Wednesday, November 1
Bowling Green, OH
7:00 p.m.
Ball State University
2-7 , 1-4
21
at
24
Bowling Green
5-4 , 3-2
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Ball St.
0
7
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Bowling Green
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24
Cardinals Fall 24-21 in #MAC-tion Heartbreaker at Bowling Green
November 02, 2023 | Football
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Ball State and Bowling Green alternated touchdowns all night long Wednesday – until a made field goal and missed field goal settled the outcome in the game's final moments. The 52-yard missed field goal on the game's final play by Ball State's Jackson Courville was short by roughly the length of the football – nearly grazing the crossbar as it fell to the ground.
Bowling Green's game-winner came on Alan Anaya's 22-yarder with 3:14 remaining, salvaging a nearly six-minute drive that stalled on a goal-line stand by Ball State. The Falcons got a fresh set of downs from the Ball State one-yard line, but Jack Sape and Drew Hughes made a goal-line stop on first down. Sidney Houston Jr., pulled down Harold Fannin Jr., for a 3-yard loss and the Cardinals forced an incompletion on third down.
For the fourth straight week, the Cardinals defense gave Ball State an avenue to victory.
Ball State went three-and-out on its ensuing possession, however, and the Falcons followed with another three-and-out series to set up BSU's final drive. Moving from their own 33-yard line, the Cardinals got a pair of completions from Kiael Kelly to Malcolm Gillie to move the ball to midfield. A pair of Kelly runs earned another first down at the Bowling Green 35. Two incompletions later, with nine seconds left in the contest, Courville trotted onto the field for the 52-yard attempt.
Eight-of-eight from inside 40 yards this year as a true freshman, Courville was 0-of-2 from 50-plus yards. Into the night sky, this kick was on target but agonozingly close – and painfully short.
The Cardinals (2-7, 1-4 MAC) remained winless on the road this year while Bowling Green (5-4, 3-2 MAC) captured its third straight win.
The Falcons and Cardinals traded first half touchdowns, with Ball State matching Bowling Green on Kelly's six-yard TD scramble early in the second period. Kelly's run came on the 17th play of Ball State's longest drive of the year, and the Cardinals got the ball back with the chance to take the lead before halftime. But after a lateral fumble on a backfield throw from Kelly to Marquez Cooper, Bowling Green scored on a 54-yard run by Terion Stewart just two plays later to go up 14-7 prior to intermission.
Cooper's five-yard run capped a 13-play Cardinals' drive to tie the score at 14 with 5:51 left in the third period. He helped key the drive with a five-yard run on a fourth-down conversion at the Bowling Green 32-yard line. But the next touchdown came from the Falcons again, with Ta'ron Keith collecting Connor Bazelak's second touchdown pass of the night, from 10 yards out, to regain a 21-14 advantage.
The game of alternating touchdowns continued into the fourth quarter when Kelly's 44-yard burst down the right sideline knotted the game at 21 with 9:07 left to play. It was Ball State's longest run from scrimmage this season, and Kelly's fourth rushing TD in the past two weeks.
Kelly and Cooper both finished with 90 rushing yards to anchor a 217-yard rushing performance by the Cardinals – but a minus-two turnover deficit dashed Ball State's hopes of consecutive wins for the first time this season. Keionte Newson paced the Cardinal defense with ten tackles and three tackles for loss. Houston produced five tackles including three TFL of his own.
Ball State resumes #MAC-tion midweek play next Tuesday, Nov. 7 at Northern Illinois.
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Bowling Green's game-winner came on Alan Anaya's 22-yarder with 3:14 remaining, salvaging a nearly six-minute drive that stalled on a goal-line stand by Ball State. The Falcons got a fresh set of downs from the Ball State one-yard line, but Jack Sape and Drew Hughes made a goal-line stop on first down. Sidney Houston Jr., pulled down Harold Fannin Jr., for a 3-yard loss and the Cardinals forced an incompletion on third down.
