BGSU Gets Past RedHawks, 24-20

Saturday, October 3

Oxford, Ohio

3:30 p.m.

Miami University

2-3 , 0-1

Bowling Green

1-4 , 1-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Bowling Green	0	10	0	14	24
Miami (OH)	0	6	3	11	20

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10/3/2026 6:48:00 PM | Football

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OXFORD— Leo Kemp's two-yard touchdown run with eight seconds left lifted Bowling Green to a 24-20 win over the Miami University football team Saturday afternoon at Yager Stadium.

Kellan McLaughlin was 4-for-4 on field goals and Caleb Heavner threw for 198 yards and a score in his first start for the RedHawks (2-3, 0-1 MAC). Bowling Green improves to 1-4, 1-0 MAC with the win.

"Obviously 'disappointing' is an understatement,' said head coach Chuck Martin. 'That's a game we've got to win...

"We've got to play better; we've got to play cleaner football...When we execute, we're good. When we don't execute, we're not good...

"Credit to them: We weren't a better football team than them today, but we should win that game and we didn't get it done."

"Honestly, we've just got to get past it now," added wide receiver Lynel Billups-Williams. "Tomorrow-- come in and watch film, watch what we did wrong, and try to fix those things. Not 'try', but fix those things and get better and on to the next."

Miami will travel to Massachusetts next weekend before returning home to Yager Stadium to host Akron on Oct. 17 at 3:30 p.m. in the RedHawks' annual Family Weekend game.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Neither team scored in the first quarter, with the RedHawks' defense producing back-to-back stops. On Bowling Green's first possession, the Falcons turned it over on downs at the Miami 38-yard line. A Pierse Stainton punt later in the quarter pinned the visitors at their own five-yard line, and the RedHawks eventually got solid field position seven plays later. Miami then marched 55 yards in 12 plays to take a 3-0 lead on a 24-yard field goal by McLaughlin with 9:05 left in the first half.
Bowling Green took its first lead at 7-3 with 6:57 to play in the period on a 64-yard touchdown pass to Nakai Amachree. Both teams exchanged field goals from there, with Miami capitalizing on a 25-yard pass from Heavner to Damarion Witten to tack on a 44-yard McLaughlin kick as the half expired and pull within 10-6.
The RedHawks trimmed the deficit to a single point with 1:45 left in the third quarter after the Falcons punted from their end zone and Lynel Billups-Williams returned the kick to the BGSU 20-yard line. McLaughlin drilled a 40-yard kick to cut the margin to 10-9.
The visitors added a touchdown with 13:25 to go on a 14-yard scoring pass from Jay Kastantin to Eli Jacon-Duffy to make it 17-9, but Miami responded with a touchdown drive to even the score. A 39-yard pass to Billups-Williams moved the RedHawks near the red zone, and D'Shawntae Jones came up with a key one-yard run on 4th-and-short to keep the drive alive. Heavner found Billups-Williams again two plays later for a 10-yard touchdown pass, and Brach Rice was wide open in the end zone for a two-point conversion from Heavner at the 8:50 mark.
The RedHawks re-took the lead with 1:47 to go on McLaughlin's fourth successful field goal of the afternoon, but Bowling Green put together an 11-play, 75-yard drive for the game-winning score.

KELLAN'S KICKS: McLaughlin converted a career-high four field goals to lead the Miami offense, marking the first time a RedHawk kicker had made four in a game since Oct. 25, 2025 (Dom Dzioban vs. Western Michigan)

LOOK AT LYNEL: Billups-Williams' 39-yard fourth-quarter reception – complete with a PlayStation-esque spin move – was the longest of his career. His 20-yard punt return was the second-longest of his career (42 yards at Buffalo on Nov. 19, 2025). Billups-Williams added his second career receiving touchdown and finished with a career-high 75 receiving yards to lead the Red and White.

CALEB'S CONNECTION: Heavner's fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Billups-Williams was his first scoring pass since Nov. 1, 2025 with Fort Hays State (vs. Central Missouri). "I thought Caleb competed his tail off," Martin said after the game. "He made some plays, especially in the fourth quarter. Hopefully, he gets better as he goes...he can build on that."

PIERSE'S PUNTING: Stainton averaged 46.8 yards per punt on four kicks with a long of 55 and placed three of his four kicks inside the Falcons' 20-yard line.

UP NEXT:
The RedHawks travel to Massachusetts next Saturday, Oct. 10 to take on the UMass Minutemen. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. in Amherst, Mass.