Written by: D.J. Johnson

Terry Bowden may wish halftime never came on Saturday afternoon.

Leading 10-0 after two quarters, the Zips were outscored by Bowling Green 24-0 in the second half.

“We did not have a good plan B when they took away what we were doing,” said the first-year head coach.

The Zips (1-5, 0-2 MAC) seemed to have had the Falcons (3-3, 1-1 MAC) figured out in the first half, but saw a different team coming out of the locker room. A two-possession lead turned into a 17-10 deficit before the third quarter ended.

“They made corrections and adjustments,” Bowden said. “The offense could not come out and protect the lead.”

After a scoreless opening quarter, Akron struck first with 9:47 left in the second quarter as quarterback Dalton Williams’s pass found wide out Tyrell Goodman in the end zone. The 17-yard connection capped an 11-play, 70-yard drive that gave the Zips a 7-0 lead.

The only other score came from the leg of freshman kicker Robert Stein, who hit a career-long 46-yard field goal as time expired in the half.

“The kids came out and did a great job of executing the gameplay,” Bowden said.

The momentum quickly shifted after halftime.

Bowling Green replaced their zero with a seven on the scoreboard with a seven-play, 78-yard opening drive. Running back Anthon Samuel took it in from four yards out to make it a 10-7 ballgame with 11:43 left in the quarter.

The Falcons evened it up five minutes later with a 26-yard field goal from Stephen Stein.

After an Akron drive that only moved eight yards, it took four plays for Bowling Green to take a 17-10 lead. Quarterback Matt Schilz found tight end Alex Bayer up the seam for the 60-yard touchdown.

Bayer would seal the victory midway through the fourth quarter, as Schilz found him again from 12 yards out to make it a 24-10 game.

“The defense was vulnerable,” Bowden said. “If we could have scored points, maybe we could have had them chasing.”

An Akron offense that was stagnant throughout much of the second half still had nice days on the stat sheet.

Sophomore Jawon Chisholm churned out his third 100-yard day on the year (16 carries, 100 yards) — his second in a row.

Williams completed 29-of-50 passes for 228 yards and a touchdown. Nine different receivers had receptions on the afternoon.

The road ahead will not get any easier for the Zips, as they visit undefeated Ohio on Saturday. The Bobcats eked out a 38-31 victory over Buffalo to move to 6-0.

The two teams will kickoff at 2 p.m.