Bowling Green Falcons vs Northern Illinois Huskies Match Player Stats On Dec 06, 2013

Bowling Green 47, No. 18 Northern Illinois 27: Matt Johnson set career highs with 393 yards passing and five touchdowns as the Falcons stopped the Huskies’ 25-game conference winning streak in the MAC title game at Ford Field in Detroit.

Freshman Ronnie Moore amassed 145 receiving yards and a touchdown while Alex Bayer collected a career-high 124 yards through the air and another score for Bowling Green (10-3), which claimed its first conference crown since 1992. Travis Greene rushed for 133 yards and added two late touchdowns for the Falcons.

Jordan Lynch accounted for 345 total yards (219 passing, 126 rushing) and three touchdowns, but threw two costly interceptions for Northern Illinois (12-1). The Huskies fell short in their bid to become the second MAC team to win three straight conference championships.

The Falcons jumped out to a 17-7 advantage at the end of the opening quarter behind two touchdown passes from Johnson. The Huskies closed the gap with two long field goals, but Johnson countered with another touchdown pass and followed a late interception by Lynch with his fourth TD of the first half on a 12-yard strike to Bayer with 13 seconds left.

Lynch capped a 64-yard drive to open the second half to bring Northern Illinois within 31-20, but Tyler Tate nailed a career-long 52-yard field goal at the start of the fourth quarter. Lynch was intercepted by Aaron Foster on the following possession and Johnson capped off his stellar effort with a 6-yard toss to Greene.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Greene set a school record for rushing yards in a single season with 1,555, breaking Fred Durig’s 62-year-old record. … Lynch needs 92 more yards to surpass Denard Robinson (4,495) for the most rushing yards by a quarterback in NCAA history. … Bowling Green has outscored its opponents 223-44 during its five-game winning streak.