2012 Military Bowl The 2012 Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman is a post - season American college football bowl game held on December 27 , 2012 at Robert F . Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington , D . C . , the capital of the United States . The fifth edition of the Military Bowl began at 3 : 00 p . m . EST and aired on ESPN . It featured the San Jose State Spartans from the Western Athletic Conference against the Bowling Green Falcons from the Mid - American Conference and was the final game of the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season for both teams . The Spartans accepted their invitation after earning a 10 – 2 record in the regular season , while the Falcons accepted after earning an 8 – 4 record on theirs . This was the first Military Bowl appearance as well as the first meeting between these two teams . Teams . Under normal circumstances , the game would be set to feature the eighth bowl - eligible team from the Atlantic Coast Conference against a team from one of the service academies . However , the Navy Midshipmen and Air Force Falcons had already accepted bids to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl and Armed Forces Bowl , respectively , and the Army Black Knights were not bowl eligible because of their 2 – 9 record . In addition , the ACC only has six bowl - eligible teams this season , because of the Miami Hurricanes self - imposing a bowl ban . Therefore , the new layout for the 2012 game was decided . San Jose State . After a 1 - 12 record in 2010 and 5 - 7 record in 2011 , the Spartans finished with a 10 – 2 overall record and second - place in the Western Athletic Conference ( WAC ) at 5 – 1 ( their only conference loss coming to the WAC champion Utah State Aggies ) . After defeating the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs to finish their regular season , the Spartans accepted a bid to the Military Bowl on November 30 . This is the Spartans ' final game as a member of the WAC before moving to the Mountain West Conference in 2013 . As the WAC will stop sponsoring football after the 2012 season ( the conference ' s 51st in existence ) , the 2012 Military Bowl is the last football game involving a WAC team . After leading San Jose State to a 10 - 2 regular season record , San Jose State head coach Mike MacIntyre resigned from San Jose State on December 10 , 2012 to become head coach at Colorado . Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Kent Baer was named interim head coach for this game only , and San Diego coach Ron Caragher was named regular head coach effective 2013 . Bowling Green . In a memorable year for the conference overall , the Falcons finished in second place in the Mid - American Conference ( MAC ) East Division with a 6 – 2 record , after which they accepted their invitation to the Military Bowl . Bowling Green State University accepted its invitation to the Military Bowl on December 3 . Game summary . First quarter . The game began with a 65 - yard kickoff from Bowling Green ' s Anthony Farinella for a touchback . San Jose State quarterback David Fales ' first play from scrimmage was a 15 - yard pass to Noel Grigsby . However , the first drive ended in a three - and - out after an incomplete pass , rush for no gain , and incomplete pass . Harrison Waid punted the ball 33 yards to Bowling Green ' s 23 but immediately left the game due to complications of pneumonia . On Bowling Green ' s first play from scrimmage , San Jose State committed an encroachment penalty for a five - yard penalty . Running back Anthon Samuel advanced the ball 6 yards for a first down but lost 2 on the next play . Two incomplete passes from Matt Schilz made it another three - and - out . Bowling Green ' s punt was downed at San Jose State ' s 21 . In a four - play , 79 - yard drive that took 1 minute and 45 seconds , De ' Leon Eskridge rushed for 3 yards , then David Fales completed three consecutive passes , including a 33 - yard touchdown pass to Kyle Nunn . After the extra point , San Jose State led 7 - 0 . Following an illegal block penalty , 10 yards were taken off BooBoo Gates ' kickoff return , and Bowling Green started on their own 29 . Matt Schilz completed