For the fourth straight week, the Cardinals defense gave Ball State an avenue to victory.
Ball State went three-and-out on its ensuing possession, however, and the Falcons followed with another three-and-out series to set up BSU's final drive. Moving from their own 33-yard line, the Cardinals got a pair of completions from Kiael Kelly to Malcolm Gillie to move the ball to midfield. A pair of Kelly runs earned another first down at the Bowling Green 35. Two incompletions later, with nine seconds left in the contest, Courville trotted onto the field for the 52-yard attempt.
Eight-of-eight from inside 40 yards this year as a true freshman, Courville was 0-of-2 from 50-plus yards. Into the night sky, this kick was on target but agonozingly close – and painfully short.
The Cardinals (2-7, 1-4 MAC) remained winless on the road this year while Bowling Green (5-4, 3-2 MAC) captured its third straight win.
The Falcons and Cardinals traded first half touchdowns, with Ball State matching Bowling Green on Kelly's six-yard TD scramble early in the second period. Kelly's run came on the 17th play of Ball State's longest drive of the year, and the Cardinals got the ball back with the chance to take the lead before halftime. But after a lateral fumble on a backfield throw from Kelly to Marquez Cooper, Bowling Green scored on a 54-yard run by Terion Stewart just two plays later to go up 14-7 prior to intermission.
Cooper's five-yard run capped a 13-play Cardinals' drive to tie the score at 14 with 5:51 left in the third period. He helped key the drive with a five-yard run on a fourth-down conversion at the Bowling Green 32-yard line. But the next touchdown came from the Falcons again, with Ta'ron Keith collecting Connor Bazelak's second touchdown pass of the night, from 10 yards out, to regain a 21-14 advantage.
The game of alternating touchdowns continued into the fourth quarter when Kelly's 44-yard burst down the right sideline knotted the game at 21 with 9:07 left to play. It was Ball State's longest run from scrimmage this season, and Kelly's fourth rushing TD in the past two weeks.
Kelly and Cooper both finished with 90 rushing yards to anchor a 217-yard rushing performance by the Cardinals – but a minus-two turnover deficit dashed Ball State's hopes of consecutive wins for the first time this season. Keionte Newson paced the Cardinal defense with ten tackles and three tackles for loss. Houston produced five tackles including three TFL of his own.
Ball State resumes #MAC-tion midweek play next Tuesday, Nov. 7 at Northern Illinois.
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Team Stats
BSU
BG
Total Yards
283
281
Pass Yards
66
177
Rushing Yards
217
104
Penalty Yards
25
35
1st Downs
16
13
3rd Downs
8
4
4th Downs
2
2
TOP
33:34
26:26
1st Quarter
BSU 0, BG 7
BG - Fannin Jr.,Harold 23 yd pass from Bazelak,Connor (Anaya,Alan kick) 4 plays, 31 yards, TOP 01:20
2nd Quarter
BSU 7, BG 7
BSU - Kelly,Kiael 6 yd run (Courville,Jackson kick), 17 plays, 74 yards, TOP 08:27
BSU 7, BG 14
BG - Stewart,Terion 54 yd run (Anaya,Alan kick), 2 plays, 54 yards, TOP 00:20
3rd Quarter
BSU 14, BG 14
BSU - Cooper,Marquez 5 yd run (Courville,Jackson kick), 13 plays, 62 yards, TOP 08:03
4th Quarter
BSU 14, BG 21
BG - Keith,Ta'ron 10 yd pass from Bazelak,Connor (Anaya,Alan kick) 12 plays, 75 yards, TOP 05:43
BSU 21, BG 21
BSU - Kelly,Kiael 44 yd run (Courville,Jackson kick), 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:13
BSU 21, BG 24
BG - Anaya,Alan 22 yd field goal 11 plays, 39 yards, TOP 05:43
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
9
TD
0
YDS
66
INT
0
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
K
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DE/LB
/ Football
DL
/ FootballQB
/ Football
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