The 2012

Military Bowl The Military Bowl is a post-season National Collegiate Athletic Association-sanctioned Division I college football bowl game that has been played annually each December in the Washington metropolitan area since 2008. The game was originally held a ...

presented by

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was a post-season American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

held on December 27, 2012, at

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, commonly known as RFK Stadium and originally known as District of Columbia Stadium, is a defunct multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. It is located about due east of the U.S. Capitol building, near the ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

The fifth edition of the Military Bowl began at 3:00 p.m. EST and was shown on

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. It was between the

San Jose State Spartans The San Jose State Spartans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San José State University. SJSU sports teams compete in the Mountain West Conference (MW) at the NCAA Division I level, with football competing in the Football B ...

from the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

and the

Bowling Green Falcons The Bowling Green Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Bowling Green State University (BGSU), in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The Falcons compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Div ...

from the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

and was the final game of the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season for both teams. The Spartans accepted their invitation after earning a 10–2 record in the regular season, while the Falcons accepted after earning an 8–4 record on theirs. This was the first Military Bowl appearance as well as the first meeting between these two teams. It proved to be the last edition of the Military Bowl played at RFK Stadium. On May 20, 2013, the bowl announced that future editions would be held at

Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is an open-air stadium located off the campus of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Opened in 1959, it serves as the home stadium of the Navy Midshipmen college football and lacrosse team ...

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Teams

Under normal circumstances, the 2012 game would have been between the eighth bowl-eligible team from the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

and

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. However, the Army Black Knights were not bowl eligible because of their 2–9 record. In addition, the ACC only had six bowl-eligible teams this season because the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

, in the midst of an NCAA investigation into allegations of major rules violations, self-imposed a bowl ban. Therefore, a new matchup for the 2012 game was decided.

San Jose State

170px, San Jose State quarterback

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

title. After a 1-12 record in 2010 San Jose State Spartans football team, 2010 and 5-7 record in 2011 San Jose State Spartans football team, 2011, the Spartans finished with a 10–2 overall record and second-place in the

(WAC) at 5–1 (their only conference loss coming to the WAC champion

Utah State Aggies The Utah State Aggies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Utah State University, located in Logan. The school fields 16 sports teams – seven men and nine women – and compete in the Mountain West Conference. Sports spon ...

). After defeating the

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and Lady Techsters, commonly abbreviated La. Tech and Dawgs, refer to the sports teams of Louisiana Tech University, in Ruston, Louisiana. The teams compete in Division I of NCAA sports. Since 2013, Louisiana Tech has bee ...

to finish their regular season, the Spartans accepted a bid to the Military Bowl on November 30. This was the Spartans' final game as a member of the WAC before moving to the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

. As the WAC stopped sponsoring football after the 2012 season (the conference's 51st in existence), the 2012 Military Bowl was the last football game involving a WAC team. After leading San Jose State to a 10-2 regular season record, San Jose State head coach

Mike MacIntyre George Michael MacIntyre (born March 14, 1965) is an American football coach. He is the head coach at FIU. MacIntyre served as the head football coach at San Jose State University from 2010 to 2013 and the University of Colorado Boulder from 2 ...

resigned from San Jose State on December 10, 2012, to become head coach at

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach

Kent Baer Kent Lex Baer (born May 2, 1951) is an American college football coach. He is the defensive coordinator at the University of Montana, a position he had held since 2018. Baer served as the interim head football coach at the University of Notre D ...

was named interim head coach for this game only, and

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

coach

Ron Caragher Ronald Allen Caragher (born January 24, 1967) is an American athletics administrator and former college football coach who currently serves as the assistant athletics director for development at the University of San Diego. He was previously th ...

was named as the permanent head coach effective 2013.

Bowling Green

In a memorable year for the conference overall, the Falcons finished in second place in the

(MAC) East Division with a 6–2 record, after which they accepted their invitation to the Military Bowl.

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

accepted its invitation to the Military Bowl on December 3.

Game summary

First quarter

400px, San Jose State's David Fales drops back to pass. The game began with a 65-yard kickoff from Bowling Green's Anthony Farinella for a

touchback In American football, a touchback is a ruling which is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line (i.e., in their end zone) and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to trav ...

. San Jose State quarterback

David Fales David Daniel Fales (born October 4, 1990) is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at San Jose State. Fales played high school football ...

' first play from scrimmage was a 15-yard pass to

Noel Grigsby Noel Keith Grigsby Jr. (born October 2, 1991) is an American football wide receiver. Grigsby played college football for the San Jose State Spartans. He set school records for career receptions and career receiving yards. High school Born and r ...

. However, the first drive ended in a

three-and-out A down is a period in which a play transpires in gridiron football. The down is a distinguishing characteristic of the game compared to other codes of football, but is synonymous with a "tackle" in rugby league. The team in possession of the ...

after an incomplete pass, rush for no gain, and incomplete pass. Harrison Waid punted the ball 33 yards to Bowling Green's 23 but immediately left the game due to complications of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

. On Bowling Green's first play from scrimmage, San Jose State committed an

encroachment Encroachment is to advance beyond proper limits, and may refer to: * Temporal encroachment * Structural encroachment * Encroachment (gridiron football), a penalty in American and Canadian football *Encroachment by human populations on natural sp ...

penalty for a five-yard penalty. Running back Anthon Samuel advanced the ball 6 yards for a first down but lost 2 on the next play. Two incomplete passes from Matt Schilz made it another three-and-out. Bowling Green's punt was downed at San Jose State's 21. In a four-play, 79-yard drive that took 1 minute and 45 seconds, De'Leon Eskridge rushed for 3 yards, then David Fales completed three consecutive passes, including a 33-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Nunn. After the

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

, San Jose State led 7-0. Following an illegal block penalty, 10 yards were taken off BooBoo Gates' kickoff return, and Bowling Green started on their own 29. Matt Schilz completed three consecutive passes of 28, 13, and 9 yards to advance to the SJSU 21. Bowling Green could only advance 12 more yards, and Tyler Tate converted a 28-yard field goal to cut San Jose State's lead to 7-3. Farinella's kickoff landed out of bounds, so San Jose State started the next drive from their own 35. Following a 2-yard rush from Ina Liaina and 7-yard pass to Jabari Carr came 3rd-and-1 from San Jose State's 44. However, San Jose State was forced to punt because Tyler Ervin rushed for a loss of 6. Placekicker Austin Lopez came in for the injured Waid, but Lopez's first punt was blocked and landed at San Jose State's 24.

