SportsDirect Inc. staff
Dec 27, 2012
No. 24 San Jose State 29, Bowling Green 20: David Fales passed for a bowl-record 395 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Spartans edged past the Falcons to win the Military Bowl at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C.
Fales, who came in leading the nation in completion percentage, was 33-of-43 and threw an 18-yard strike to Chandler Jones in the third quarter for a 19-13 lead. Noel Grigsby caught nine passes for 134 yards as San Jose State reached the 11-win mark for the first time since 1939.
John Pettigrew gave Bowling Green a 20-19 lead on a 1-yard run just 4:34 into the fourth quarter, but the Spartans (11-2) responded with a 13-play drive that ended with a 27-yard field goal by Austin Lopez with 4:43 left. After a fumble by the Falcons (8-5), DeกฏLeon Eskridgeกฏs 1-yard touchdown run sealed it with 2:34 remaining.
Fales connected with Kyle Nunn for a 33-yard scoring strike in the first quarter as San Jose State took a 10-6 lead at intermission. The Spartans prevailed despite being held to minus-17 yards rushing for the game
Charlie Walker forced a fumble and MAC defensive player of the year Chris Jones recovered it to set up Bowling Greenกฏs go-ahead score just 2:55 into the second half. Anthon Samuel ran 8 yards up the middle on the next play to give the Falcons a 13-10 lead.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Eskridge rushed for only 32 yards, but went over 1,000 for the season (1,024). กญ Bowling Green quarterback Matt Schilz was 16-of-35 for 159 yards and Samuel was limited to 32 yards rushing. Samuel finished with 998 yards for the season. กญ Lopez made all 17 of his field-goal attempts this season.