BOISE, Idaho — Max Komar made a sliding 16-yard touchdown catch with four seconds left and Nathan Enderle passed to Preston Davis for the two-point conversion, lifting Idaho to a dramatic 43-42 victory over Bowling Green in Wednesday night’s Humanitarian Bowl.
The Falcons took a 42-35 lead with 32 seconds left on a 51-yard pass from Tyler Sheehan to Freddie Barnes, who slipped behind the Idaho secondary for his 17th catch of the game and No. 155 in his record-setting season.
But Idaho answered with a 50-yard heave from Enderle to Davis that got the ball to the Bowling Green 16. After an incompletion with eight seconds left, Enderle found Komar — who had dropped a number of passes — in the middle of the field, and he slid to cradle the low pass.
Coach Robb Akey then decided to go for the two-point conversion and Enderle threw to Davis alone in the back of the end zone.
Akey called timeout after the touchdown to confirm with his offensive coaches the play called would work.
That’s when the slightest bit of doubt arrived, too.
“It was there when I sent them out on the field and it was too late to send the kicker out there,” Akey joked.
When the Falcons were tackled on the ensuing kickoff, Vandals fans poured onto the field to celebrate the second bowl win in school history.
Idaho’s hopes of capping its turnaround from two victories in 2008 to a bowl win in 2009 seemed finished when Barnes struck again in his banner senior season. Needing just five receptions to set an NCAA Bowl Subdivision record, Barnes finished with 17 grabs for 219 yards and three touchdowns, the final one putting Bowling Green (7-6) in prime position for its fifth victory in its last six postseason trips.
But Komar gave the Vandals (8-5) decent field position with a solid kickoff return and Enderle’s long throw landed in the arms of Davis, who finished with four catches for 119 yards. Komar then made his sliding grab and Akey confidently went for 2.
Bowling Green 14 0 7 21 — 42
Idaho 7 7 14 15 — 43
First quarter: BG — Barnes 35 pass from Sheehan (Norsic kick), 11:44. Id — Bjorvik 3 pass from Enderle (Farquhar kick), 7:49. BG — Geter 59 run (Norsic kick), :19. Second quarter: Id — Greenwood 7 pass from Enderle (Farquhar kick), :19. Third quarter: Id — Woolridge 8 run (Farquhar kick), 9:25. Id — Woolridge 13 run (Farquhar kick), 5:30. BG — Scheidler 15 pass from Sheehan (Norsic kick), 3:40. Fourth quarter: BG — Barnes 5 pass from Sheehan (Norsic kick), 12:15. Id — P.Davis 30 pass from Enderle (Farquhar kick), 8:32. BG — Geter 2 run (Norsic kick), 3:51. BG — Barnes 51 pass from Sheehan (Norsic kick), :32. Id — Komar 16 pass from Enderle (P.Davis pass from Enderle), :04. A — 26,726. BG Id
First downs 27 19
Rushes-yards 24-150 38-212
Passing 388 240
Comp-att-int 34-48-1 15-28-0
Return yards 2 2
Punts-avg. 3-34.0 7-40.0
Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 5-35 9-79
Time of possession 29:28 30:32
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Bowling Green, Geter 14-96, Hodges 1-26, Sheehan 8-25, Barnes 1-3. Idaho, Woolridge 22-126, McCarty 9-75, Komar 1-6, Jackson 4-6, Enderle 2-(minus 1).
PASSING — Bowling Green, Sheehan 33-47-1-387, Barnes 1-1-0-1. Idaho, Enderle 15-28-0-240.
RECEIVING — Bowling Green, Barnes 17-219, C.Wright 7-72, Geter 5-65, Scheidler 2-16, Hutson 2-9, Hodges 1-7. Idaho, P.Davis 4-119, Shaw 4-61, Greenwood 3-19, Hardy 1-17, Komar 1-16, McCarty 1-5, Bjorvik 1-3.
