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Bowling Green Falcons |
Ohio State Buckeyes © |
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Played September 20, 2003 at Ohio Stadium Columbus, Ohio |
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Teams' Belt Records
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Team |
Belt Reigns |
Overall Record |
Home Record |
Away Record |
Neutral Record |
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W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
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| Bowling Green | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | ||||||||
| Ohio State © | 4 | 17 | 6 | 1 | .729 | 9 | 1 | 1 | .864 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 2 | 5 | 0 | .286 |
Previous Belt Meetings: None
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
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Bowling Green |
7 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
17 |
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Ohio State |
7 |
10 |
0 |
7 |
24 |
The 5th ranked, 3-0 Ohio State Buckeyes of coach Jim Tressel welcomed the 3-0 Bowling Green Falcons of first-year coach Gregg Brandon to the Horseshoe. Bowling Green had won their last five games against teams from BCS conferences & Ohio State played without starting QB Craig Krenzel out due to injury. The Buckeyes again depended on a field position strategy & strong defense to overcome the Falcons upset bid in a 24-17 Ohio State victory. In the 1st quarter, Buckeyes' CB Dustin Fox returned an intercepted pass from Falcons' QB Josh Harris to the Bowling Green 29-yard line. Six plays later, Ohio State's QB Scott McMullen connected with WR Drew Carter from 7 yards for a 7-0 Ohio State lead. The Falcons responded with an 87-yard, 13-play drive with Harris hitting WR Cornelius McGrady on a 7-yard touchdown pass tying the game at 7-7. Buckeyes' DE Simon Fraser recovered a fumble by Harris that Ohio State turned into a 47-yard field goal from PK Mike Nugent for a 10-7 lead. Buckeyes' RB Lydell Ross broke free for a 33-yard touchdown run giving Ohio State a 17-7 advantage at the half. Neither team scored in the 3rd quarter & the Buckeyes pushed the lead to 24-7 when Ross scored on a 3-yard run with 8:46 left to play. Bowling Green responded with a 12-play, 80-yard drive with Harris hitting WR Cole Magner from 25 yards for the touchdown. The Falcons' All-MAC CB Janssen Patton recovered an onside kick with 3:24 left to play & with 1:46 left, PK Shaun Suisham hit from 33 yards as Bowling Green closed to 24-17. Ohio State's All-Big Ten TE Ben Hartsock recovered the next onside kick but the Falcons forced a punt & took possession at their own 24-yard line with 0:42 to play. Buckeyes' All-American S Will Allen intercepted Harris’ last pass as time expired preserving the 24-17 win for Ohio State. McMullen finished with 118 yards passing with a touchdown & an interception while being sacked times while RB Maurice Hall had 107 yards rushing & Ross added 94 yards rushing to his 2 scores. Harris finished with 326 yards passing with 2 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, & 4 sacks while Magner had 13 catches for 168 yards with his score for Bowling Green. Ohio State finished the season 11-2; ranked 4th nationally while the Falcons finished 11-3 & ranked 23rd nationally. Bowling Green would play for The Belt again in 2006.