three consecutive passes of 28 , 13 , and 9 yards to advance to the SJSU 21 . Bowling Green could only advance 12 more yards , and Tyler Tate converted a 28 - yard field goal to cut San Jose State ' s lead to 7 - 3 . Farinella ' s kickoff landed out of bounds , so San Jose State started the next drive from their own 35 . Following a 2 - yard rush from Ina Liaina and 7 - yard pass to Jabari Carr came 3rd - and - 1 from San Jose State ' s 44 . However , San Jose State was forced to punt because Tyler Ervin rushed for a loss of 6 . Placekicker Austin Lopez came in for the injured Waid , but Lopez ' s first punt was blocked and landed at San Jose State ' s 24 . Second quarter . Three rushing plays by Samuel in the first quarter set up a successful 33 - yard field goal by Tate to open the second quarter . The score became 7 - 6 San Jose State , and San Jose State would make only 5 yards on their next possession . Lopez would successfully punt the ball away on fourth down for this and the next San Jose possession . Bowling Green also punted for all three of its second quarter possessions . After Lopez scored a 36 - yard field goal with 1 : 40 left , the score was 10 - 6 at halftime . Third quarter . BooBoo Gates returned Lopez ' s kickoff for 32 yards to begin the second half . Bowling Green ' s Brian Schmiedebusch punted after Bowling Green ' s drive ended with just 5 yards . Fales completed two passes to advance his team for 15 yards . However , Bowling Green ' s Charlie Walker sacked Fales and forced a fumble . Bowling Green ' s Chris Jones recovered the fumble and returned it 20 yards to the San Jose State 8 . Bowling Green would get its first lead of the game 13 - 10 after an Anthon Samuel 8 - yard TD run and extra point . After three drives of both teams ended with punts , San Jose State ' s Bene Benwikere blocked Schmiedebusch ' s punt at the Bowling Green 24 . The ball rolled out of the end zone for a safety , and Bowling Green ' s lead was cut to 13 - 12 with 5 : 40 left . Starting from San Jose State ' s own 32 , Fales made three consecutive complete passes for 18 , 7 , and 19 yards . After an incomplete pass , De ' Leon Eskridge rushed 6 yards for 3rd - and - 4 from Bowling Green ' s 18 . From that position , Fales made an 18 - yard touchdown pass to Chandler Jones , who caught the ball at the flat and dodged sideline defenders to advance the ball to the end zone . Fourth quarter . Bowling Green got the ball back with 14 : 14 left after a San Jose State punt . In an 8 - play , 68 - yard drive with mostly rushing plays , John Pettigrew first converted a 3rd - and - 4 with a 34 - yard run to advance to San Jose State ' s one - yard line . Pettigrew followed with a one - yard TD run , and the extra point kick gave the lead back to Bowling Green , 20 - 19 . With 10 : 26 left , San Jose State would go on a 13 - play , 68 - yard drive that took 5 : 43 off the clock . Lopez converted a 27 - yard field goal for San Jose State to take a 22 - 20 lead . All but one play on this drive were passing plays , save for one botched end - around play by second - string quarterback Blake Jurich to running back Kyle Nunn from Bowling Green ' s 10 . Jurich recovered at the 22 for a loss of 12 . Bowling Green ' s Pettigrew made an 18 - yard kickoff return to the Bowling Green 23 . Schilz ' s first pass from scrimmage was incomplete , and San Jose State defensive end Travis Johnson sacked Schilz on the next play and forced a fumble . San Jose State linebacker Keith Smith recovered the fumble at the 24 - yard line . Taking over with 4 : 22 left , Eskridge rushed twice for 9 yards to the Bowling Green 15 , and on 3rd - and - 1 , Fales completed a 12 - yard pass to Ina Liaina . After a 2 - yard rush , Eskridge rushed 1 yard for a touchdown . San Jose State led 29 - 20 after the extra point , and with 2 : 34 left , a win was inevitable . Bowling Green ' s final drive was marred by a 15 - yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that forced a 3rd - and - 25 . Schilz ' s pass only went 22 yards , and on 4th - and - 3 , Schilz ' s pass was deflected by Travis Raciti . San Jose State ran out the last 1 : 51 to seal the 29 - 20 victory . 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