Instant Analysis: Bowling Green-Toledo

The Bowling Green Falcons notched a .500 season for a very simple pair of reasons: Willie Geter and Tyler Sheehan.

Bowling Green’s 38-10 rout of Toledo in Friday’s regular-season finale wasn’t terribly hard to account for. Geter, a running back, gave the Falcons 159 yards on just 12 carries, while Sheehan, his teammate at quarterback, threw for 241 yards and three touchdowns while adding 44 more yards on the ground. The one-two punch landed the Rockets on the canvas, as BGSU rolled to a huge lead and tied Temple for second place in the MAC East, one game behind division champion Buffalo.

Bowling Green dominated this contest from start to finish, nearly tripling Toledo’s total yardage with two-fisted totality. Geter and Sheehan enabled the Falcons to roll up 299 rushing yards and 240 passing yards, and that supreme balance prevented the Rockets—who ended their season at 3-9—from ever getting comfortable on defense.

On the other side of the ball, this contest proved to be just as decisive. Bowling Green’s defense limited Toledo to 57 total passing yards, and dominated on third down, limiting the Rockets to 2-of-13 third-down conversions. Balanced offense and bruising defense gave Bowling Green the satisfaction of becoming the second MAC East team to finish without a losing record. Bowl game or not, the Falcons can rest in the knowledge that they’re still a competitive force in the Mid-American Conference.