Fordham Football had their work cut out for them, traveling to 58-year-old Doyt Perry Stadium in Ohio for a Thursday night matchup against Bowling Green State University. The Rams were unable to withstand a mighty battle above their weight class as FCS Fordham University (Division 1-AA) fell to the FBS Bowling Green State University Falcons (Division 1-A) in a lopsided 41-17 blowout, opening their season with a loss for a second straight season.
“They executed, we didn’t,” said head coach Joe Conlin postgame. “The outcome was reflective of that.”
The Falcons set the tone right from the jump.
Fordham won the kickoff and elected to defer, but freshman Bennett Henderson’s first collegiate kickoff went about as poorly as a game-opening kickoff can go. Bowling Green junior Justin Pegues took it all the way to the house for a game-opening 100-yard kick return touchdown, tying a program record for the longest return in the school’s 106-year history.
Pegues’ return, as well as a brilliant blocking sequence by senior running back Jaison Patterson, who took out both Henderson and freshman Terrence Jones II, paving a path for the big return, was posted on Bleacher Report and featured on SportsCenter as Scott Van Pelt’s “Best Thing I Saw Today.”
Sophomore kicker Jackson Kleather missed the ensuing extra point, but the momentum had been set with the Falcons taking a 6-0 lead just 12 seconds in.
Fordham’s first drive ended quickly with a three-and-out, allowing the Bowling Green offense to cap off a successful first drive with a 7-yard touchdown by their junior running back Terrion Stewart.
The Falcons led 20-0 at the close of the first quarter after a 13-yard touchdown run from backup redshirt freshman quarterback Lucien Anderson III and would extend it to 27 unanswered points early in the second with a touchdown run from their starting quarterback, senior Connor Bazelak.
With Fordham finally forcing Bowling Green to punt halfway through the second quarter, the Rams orchestrated their longest drive of the half, as senior running back Julius Loughridge’s game-long run of 42 yards set up Henderson for his first collegiate field goal as the half expired, leaving the Rams with a 27-3 deficit at halftime.
The issues were clear. Fordham was unable to stop a Bowling Green offense led by Stewart and tight end Harold Fannin Jr, who were running through tackles with ease. Offensively, the Rams couldn’t get much of anything going, with junior quarterback and the Patriot League’s passing leader last season CJ Montes limited to just 47 passing yards through one half while getting sacked four times.
The lone bright spot had been Loughridge, whose 112 yards on the ground had been the only saving grace in an otherwise ugly first half to start the season.
Opening the second half with the football, however, Fordham showed signs of life. Montes got the passing game going almost immediately, finding Loughridge out of the backfield for a 44-yard reception to take the Rams right into Falcon territory. He then found senior receiver Cole Thornton for a 30-yard touchdown connection, cutting the lead to 17 and giving Fordham their first touchdown of the year just 90 seconds into the third.
A three-and-out defensively gave the Rams the ball right back, but this time the offense stalled. The Bowling Green offense, however, didn’t look quite as electric, and an offensive facemask penalty left them in a clear and obvious punting situation on fourth-and-25.
Unfortunately for Fordham, that’s not what happened. With sophomore Justin Johnson late to get on the field for the fourth down snap, Bowling Green’s junior punter John Henderson ran for 29 yards, picking up the first down and erasing any momentum the Rams had been building.
That would prove to be the final nail in the coffin. Stewart would close out the drive with his second score of the game and broke off a 73-yard touchdown run in the fourth to get the Falcons over the 40-point mark.
Fordham would put in the subs, and sophomore Jack Capaldi made sure the Rams wouldn’t go out with a whimper, throwing the first touchdown pass of his career on a 60-yard score to junior receiver Jack Betten to make it 41-17 in the final minute.
Bowling Green is poised to be one of the best teams in MAC, picked to finish third in the preseason poll and boasting the sixth-most seniors in college football, so the end result may not be a surprise. But beyond the talent disparity, Fordham struggled to do the little things right.
The Falcons ran for 305 yards, 10th-most in college football’s inaugural week. Over half of that came from Stewart, whose 161 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 11.5 yards per carry showed why he’s on watch lists for both the Maxwell Award and Water Camp Award, given to the best player in college football.
“He’s a good back, but we had guys at the point of attack and just failed to tackle effectively,” Conlin reflected. “We had fewer penalties than they did, but still, pre-snap penalties in key situations have been a killer.”
Fordham had the most penalties in the Patriot League last season with 86, the 15th-most in the entire FCS. Many of those had come before the whistle, prompting Conlin and many of the leaders in the locker room to harp on playing clean football during camp this fall.
The Rams didn’t do a ton to buck that narrative, taking several pre-snap penalties on offense, including one on fourth down that forced Conlin to send the offense to the sideline and bring out his punting unit.
“We had an opportunity three times knocking on the door in the red zone, and either sacks or penalties, we shot ourselves in the foot,” added Conlin. “That cannot happen. So it obviously falls on me. We weren’t prepared.”
Despite a difficult end result, there were some strong showings that give hope for the season as Fordham will start to play teams closer to their level.
“I thought the bright spot was Julius,” noted Conlin, referring to Loughridge’s impressive day on the ground, rushing for 112 yards and averaging seven per carry against a fierce FBS defense. “The kid played his heart out and gave us everything he had.”
Freshman Jaylen Dawson also impressed, receiving Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors as he got the start at linebacker in his collegiate debut and recorded a game-high 10 tackles. With Marc Pretto transferring into the FBS after starting all 11 games at linebacker last season and finishing second on the team with 75 tackles, Dawson will look to assume a large role in this defense.
After a slow start, Montes finished his 2024 opener with 159 yards through the air and a touchdown, while also picking up 30 yards on the ground despite five sacks.
The Rams did show glimmers of their high-end potential but failed to string it together for any sustained success against a very talented Bowling Green team. They’ll look for better fortunes in Week 2, going on the road once again to take on Central Connecticut State University, who fell to MAC opponent Central Michigan University 66-10 in their season opener.
“Top-down, we have to be better,” concluded Conlin.
Fordham and CCSU square off this Saturday at 6 p.m., with the Rams looking for their first win of the season.
