MOBILE, Ala. - The Bowling Green State University football team concluded the 2024 season with the 68 Ventures Bowl in Mobile, Ala. Thursday night (Dec. 26) against Arkansas State. The Falcons and Red Wolves traded offensive explosions with Connor Bazelak throwing for over 350 yards and three touchdowns while Harold Fannin Jr. broke multiple records in the game. In the end, Arkansas State pulled out a 38-31 final over the Falcons with BGSU concluding the season at 7-6.

For Fannin, he finished with 17 catches, 213 receiving yards and a touchdown. His totals pushed him to breaking the FBS single-season tight end records for both receiving yards and receptions. Additionally, his 17 catches broke the 68 Ventures Bowl record for receptions in a game. Fannin was named the Most Valuable Player of the bowl. The 17 receptions and 213 receiving yards were also a FBS bowl record for tight ends. The 213 receiving yards broke Alabama's O.J. Howard's 208 yards against Clemson in the 2016 CFP title game in Glendale, Ariz. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Bowling Green won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half. Arkansas State elected to receive the kick with BGSU defending the north end zone.
• On the first drive, Arkansas State worked into field goal range. A third down sack by Charles Rosser and Avi McGary ended the drive with ASU making a 46-yard field goal for the first points of the game.
• Following the first BGSU drive, Arkansas State returned a punt for a touchdown, stretching their lead to 10-0.
• On the second Bowling Green drive, Harold Fannin Jr. broke free for a 23-yard catch, breaking the FBS single-season record for receiving yards in a season by a tight end.
• Later in the same drive, Baron May checked in as the punter and ran a fake, throwing a 43-yard touchdown pass to Malcolm Johnson Jr. to put BGSU on the board, 10-7.
• Arkansas State answered on the ensuing drive for a 17-7 score at the end of the first quarter. 
• Bowling Green made their way into Arkansas State territory, including a 33-yard gain on a Bazelak-Fannin completion. However, the Red Wolves blocked a 43-yard field attempt by BGSU to keep the score at 17-7.
• After a defensive stop, the Falcons' offense went back to work. A 26-yard catch by Johnson followed by a 16-yard rush by Terion Stewart moved BGSU into Arkansas State territory again. 
• The drive moved into the red zone with a 19-yard pass to Fannin, getting down to the eight. Jaison Patterson followed with an eight-yard reception, extending for the touchdown to cut the score down to 17-14. 
• Arkansas State answered with a 79-yard touchdown to increase their lead back to 24-14.
• The Bowling Green offense continued to trade punches. The drive was jump started by a 23-yard diving catch by Rakheem Smith. Smith then caught a pass on the next play, going 21 yards. Fannin joined the party with a 23-yard catch, moving the ball down to the eight at the two-minute timeout of the half.
• Fannin completed the drive with a miraculous catch, finding the ball off a deflection in the corner of the end for the touchdown, cutting the score down to 24-21.
• Arkansas State attempted a drive, but Jordan Oladokun spoiled the try with an interception. BGSU worked into range of a field goal, but missed the try to keep the score at 24-21 at the half.
• On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, a fumble turned the ball over to Arkansas State. The Red Wolves capitalized on the field position, scoring a touchdown for a 31-21 score.  
• The Falcons worked their way down field, including Fannin's 12th catch of the game to break the FBS record for receptions in a single season by a tight end. The drive resulted in a 38-yard field goal by Zach Long for a 31-24 tally. 
• Before the end of the quarter, Arkansas State lined up for a field goal, missing the attempt from 33 yards out to keep the score at 31-24 heading into the fourth.
• The Falcons made it within field goal range, but missed a 33-yarder. Between the two teams, four field goals were missed in the game, all in the south end zone.
• The Red Wolves worked their way down field, scoring a touchdown with just over three minutes left in the game for a 38-24 score.
• Smith brought out the ensuing kickoff to the ASU 38 with a 58-yard kick return. The Falcons worked their way down the field before Smith hauled in a 23-yard touchdown to make it the 38-31 final.

