means: It’s not just that Bowling Green lost to Boise State, that really might be a BCS-bound BCS team, but it’s that the team got obliterated at home. Tyler Sheehan and the passing game should be able to produce at home against anyone, but there were too many misfires, the offensive line had a lousy game, and the defense couldn’t stop the Broncos from hitting home run after home run. Even with an ugly three-game losing streak, all hope isn’t lost; BGSU is still 0-0 in MAC play. Losing this week stinks, but losing next week against Ohio would be disastrous.

Sept. 19
at Marshall 17 … Bowling Green 10
Darius Marshall ran for an 80-yard score and Albert McClellan made 15 tackles as Marshall survived a record-setting day from the Bowling Green passing game. Freddie Barnes caught 17 passes for 109 yards, and Tyler Sheehan threw the ball 62 times with a 50-yard touchdown pass to Chris Wright in the first quarter, but the Falcons didn’t get on the board again until late in the game on a 30-yad field goal. They wouldn’t get a shot to come up with a game-tying score, not getting close again.
Player of the Game: Marshall DE Albert McClellan made 15 tackles with a sack and two tackles for loss.
Bowling Green: Passing: Tyler Sheehan, 43-62, 383 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Willie Geter, 9-30, Receiving: Freddie Barnes, 17-109
Marshall: Passing: Brian Anderson, 11-21, 100 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Darius Marshall, 21-186, 1 TD, Receiving: Antavious Wilson, 4-30, 1 TD
What It All Means: How? How did the Bowling Green passing game work so well and move the ball so efficiently and effectively yet only came up with three points in the final 50 minutes? The defense did a decent job, allowing one big touchdown run and keeping the Marshall offense to 266 yards the rest of the way, but the offense couldn’t put together scoring drives. Tyler Sheehan was good and Freddie Barnes, with his 17 catches, was amazing. Against Boise State, the stats have to turn into points. 

Sept. 12
at Missouri 27 ... Bowling Green 20
Blaine Gabbert threw two touchdown passes as part of 21 unanswered points over the final 15:57 of the game to pull out the comeback win. Bowling Green dominated early on with Tyler Sheehan connecting with Ray Hutson for an 11-yard touchdown pass and with Willie Geter running for a one-yard score, but Gabbert and the Tiger offense woke up just in time. The Tigers outgained the Falcons 353 to 320.
Player of the Game: Missouri RB Derrick Washington ran 23 times for 120 yards and a score.
Bowling Green: Passing: Tyler Sheehan, 29-46, 206 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Jared Perry, 6-55, 1 TD, Receiving: Freddie Barnes, 10-70
Missouri: Passing: Blaine Gabbert, 20-33, 172 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Derrick Washington, 23-120, 1 TD, Receiving: Jared Perry 6-55, 1 TD
What It All Means: The Falcons are going to look at the film and be wildly disappointed to come out of Columbia with a loss when they were so close to coming up with a program-defining win, at least for this season, but they need to take all the positives to go forward with Marshall coming up next. Tyler Sheehan and the offense bogged down late, and the defense couldn't get off the field when needed, but there weren't any turnovers, there was enough of a running game to get by, and Dave Clawson's team showed it could play with almost anyone.

Sept. 3
at Bowling Green 31 ... Troy 14
Troy jumped out to a 14-0 lead on a two-yard DuJuan Harris touchdown run and a 12-yard scoring catch from Jerrel Jernigan, and then Tyler Sheehan and Freddie Barnes took over to give new Bowling Green head coach Dave Clawson his first win. Sheenan threw three touchdown passes with two to Barnes from 31 and eight yards out to spark a run of 31 unanswered points. The Falcon defense closed out the game with Adrien Spencer picking off a pass for a 64-yard score with just over two minutes to play.
Player of the Game: Bowling Green QB Tyler Sheehan completed 32-of-44 passes for 339 yards and two touchdowns with an interception and Freddie Barnes caught 15 passes for 157 yards and two scores with five yards on two carries.
Troy: Passing: Levi Brown, 28-44, 263 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Jerrel Jernigan, 4-30, Receiving: Tebiarus Gill, 8-102
Bowling Green: Passing: Tyler Sheehan, 32-44, 339 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Willie Geter, 9-49, Receiving: Freddie Barnes, 15-157, 2 TD
What It All Means: It took a little while, but the Bowling Green offense caught fire with Tyler Sheehan and Freddie Barnes doing what Tyler Sheehan and Freddie Barnes were supposed to do. The two hooked up 15 times with Barnes looking like a playmaker ready to take his game to a whole other level. The defense was just as big a story holding the Troy offense to just 41 rushing yards and putting the clamps down in the second half. Corner Rogers Williams had a whale of a game making ten stops with an interception as the leader of the great defensive effort.