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Falcons Leave Leopards In The Dust For First Win Of Eddie George Era

Ziggyville Population: 4,681
Thu, Aug 28, 2025

Ziggyville Population: 4,681
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University football team captured a 26-7 win over Lafayette Thursday night (Aug. 28) in front of a packed Doyt Perry Stadium. The win goes down not only as the first of the season for BGSU, but the first of the Eddie George Era for the Bowling Green Football program. Now 1-0 to open the season, the Orange and Brown will turn their attention to their first road contest of the season, heading to Cincinnati on Sept. 5. 

The Falcons started out with a bang, seeing Cameron Pettaway return the opening kickoff for a touchdown. The house call marked the second season in a row BGSU has started the season with a kickoff return for a touchdown. The special teams success continued for Bowling Green with Jackson Kleather going a perfect 4-for-4 on field goals, including a 56-yarder that will go down in the record book as tied for second in program history for longest field goal. The scoring efforts wrapped up with a Mar'Kel Porter rushing touchdown for the Falcons.

On the defensive side, Dorian Pringle led the way with nine tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a half sack. Gideon ESPN Lampron joined him in the nine-tackle outing followed by eight from Kal-El Pascal. As for the pass rush, Myles Bradley tacked on a sack while Pringle, Lampron, David Afogho and Dierre Kelly all joined in on the action with half sacks. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • The Falcons won the opening coin toss and elected to receive. For the second straight season, Bowling Green began the year with a kickoff return for a touchdown. This year it was Cameron Pettaway with a 98-yard house call to start the game, putting BGSU up 7-0 less than 15 seconds into the Eddie George Era of BGSU Football. 
  • At 6:17 p.m. the game went into a lightning delay, lasting just over 40 minutes with play resuming at 6:58 p.m.
  • On the second offensive possession of the game, the Falcons controlled the ball, orchestrating a 17-play drive that ran over nine minutes off the clock. Going 51-yards, the drive concluded with a 30-yard field goal off the foot of Jackson Kleather to make it a 10-0 BGSU advantage less than a minute into the second quarter.
  • Getting the ball back with just under two minutes left in the half, the Falcons went to work. Capping off a six-play drive was a four-yard rush up the middle by Mar'Kel Porter to make it a 17-0 halftime advantage for the Orange and Brown. 
  • Moving into the second half, the BGSU defense came out strong. The unit forced a three-and-out to begin the half.
  • The Falcons added to their total with a 56-yard field goal from Kleather, tying for the second-longest field goal in program history and the longest since 1995.
  • Lafayette put their first points on the board with just under four minutes left in the third quarter. A 14-play drive ended in a touchdown for the Leopards for a 20-7 BGSU tally.
  • In response to the score, Pettaway nearly housed another kick return. A 55-yard return for the redshirt freshman put the Falcons at the Lafayette 42 to start the drive. Kleather capped the possession with a 39-yard field goal to push the Bowling Green advantage to 23-7.
  • Two burst plays put the Falcons in plus-territory. Drew Pyne located RJ Garcia for a 25-yard gain before Kaderris Roberts broke through the middle for a gain of 13. Kleather ended the drive with a 35-yard field to push the lead to 26-7. 

🤯🤯🤯🤯

SPECIAL TEAMS!!!!

Cameron Pettaway opens the game on a 98-yard kick return for a TD!!! First collegiate touch!

Second year in a row the first play of the season is a Falcon KR for a TD!!!!

📺 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/DwQ9jh34zS

— BGSU Football (@BG_Football)
August 28, 2025

GAME NOTES

  • The Mike and Jan Wilcox Football Head Coach Eddie George won his first game at BGSU. He is the 11th Falcon head coach to win the first game of his BG coaching career.
  • BGSU is now 52-48-7 all-time in season openers and 71-31-5 all-time in home openers. 
  • BGSU won the coin toss and elected to receive. The Falcons took the opening kick 98 yards for a touchdown. It is the second year in a row the Falcons have taken the first play of the season for a touchdown. Last year BGSU returned the season's opening kick 100 yards for a touchdown.
  • With 26 points, BGSU is now 308-100-4 all-time when scoring 21+ points. 
  • BGSU held Lafayette to 58 yards of total offense in the first half.
  •  RB Cameron Pettaway opened the game with a 98-yard kick return for a touchdown on the first touch of his career. It is the second-longest kick return for a TD in program history, second only to Justin Peagues who opened 2024 with a 100-yard kick return for a TD against Fordham. 
  • PK Jackson Kleather connected on a 56-yard field goal in the third quarter. It is a career long and tied for the second-longest in program history, sharing the spot with Gehad Youssef who kicked his in 1983 against Western Michigan. It is the longest field goal since 1995 when Derek Schorejs kicked a 60-yard FG vs. Toledo. 


STAT LEADERS

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM -- COACH EDDIE GEORGE

  • "First and foremost, it's a great opportunity to coach these guys. Wallace had an amazing game. It's a great opportunity to coach here at Bowling Green State University with the coaching staff. The kids put the work in despite the injuries. It's a blessing with my family here. I saw teammates that I hadn't seen in years. My coach from Ohio State, Coach [John] Cooper, Jim Tressel, Urban Meyer. It was a special day. I'm so full of gratitude for this sport and everything special about our kids and this university. 

    "About the game, we knew it was going to be a tough challenge for us given that we've been through a lot of obstacles with a lot of turnover and trying to figure out who we are. I had to find out a lot about who we are under the lights and under pressure and facing adversity. We responded through a lot of adversity tonight. This is just the start. We just stepped up and did a great job. Offensively, we need to get the ball more in space. We have to figure out some things specifically in the passing attack. That's almost expected coming into the first game and trying to find a rhythm. It didn't help that we had a 30-minute stop for the first quarter, so it was tough to find that rhythm, but I'm excited about where we can grow. It's a great starting point. I'm so appreciative of the win. The guys feel like they got a solid win, but we have to get better. "

UP NEXT

  • Bowling Green will head on the road for their next contest, taking on Cincinnati at Nippert Stadium on Sept. 5 with a 3:30 p.m. kick.
  • The next home game for the Falcons will be Homecoming on Sept. 12 against Liberty, set for a 5 p.m. start against the Flames.

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