Bowling Green set to play San Jose St. in Military Bowl

The Bowling Green Falcons out of the Mid-American Conference announced that the school accepted an invitation to play in the Military Bowl against future Mountain West Conference members, the No. 24 San Jose State Spartans, at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., on Thursday Dec. 27, 2012 at 3 p.m. The game will be televised by ESPN.

The Military Bowl will be Bowling Green’s 10th bowl contest in school history and their first appearance in a bowl since the Falcons lost 43-42 to the Idaho Vandals in the 2009 Humanitarian Bowl. The last time BGSU won a bowl game was the 2004 GMAC Bowl, where the Falcons defeated Memphis 52-35.

In a press release, Bowling Green head coach Dave Clawson said he and his team "are thrilled and honored to be selected to play in the Military Bowl sponsored by Northrop Grumman."

"This is a great reward for our players and staff who have put in so much work and effort to build our program back to bowl eligibility. It will be exciting to be able to spend the holiday season with the Falcon family in the Nation’s Capital."

BGSU, which finished the season 8-4 and second in the MAC East division, will enter the contest as one of the hottest teams in the nation, winning seven of its last eight games.

Bowling Green defense is anchored by MAC Defensive Player of the Year Chris Jones, who finished third in the country in sacks with 12.5 on the season and tied for seventh with 19.0 tackles for a loss. Overall the Falcons D ranks seventh in the nation in total defense (289.7) and ninth in scoring defense (15.8), and finished the regular season with the seventh-best pass defense (173.0) and a rushing defense that ranks 15th in the country (116.7). Gabe Martin led the team with 69 tackles,

The Bowling Green offense is led by junior Matt Schilz, who has started 34 games in his career, throwing for 7,673 yards and 50 touchdowns, and Anthon Samuel, who ranks 46th in the nation in rushing, averaging 87.82 yards per game.