Bowling Green suffered a 29-20 loss to San Jose State in the 2012 Military Bowl at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. The Falcons finish the season with an 8-5 overall record.
The Falcons witnessed a 20-19 lead disappear in the fourth quarter as the Spartans scored the final ten points. San Jose State scored a field goal and forced a turnover, that they converted into a touchdown, in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter for the victory.
San Jose State opened the scoring on a four-play, 79 yard scoring drive as quarterback David Fales found receiver Kyle Nunn for a 33-yard touchdown pass at 10:05 of the first quarter for the early 7-0 lead.
Bowling Green took the ensuing possession for a 12-play, 62 yard drive, which stalled at the 10-yard line and the Falcons settled for a 28-yard field goal by Tyler Tate. The Falcons field goal cut the San Jose State lead to 7-3 at the 3:57 mark of the first quarter.
The Falcons forced a three-and-out by the Spartans and blocked the punt attempt and took over at the San Jose State 24-yard line. Bowling Green ended the drive with a 33-yard field goal by Tate to cut the lead, 7-6, on the first play of the second quarter.
Late in the second quarter, San Jose State scored on five-play, 54 yard drive, capped by kicker Austin Lopez and a 36-yard field goal to open a 10-6 lead with 1:40 left in the half.
The Falcons defense made the first big play of the second half as defensive end Charlie Walker sacked Fales and forced the fumble which was recovered by defensive tackle Chris Jones at the 20 yard line, who rumbled 20 yards down to the San Jose eight yard line. On the very next play, Falcons running back Anthon Samuel rushed eight yards up the middle for the touchdown to give Bowling Green the 13-10 lead at the 12:00 mark of the third quarter.
San Jose State responded with a key play on special teams as Bene Benwikere blocked a punt by Falcons Brian Schmiedebusch that went out of the back of the end zone for a safety. The blocked punt cut the Falcons lead to one, 13-12 at 4:18 of the third quarter.
The Spartans continued their momentum by receiving the kickoff after the safety and driving 68-yards in six plays, capped by an 18 yard touchdown pass from Fales to receiver Chandler Jones to open a 19-13 lead at the 2:18 mark of the third quarter.
Bowling Green running back John Pettigrew took a handoff on a third and four and ran 34 yards up the middle before being dragged down just short of the goal line. On the very next play, Pettigrew plunged one-yard for the touchdown to give the Falcons a 20-19 lead at 10:26 of the fourth quarter.
San Jose State took the next possession on a 13-play, 68-yard drive, capped by a 27 yard field goal by Austin Lopez to give the Spartans a 22-20 lead with 4:43 left in the fourth quarter.
Two plays later, the San Jose State defense forced a fumble as defensive end Travis Johnson sacked Falcons quarterback Matt Schilz and forced the fumble which the Spartans recovered at the Falcons 24-yard line.
San Jose State scored on a one-yard touchdown run by De’Leon Eskridge with 2:34 left in the fourth quarter for a 29-20 lead.
* Matt Schilz started his 36th game of his career and 32nd straight contest.
* Anthon Samuel finished the season with 998 rushing yards this season, the 11th most in a single season in BGSU history. Samuel at one point surpassed the 1,000 yard mark, but suffered a two-yard loss early in the third quarter.
* Tyler Tate was two-for-two on field goals, his first multiple field goal game of his career. It was the first time since Oct. 29, 2011 that BGSU made at least two field goals in a single game.
* BGSU held the Spartans to minus-15 yards for the contest ... four different rushers finished the game with negative yards rushing. It was the ninth time this season the Falcons held an opponent under 100 yards rushing ... BG was 8-1 in those games.
* Chris Jones completed his Falcon career with the loss ... He finished his career with 50 games played and 44 consecutive starts.