2015 MAC Championship Game

The 2015 MAC Championship Game was an NCAA Division I college football conference championship game for the Mid-American Conference. The game was played at Ford Field in Detroit on Friday, December 4, 2015, and featured Bowling Green (East Division winners) defeat Northern Illinois (West Division) 34–14.

2015 Marathon MAC Championship Game
Conference Championship
Bowling Green Falcons Northern Illinois Huskies (9–3) (8–4) 34 14 Head coach:  Dino Babers Head coach:  Rod Carey
1 2 3 4 Total Bowling Green 7 14 7 6 34 Northern Illinois 0 0 14 0 14
Date	December 4, 2015
Season	2015
Stadium	Ford Field
Location	Detroit, Michigan
MVP	Travis Greene (RB, Bowling Green)
Favorite	Bowling Green by 14
Attendance	16,425
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN2/IMG College
Announcers	Dave Flemming, Mack Brown, Allison Williams (ESPN2) David Shumate, Jon Jansen (IMG College)
MAC Championship Game  ← 2014  2016 →

2015 Mid-American Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Bowling Green x$		7	–	1					10	–	4
Ohio		5	–	3					8	–	5
Akron		5	–	3					8	–	5
Buffalo		3	–	5					5	–	7
Kent State		2	–	6					3	–	9
Miami (OH)		2	–	6					3	–	9
UMass		2	–	6					3	–	9
West Division
Northern Illinois xy		6	–	2					8	–	6
Western Michigan x		6	–	2					8	–	5
Toledo x		6	–	2					10	–	2
Central Michigan x		6	–	2					7	–	6
Ball State		2	–	6					3	–	9
Eastern Michigan		0	–	8					1	–	11
Championship: Bowling Green 34, Northern Illinois 14
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant

History

For the third consecutive season the Bowling Green Falcons and Northern Illinois Huskies faced off in the MAC Championship Game. The previous season, the Huskies defeated the Falcons 51-17 to win the conference title. 2015 marked the sixth consecutive MAC Championship appearance for the Huskies. They are 3-3 in previous appearances.^[1]

This was the fourth MAC Championship Game appearance for Bowling Green and their third consecutive appearance; they first appeared in 2003 and are 1-2 in previous appearances. Their Championship was in 2013. ^[2]

Teams

Bowling Green Falcons

Bowling Green dominated the MAC East, with their only conference loss coming to West division co-champion Toledo. Bowling Green's resume also featured non-conference wins over Big Ten Conference teams Maryland and Purdue and a narrow three-point loss to a Memphis team that finished 9–3 in the regular season.^[3] Bowling Green clinched a berth in the championship game following their win over Western Michigan on November 11th. ^[4]

Northern Illinois Huskies

The Huskies clinched a spot in the game following a tie breaker advantage over Toledo, Western Michigan and Central Michigan in the West Division. ^[5]

Scoring summary

2015 MAC Championship Game
Bowling Green Falcons (9–3, 7–1) vs. Northern Illinois Huskies (8–4, 6–2)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Bowling Green	7	14	7	6	34
Northern Illinois	0	0	14	0	14

at Ford Field • Detroit, MI

• Date: Friday, December 4, 2015
• Game time: 8:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: N/A (game played indoors)
• Game attendance: 16,425
• Referee: M. Kluczynski • Umpire: Bob Holcomb • Linesman: Kole Knueppel • Line judge: Mark Bennett • Back judge: Doug Warns • Field judge: D. Pender • Side judge: Rich Ames • Center judge: Bryan Banks
• TV announcers (ESPN2/IMG College): Dave Flemming, Mack Brown, Allison Williams (ESPN2)
  David Shumate, Jon Jansen (IMG College)
• ^[6]

Game information

First Quarter (04:15) BGSU – Fred Coppet 4 yard run (Tyler Tate kick) (Drive: 10 plays, 70 yards, 2:40; Bowling Green 7–0) Second quarter (05:28) BGSU – Derek Lee 2 yard pass from Matt Johnson (Tyler Tate kick) (Drive: 3 plays, 17 yards, :56; Bowling Green 14–0) (01:04) BGSU – Travis Greene 25 yard run (Tyler Tate kick) (Drive: 8 plays, 84 yards, 2:32; Bowling Green 21–0) Third quarter (12:26) BGSU – Roger Lewis 45 yard pass from Matt Johnson (Tyler Tate kick) (Drive: 5 plays, 73 yards, 1:37; Bowling Green 28–0) (05:43) NIU – Desroy Maxwell 32 yard pass from Tommy Fiedler (Christian Hagan kick) (Drive: 5 plays, 46 yards, 1:29; Bowling Green 28–7) (02:24) NIU – Shawun Lurry 64 yard interception return (Christian Hagan kick) (Bowling Green 28–14) Fourth quarter (12:32) BGSU – Travis Greene 1 yard run (Tyler Tate kick blocked) (Drive: 12 plays, 83 yards, 4:47; Bowling Green 34–14)

Statistics	Bowling Green	Northern Illinois
First downs	25	17
Plays–yards	501	259
Rushes–yards	53-266-3	38–107-0
Passing yards	235	152
Passing: comp–att–int	25–37–2	12–28–3
Time of possession	34:26	25:34

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Bowling Green	Passing	Matt Johnson	25/37, 235 yards, 2 TDS, 2 INTS
	Rushing	Travis Greene	29 carries, 183 yards, 2 TDS
	Receiving	Gehrig Dieter	7 receptions, 75 yards
Northern Illinois	Passing	Tommy Fiedler	12/28, 152 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTS
	Rushing	Joel Bouagnon	14 carries, 57 yards
	Receiving	Desroy Maxwell	3 receptions, 68 yards, 1 TD