— BGSU Football (@BG_Football) December 27, 2024

GAME NOTES Team Notes

• Bowling Green is 5-11 all-time in bowl games.
• Bowling Green is 1-3 all-time in the 68 Ventures Bowl. BGSU previously played in the Mobile-based game when it was the GMAC Bowl (2004, 2008) and the Go Daddy Bowl (2015).
• Harold Fannin Jr. was named MVP of the game. He is the sixth Falcon all-time to be named MVP of a bowl game and the first since James Knapke (QB) in the 2014 Camellia Bowl.
• BGSU passed for 433 yards, which is a program bowl record, surpassing the 389 in the 2009 Humanitarian Bowl.

Player Notes

• With 213 receiving yards, TE Harold Fannin Jr. broke the FBS record for receiving yards in a season. The previous record was held by Texas Tech's Jace Amaro, who had 1,352 receiving yards in 2013. Fannin finishes the season with 1,555, which currently leads the nation.
• Fannin had 11 receptions for 137 yards and a touchdown in the first half. 
• With 17 receptions, Fannin broke the FBS record for receptions in a season by a tight end. He passed Rice's James Casey who had 111 in 2008. His 117 receptions also lead the nation in 2024.
• Fannin's 17 receptions tied the FBS record for most receptions by a tight end in a game. He shares the top spot with New Mexico State's Emilio Vallez (1967), Northwestern's Jon Harvey (1982), and Penn State's Tyler Warren (2024).
• Fannin's 17 receptions and 213 receiving yards are both tight end FBS records for a bowl. The 213 receiving yards broke O.J. Howard's (Alabama, 208) mark set in the 2016 CFP title game against Clemson in Glendale, Ariz. Fannin and Howard are the only tight ends to surpass 200 receiving yards in a bowl game.
• Fannin's 213 yards broke his own program record for receiving yards in a game by a tight end and the 17 receptions are a program record for a tight end.
• With 390 passing yards, QB Connor Bazelak became the 49th player in FBS history with 12,000 career passing yards. The 390 passing yards are a season high. 
• Bazelak also notched 32 completions to move to No. 16 all-time in FBS history in career completions with 1,151.
• Bazelak's 390 passing yards are a bowl record for the Falcons, passing Tyler Sheehan's 2009 Humanitarian Bowl performance. The three touchdown passes are tied for No. 2 all-time in BGSU's bowl records, sharing the top spot with Matt Johnson who also had three passing touchdowns in Mobile in 2015 when the bowl was the GoDaddy Bowl.
• QB Baron May connected on a 43-yard touchdown pass to Malcolm Johnson Jr. via a fake punt attempt. It was May's first passing touchdown at the FBS level. He previously threw for two in 2023 while at DII East Tennessee State.

STAT LEADERS

• Connor Bazelak: 32-of-49 passing, 390 passing yards, 3 touchdowns
• Harold Fannin Jr.: 17 receptions, 213 receiving yards, 1 touchdown
• Rakheem Smith: 7 receptions, 97 receiving yards, 1 touchdown
• Malcolm Johnson Jr.: 2 receptions, 69 receiving yards, 1 touchdown
• Brock Horne: 7 tackles, 1 sack
• C.J. Brown: 7 tackles
• Joseph Sipp Jr.: 4 tackles, 1 sack

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM
"I'd like to start by congratulating Butch [Jones] and Arkansas State. It was a hard fought ball game. Like I said to our team in the locker room, I love our guys. They did a lot of great things, these seniors, for our program. Unfortunately, tonight whenever you look at the stats, the total domination of the statistics, but the fact of the matter is we beat ourselves. And that's on me. We had some very costly penalties, should have been off the field on third down and we weren't because of a penalty that shouldn't have occurred. A complete no-talent issue. We jumped offsides two times in the red and didn't play well on [special] teams, missed checks. That was completely outside of who we are. We have to evaluate that and we have to figure that out. When we lost the Miami (OH) game, we didn't beat ourselves. It came down to four plays and we just didn't make enough plays. But this game, unfortunately, we're going to look back at this and be really disappointed. Because when you dominate statistically like we did it was obviously completely no-talent mistakes. That's something we have to look at, that's my responsibility and unfortunately we just didn't get it done. We didn't have this team to the disciple nature that we normally are. That's why we've had success this year and unfortunately we went down a path that's really hard to win whenever you're making foolish penalties and foolish mistakes." -- Scot Loeffler

UP NEXT

• The Falcons will return to the field in 2025, opening up the campaign at home against Lafayette on Aug. 30 inside Doyt L. Perry Stadium.