Bowling Green's upset bid vs. Maryland fizzles in second half
9/8/2018
Maryland's Tre Watson takes down Bowling Green's Dorian Hendrix during Saturday's game at Doyt Perry Stadium. Maryland won the game, 45-14, after trailing at halftime.
Blade/Kurt Steiss
BOWLING GREEN — As of Saturday, it had been exactly 653 days since Bowling Green last won a game at Doyt Perry Stadium.
After visiting Maryland wore down the Falcons in a soggy second half, it will be at least seven more.
The Falcons held the lead at halftime, but Maryland’s domination of the line of scrimmage eventually proved to be too much as the Terrapins bullied their way to a 45-14 victory on Bowling Green’s home field.
Maryland's Tre Watson takes down Bowling Green's Dorian Hendrix during Saturday's game at Doyt Perry Stadium. Maryland won the game, 45-14, after trailing at halftime.
Maryland ran the ball and stopped the run successfully. By the fourth quarter, Bowling Green was out of answers. The Terrapins’ offense rushed for 444 yards on 53 carries and leaned on their running game to outscore Bowling Green 35-0 in the second half.
“Credit to Maryland, they were physical with us in that third quarter and we didn’t respond,” BG safety Jerry McBride III said. “We just needed a stop and we weren’t able to get one.”
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Terrapins running back Ty Johnson rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries, and Tayon Fleet-Davis added 102 yards and two touchdowns on 15 touches.
Bowling Green quarterback Jarret Doege finished the game 17-for-27 for 143 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, but the Falcons simply couldn’t run on Maryland. BG managed 15 yards on 28 carries.
“We just weren’t able to get anything done as far as the run game,” Bowling Green coach Mike Jinks said. “When that happens, you put your quarterback in a tough situation.”
Maryland controlled both lines of scrimmage and outgained the Falcons on the ground 194-12 in the first half. Penalties — nine of them for 79 yards in the first half alone — hampered the Terrapins, however, and the Falcons’ passing game did enough to go into halftime with the lead.
Doege finished a 14-play, 89-yard first quarter drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Scott Miller to give BG a 7-0 advantage.
The Terrapins tied the game with a drive on which they ran the ball nine consecutive times, concluding with a 5-yard touchdown from Lorenzo Harrison III.
On the Falcons’ next drive, Doege dodged a host of Maryland defenders, stepped up in the pocket, and found an open Quintin Morris for a 29-yard touchdown pass. After a Maryland field goal in the half’s closing seconds, the Falcons took a 14-10 advantage into the locker room.
The second half was a different story.
Maryland scored touchdowns on five consecutive possessions at one point in the second half, while the Falcons’ offense couldn’t stay on the field. BG had seven possessions in the second half: Six ended in a punt and one resulted in an interception.
“It’s on us to bounce back from it, take the shot in the face, come back, and answer,” Morris said. “But we struggled today answering.”
BG’s upset bid went to plan for the first 30 minutes of the game, but Maryland kept the Falcons to just 33 yards of offense in the final two quarters.
But like the season opener, when BG jumped to a 10-0 lead at Oregon, the Falcons couldn’t sustain a good start.
“Anybody can start the game. It’s all about finishing it,” Morris said. “I think we had a great chance vs. Oregon and we had a great chance in today’s game, Maryland. It’s all about finishing it at the end.”
Bowling Green will play at home at 4 p.m. next Saturday against Eastern Kentucky.
Contact Nicholas Piotrowicz at: npiotrowicz@theblade.com, 419-724-6110, or on Twitter @NickPiotrowicz.