Second quarter

Three rushing plays by Samuel in the first quarter set up a successful 33-yard field goal by Tate to open the second quarter. The score became 7-6 San Jose State, and San Jose State would make only 5 yards on their next possession. Lopez would successfully punt the ball away on fourth down for this and the next San Jose possession. Bowling Green also punted for all three of its second-quarter possessions. After Lopez scored a 36-yard field goal with 1:40 left, the score was 10-6 at halftime.

Third quarter

BooBoo Gates returned Lopez's kickoff for 32 yards to begin the second half. Bowling Green's Brian Schmiedebusch punted after Bowling Green's drive ended with just 5 yards. Fales completed two passes to advance his team for 15 yards. However, Bowling Green's Charlie Walker sacked Fales and forced a fumble. Bowling Green's Chris Jones recovered the fumble and returned it 20 yards to the San Jose State 8. Bowling Green would get its first lead of the game 13-10 after an Anthon Samuel 8-yard TD run and extra point. After three drives of both teams ended with punts, San Jose State's

Bené Benwikere Bené Sylvion Benwikere ( ; born September 3, 1991) is a former American football cornerback. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at San Jose State. Early life Benwikere g ...

blocked Schmiedebusch's punt at the Bowling Green 24. The ball rolled out of the end zone for a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

, and Bowling Green's lead was cut to 13-12 with 5:40 left. Starting from San Jose State's own 32, Fales made three consecutive complete passes for 18, 7, and 19 yards. After an incomplete pass, De'Leon Eskridge rushed 6 yards for 3rd-and-4 from Bowling Green's 18. From that position, Fales made an 18-yard touchdown pass to Chandler Jones, who caught the ball at the

flat Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

and dodged sideline defenders to advance the ball to the end zone.

Fourth quarter

Bowling Green running back John Pettigrew scored in a go-ahead touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter. Bowling Green got the ball back with 14:14 left after a San Jose State punt. In an 8-play, 68-yard drive with mostly rushing plays, John Pettigrew first converted a 3rd-and-4 with a 34-yard run to advance to San Jose State's one-yard line. Pettigrew followed with a one-yard TD run, and the extra point kick gave the lead back to Bowling Green, 20-19. With 10:26 left, San Jose State would go on a 13-play, 68-yard drive that took 5:43 off the clock. Lopez converted a 27-yard field goal for San Jose State to take a 22-20 lead. All but one play on this drive were passing plays, save for one botched

end-around The end-around is a play in American football in which an end or wide receiver crosses the backfield towards the opposite end of the line and receives a handoff directly from the quarterback. The receiver then may proceed to do one of two thing ...

play by second-string quarterback Blake Jurich to running back Kyle Nunn from Bowling Green's 10. Jurich recovered at the 22 for a loss of 12. Bowling Green's Pettigrew made an 18-yard kickoff return to the Bowling Green 23. Schilz's first pass from scrimmage was incomplete, and San Jose State defensive end Travis Johnson sacked Schilz on the next play and forced a fumble. San Jose State linebacker Keith Smith recovered the fumble at the 24-yard line. Taking over with 4:22 left, Eskridge rushed twice for 9 yards to the Bowling Green 15, and on 3rd-and-1, Fales completed a 12-yard pass to Ina Liaina. After a 2-yard rush, Eskridge rushed 1 yard for a touchdown. San Jose State led 29-20 after the extra point, and with 2:34 left, a win was inevitable. Bowling Green's final drive was marred by a 15-yard

unsportsmanlike conduct Unsportsmanlike conduct (also called untrustworthy behaviour or ungentlemanly fraudulent or bad sportsmanship or poor sportsmanship or anti fair-play) is a foul or offense in many sports that violates the sport's generally accepted rules of sport ...

penalty that forced a 3rd-and-25. Schilz's pass only went 22 yards, and on 4th-and-3, Schilz's pass was deflected by Travis Raciti. San Jose State ran out the last 1:51 to seal the 29-20 victory.

Scoring summary

Statistics

Source

Starting line-ups

Notes

*The reported attendance of 17,835 was the lowest bowl attendance figure since the 2005 Hawaii Bowl had only 16,134 attendees. *Two players who played in this game were selected in the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

: **

David Quessenberry David Lee Quessenberry Jr. (born August 24, 1990) is an American football offensive guard for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft and previously p ...

, San Jose State offensive tackle, was selected in the sixth round, 176th overall by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

, and ** Chris Jones, Bowling Green defensive tackle, was selected in the sixth round, 186th overall by the

. *Two players were also selected in the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

: **

, San Jose State cornerback, was selected in the fifth round, 148th overall by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

, and **

, San Jose State quarterback, was selected in the sixth round, 183rd overall by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

References

External links

Box score
{{San Jose State Spartans bowl game navbox

Military Bowl Bowling Green Falcons football bowl games San Jose State Spartans football bowl games

Sports competitions in Washington, D.C.