Another late rally falls short in 30-20 loss at BGSU

Wednesday, November 12

Bowling Green, Ohio

8:00 p.m.

Kent State University

1-9 , 0-6

Bowling Green State University

7-3 , 5-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Kent State

Bowling Green

Another late rally falls short in 30-20 loss at BGSU

11/13/2014 12:35:00 AM | Football

Box Score

BOWLING GREEN – A Colin Reardon-led comeback by Kent State in the second half fell just short as Bowling Green clinched the Mid-American Conference East Division title with a 30-20 win on Wednesday night at Doyt Perry Stadium.

The game followed the same script as last week when the Golden Flashes lost to another division leader by the exact same score. In that game, Toledo built a 20-0 lead and then held off a rally sparked by backup quarterback Nathan Strock.

On Wednesday night, the Flashes fell behind by 20-0 again only to have Reardon come off of the bench to lead them back into the fight with three touchdown passes. Reardon hit Chris Humphrey for a pair of scores – a 21-yarder with 38 seconds to play in the first half and then a 4-yarder with 6:09 to play in the third quarter. He then found tight end Casey Pierce in the back of the end zone from 14 yards out to pull Kent State within three points at 23-20 with 9:40 to play.

Unfortunately, Reardon also threw four momentum-damaging interceptions all in the second half.

"Of course we are not happy with the loss, but there are a lot of teachable moments for these guys," said Kent State head coach Paul Haynes. "You can't beat a good football team when you turn the ball over. But those are still teachable moments … It's just a guy trying to make a play, and we are getting in trouble by trying to do too much. But again, it is a teachable moment that we will learn from.

"The attitude of these guys is awesome. These are supposedly the best teams in the league that we are going toe-to-toe with. We have a lot of young guys who are going toe-to-toe with the best teams in the league. We continue to fight. We continue to have the right attitude. This is going to be a great program."

Reardon finished with 284 yards on 24-of-37 passing while looking primarily for the senior duo of Pierce and Humphrey. Pierce caught 12 passes for 127 yards on his way to breaking Jason Gavazda's 15-year-old Kent State record for catches by a tight end in a season with 54. Humphrey added eight catches for 132 yards and the first two-touchdown game of his career.

The Flashes challenged the Falcons over the top as they battled their way back into the football game in the final 31 minutes.

"We were just having fun out there being aggressive," said Pierce. "We said if they are going to put press defense on us one-on-one with no safety over the top, let the playmakers go make plays … Colin had faith in us. We said, hey, throw it up. We are going to go after it. I kept telling him and Chris that one of three things was going to happen. It's either going to be a (pass interference), it's going to be a catch, or we are going to bat it down.

"Other than the interceptions, (Reardon) played great. He opened it up and played like he can play."

The play of Kent State's defense belied the 527 yards of total offense it allowed. Led by double-digit tackle performances by Nate Holley (17), Jordan Italiano (16), Elcee Refuge (12), Matt Dellinger (11) and Najee Murray (10), the Flashes held Bowling Green to four field goals attempts by Tyler Tate, who made three of the kicks. Kent State also dropped Falcon ball-carriers for 10 losses, including sacks by Nate Terhune (1 1/2 sacks) and Terence Waugh (1/2 sack).

Bowling Green (7-3, 5-1) notched two of its three touchdowns in the game's first 10 minutes as Andre Givens opened the scoring with a 6-yard run and Falcons quarterback James Knapke hit Roger Lewis for an 82-yard score.

After the fourth quarter Reardon-to-Pierce touchdown cut the Falcons lead to just three points, Bowling Green answered quickly with a 2-yard touchdown run by Givens at the 7:47 mark. Two long throws by Knapke set up the game-clinching score.

Kent State (1-9, 0-6) returns to action on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at Buffalo before returning home to close the 2014 season on Nov. 25 against the University of Akron.

Postgame Notes

Senior Casey Pierce broke Kent State's record for catches in a season by a tight end with 54, passing Jason Gavadza. Pierce has made three or more catches in 11 straight games and has made two or more catches in 17 straight games. He finished with career-highs of 12 catches and 127 yards. In his last five games, Pierce has made 37 catches for 358 yards and four touchdowns. He caught his team-leading fifth touchdown of the season and fourth in his last four games.
Senior Chris Humphrey moved into fifth place in career receptions at Kent State with 119. He had career-highs of 132 yards and two touchdown catches, while his eight grabs overall were one short of a career-high. Humphrey upped his season total to four touchdown catches.
Redshirt freshman Nathan Strock and sophomore guard Tad France, became the 21^st and 22^nddifferent Kent State players (12 offense, 10 defense) to get their first career starts this season.
Kent State used its seventh different starting offensive line combination of the season.
Sophomore Colin Reardon went 7-for-7 for 86 yards and a touchdown on Kent State's 92 yard scoring drive, its longest drive of the season. Reardon also moved into sole possession of 7th place in career touchdown passes at Kent State with 24. He matched his career-high of three TD passes. It was the fourth time this season Reardon had two or more touchdown passes.
On its second-quarter scoring drive, Kent State improved to 9-of-13 on fourth down conversions this season on a run by Nick Holley.
Junior Jordan Italiano made his third career interception and second of the season at the end of the first half. He made a career-high 16 tackles. Italiano had his third forced fumble of the year and has had a hand in five turnovers this season.
Sophomore Nate Holley hit the 15-tackle mark for the fourth time this season, finishing with a game-high 17 stops. He has led the Flashes in tackles in 9-of-13 career starts.
Sophomore Elcee Refuge had a career-high 12 tackles. He also forced a fumble in the fourth quarter.
The Flashes' 306 passing yards were their second most of the season as were their 21 first downs.
Junior Nate Terhune had 2.5 of Kent State's three sacks. It was the first time all season the Flashes recorded three sacks.
Five Flashes (Holley, Italiano, Refuge, Dellinger, Murray) had 10 or more tackles.
Kent State's 20 points scored were the most in five road games this season.