Tarleton State Holds Off Bowling Green 20-13
Bowling Green gained 366 yards, threw for 262 of them, and scored 13 points. Two lost fumbles and a pile of field goals will do that.
Tarleton State went to 17-0 before Bowling Green touched the scoreboard. Kaden Anderson threw a 24-yard touchdown to Tanner Schmidt in the first quarter, Alejandro De La Poza kicked a 23-yard field goal, and Anderson found Marquis Willis from 7 yards out with 2:31 left in the second quarter. Austyn Dendy's 3-yard run at 1:03 got the Falcons on the board, and it was 17-7 at the break.
The second half was all kicks. Travis Kenner hit from 40 yards in the third to make it 17-10, De La Poza answered from 26 yards early in the fourth, and Kenner's 35-yarder with 10:45 left made it 20-13. That was the last score of the game, and Tarleton State never trailed. Bowling Green's one touchdown against 366 yards is the part that will keep its coaches up.
Tarleton State starts 1-0, Bowling Green 0-1. The fantasy angle is odd: the top scorer was tight end Jeremiah Scoby with 10 catches for 102 yards and 20.2 points, and nobody in the game scored more than one touchdown.
Tarleton State's two touchdowns were both Kaden Anderson passes, to Tanner Schmidt and Marquis Willis, and the rest of its 20 points was De La Poza's two field goals and the extra points. Bowling Green's Jay Kastantin was 24 of 30, so the Falcons moved the ball through the air. They just did not finish.