Special teams far from special for BGSU in win over Bobcats
10/9/2005BOWLING GREEN - Special-teams play certainly didn't win the game for Bowling Green State University.
The Falcons' laundry list of offenses occurred in all phases by the unit last night against Ohio University.
It started with a miscue on the opening kickoff. B.J. Lane fielded the kick and handed it off to Anthony Turner, who fumbled at the Falcons' 9-yard line.
Senior Nate Fry missed a 27-yard field goal and sent a kickoff out of bounds. The Bobcats blocked Fry's first two punts, returning one for a touchdown in the second quarter. After its touchdown, Ohio executed a squib kick and recovered at BG's 30.
The Falcons also gave up kickoff returns of 53, 34 and 18 yards.
"There are things we're just not doing, we're being mentally not real bright," BG coach Gregg Brandon said. "We need to shore that up."
Ohio coach Frank Solich said the Bobcats had put an emphasis on special teams in their bye week last week and it paid off.
"That proved to be a plus for us," Solich said.
Fry had a few bright spots too, making all his extra points and converting on a field goal in the fourth quarter, BG's first of the year. Coming into the game, the Falcons were the only team in the nation without an attempted field goal.
STRANGE BUT TRUE: Quarterback Omar Jacobs' school record-tying touchdown pass, his first of the game, was the result of an obscure rule.
Early in the second quarter, Jacobs completed a pass to Charles Sharon near the goal line. Sharon fumbled the ball over his shoulder at the 2 and it fell into the end zone, where Steve Sanders recovered for the touchdown. Jacobs was credited with the touchdown pass, Sharon a 16-yard reception and Sanders a zero-yard touchdown reception.
The rule book states that if a teammate recovers a fumble beyond the line of scrimmage, the yardage is credited to the original play.
MORE SHARON: Sharon found a good way to erase his fumble in the minds of the coaches.
His 185 receiving yards gave him 10 games with 100-plus yards receiving, tying a school record. He became the first BG player to go over 3,000 yards, and his yards total was a career-high, beating a previous best of 178.
"Coach always says, 'next play,'●" Sharon said of recovering from the fumble.
Earlier in the season Sharon became BG's all-time receiving yards leader.
EXTRA POINTS: Senior running back P.J. Pope, hampered by ankle troubles all season, had his highest output of the season with 56 rushing yards on 16 carries. He took a direct snap in the second quarter for his second rushing touchdown of the season. But after a two-yard gain in the third quarter, Pope went down and had to be helped off the field. .●.●. Senior cornerback Jelani Jordan's two interceptions were his third and fourth of the year. It was the second consecutive game he had two picks. .●.●. Ohio blocked a BG punt and returned it for a touchdown in last year's game. .●.●. BG's 1965 Mid-American Conference championship team was honored before the game.