COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Bowling Green State University football team made a road trip to Texas on Saturday to take on the No. 25 ranked Texas A&M Aggies and finished with a 26-20 record.
Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed passed for 173 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 91 yards. Reed was making his second collegiate start in place of Connor Weigman, who was out with a shoulder injury. Reed completed 16 of 29 passes.
The Aggies, who came into the game ranked ninth in the nation in rushing yards per game, rushed for 235 yards Saturday night.
Bowling Green pulled within three with a touchdown late in the third quarter, but Texas A&M’s (3-1) Randy Bond added two field goals in the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 26-17.
After Le’Veon Moss fumbled with about 90 seconds left in the game, Bowling Green (1-2) cut the lead to six points on Jackson Krezer’s 23-yard field goal with 38 seconds left, but the Aggies then recovered a Bowling Green onside kick to secure the win.
“I thought our defense and special teams guys played extremely well, and I think we’ll look back at what’s happened over the last two weeks and say, ‘What a great lesson,'” BGSU coach Scott Loeffler said.
“To be successful in this job, you have to have elite habits and do things right at all times. We have a saying: ‘Seal the deal.'”
“The deal will be finalised on Sunday. I think we’ve done a really good job but we all, all the support staff, all the staff, myself, all the players, we have to tighten up because the deal is almost done.”
The Falcons lost both times, but they have struggled against the top two ranked teams this season since losing 34-27 to then-No. 8 Penn State in their last game.
Tight end Harold Fannin Jr. has been on a roll since the start of the season, recording 349 yards receiving in three games following a 65-yard touchdown reception and 145 yards receiving on Saturday night.
It was Fannin’s third career game with 100-plus yards receiving and his second consecutive game with the former coming in a 137-yard game against then-No. 8 ranked Penn State. Only six times in school history has a BGSU tight end recorded 100 yards receiving in a game, and Fannin has recorded three of those games.
Fannin’s eight receptions marked his 21st consecutive game receiving. Fannin scored a 65-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage of the third quarter, the longest reception of his career. His 145 yards receiving were a career-high.
Texas A&M scored on its first drive to take the score to the locker room at halftime with a 13-3 score. BGSU opened the second half with a 65-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage to cut the score to within three points at 13-10.
The Aggies and Falcons continued to trade strong blows in the second half, ultimately winning 26-20. With this loss, BGSU falls to 1-2 on the season and their next game will be at home next Saturday (Sept. 28) in their homecoming game against Old Dominion.
Texas A&M reached the end zone on its opening drive after a fourth-down conversion to take a 7-0 lead.
BGSU’s second attempt of the game ended with punter John Henderson forcing Texas A&M to its own 4. The defense then stopped three consecutive attempts and the Falcon offense got the ball at Bowling Green’s 49-yard line after A&M punted from the back of the end zone.
The Falcons drove the ball down the field and scored on a 33-yard field goal by Jackson Krezer just before the end of the first quarter to extend their lead to 7-3.
Texas A&M answered back with a field goal from 28 yards out on their next possession, extending their lead to a touchdown again, 10-3.
The Aggies added a 29-yard field goal with two seconds left in the first half to extend their lead to 13-3.
The Falcons opened the second half with a 65-yard touchdown on their first play from scrimmage when Connor Bazelak found Harold Fannin Jr. on a corner route and Fannin used multiple cutting moves to find the end zone and cut the lead to 13-10.
Texas A&M moved the ball forward on their first possession, scoring on a 5-yard run in the end zone to make the score 20-10.
Bowling Green struck back quickly, lining up at the Texas A&M 40-yard line with Lucian Anderson III checking in as quarterback. Anderson handed the ball off to Terrion Stewart, who threw it the other way to Rakeem Smith for a 40-yard touchdown to cut the Aggies’ lead to 20-17.
On the ensuing Texas A&M attack, the Falcons forced a punt, Darius McClendon blocked the punt and BGSU had the ball at the Texas A&M 8-yard line, but the Aggie defense thwarted the attack and the score remained 20-17.
Texas A&M added a field goal from 34 yards out early in the fourth quarter to bring the score to 23-17, then added a 42-yard field goal with just over seven minutes left to bring the score to 26-17.
The Falcons drove down the field and Bazelak found Finn Hogan on a crucial fourth down for BGSU’s first score of the game.
Texas A&M recorded an interception with just over a minute and a half left in the game, but the Falcons forced a fumble on their first Aggie play when Brock Horn punched the ball away and Edward Lambo recovered it.
Bazelak connected with Fannin for a 30-yard gain, moving BGSU to the Texas A&M 5-yard line.
Klezer made a 23-yard field goal to cut the lead to 26-20 with 38 seconds left in the game.
In the past 12 months, BGSU has played games in three of the top four college football stadiums, including Michigan in 2023 and Penn State two weeks ago.
For the first time in program history, BGSU played consecutive AP-ranked opponents, with the Falcons losing to then-No. 8 Penn State and No. 25 Texas A&M by a combined 13 points.
BGSU tight end Jacob Harris, the son of former Bowling Green University quarterback Josh Harris, recorded his first career reception on a 3-yard pass.
The Falcons will return to Doyt Perry Stadium for Homecoming on September 28. Bowling Green will host Old Dominion with kickoff scheduled for 5 p.m. Before the game, Phil Vasser will perform at Tailgate Park, with saxophonist Mike Williams opening. The show and celebration will begin at 1:45 p.m.
(—Sentinel-Tribune staff, Associated Press reporter Christy Rieken and BGSU athletics reporting)
