Bowling Green Falcons football The Bowling Green Falcons football team is the intercollegiate footballs team of Bowling Green State University . The team is a member of the of the NCAA , playing at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , formerly Division I - A , level ; BGSU football competes within the Mid - American Conference in the East Division . The Falcons have played their home games in Doyt Perry Stadium since 1966 . The stadium currently holds 23 , 724 spectators . In their 93 - year history , the Falcons have won ten MAC conference championships and one national championship - as voted by the UPI - in 1959 . The current head coach is Dave Clawson , who had previously been the offensive coordinator at Tennessee and replaces Gregg Brandon , following Brandon ' s dismissal after six seasons . History . Beginnings : 1919 – 1933 . The football program shortly after the university opened , then known as the Bowling Green Normal School . In the early years of Bowling Green State Normal College , common nicknames of BG athletic teams used by sports writers were “ B . G . Normals , ” “ Teachers , ” and the “ B . G . Pedagogues " . The team began play in 1919 and played on a local field behind the Ridge Street School in Bowling Green , Ohio . The first team was composed of nineteen male students , over half of the 36 men that enrolled in the college . The roster included Ivan " Doc " Lake , who would later would give the Falcons their nickname . John Stitt served as the program ' s first football coach during the initial 3 - game 1919 season . The first football game in BG ' s history was held on October 3 , 1919 against Toledo University , a series that would turn into a rivalry that still exists in the present day . The game ended with a 0 - 6 score . The second game of the season marked BG ' s first road game at Defiance College , where the team dropped to 0 - 2 with a 12 - 0 shutout . In the final game of the short season the team lost to Michigan State Normal College ( Eastern Michigan ) 0 - 10 . In the 1920 season , BG recorded its first score in a 6 - 10 loss at Findlay College . The 1920 team later recorded the program ' s first win , in the eighth and final game of the season , when the team defeated Kent State Normal College 7 - 0 . The team joined the Northwestern Ohio Intercollegiate Athletic Association ( NWOIAA ) starting in the 1921 season . In the first game BG and Kent battled to a scoreless tie in a game that saw no fan attendance due to influenza epidemic . After a 7 - 0 win over Defiance , BG faced Findlay on October 15 , 1921 in a game that set a national collegiate record in which BG scored 22 touchdowns to win 151 - 0 over Findlay College . Despite dropping the following game 0 - 27 to Ashland College , the team finished the season with a record of 3 - 1 - 1 and won the Northwestern Ohio Intercollegiate Athletic Association conference championship , the first title in school history . The team would repeat as the NWOIAA Champions in 1922 , 1925 , 1928 and 1929 . Warren Steller became the head coach of BG in 1924 and in his second season as head coach , BG recorded its first one - loss season in 1925 . The record was repeated two seasons later , in 1927 , when the team dropped its final game of the season 6 - 12 to Bluffton . During the same season , Ivan " Doc " Lake , a BG alumnus and football player on the original team , suggested the nickname “ Falcons ” . The nickname ' s popularity grew rapidly and was adopted by the school . In 1928 , the Falcons recorded their first undefeated season with a record of 5 - 0 - 2 . The team was led by Chet Chapman , who received the conference MVP award and also became Bowling Green ' s first All - American . Steller ' s Falcons repeated the feat just a few seasons later , in 1930 , when the team went 6 - 0 - 2 . The 1931 season marked the team ' s final year that the Falcons participated in the Northwestern Ohio Intercollegiate Athletic Association . The team joined the Ohio Athletic Conference ( OAC ) in 1933 , after it played one season as an independent team . Warren Steller ' s last season as head coach of BG football came in 1934 . In the years after he continued to serve as the manager of the baseball team and also served as athletic director until 1941 . Ohio Athletic Conference Era and Whittaker years : 1933 - 55 . The Falcons struggled in their initial seasons as a member of the OAC , when the team recorded a losing record in three straight seasons from 1933 - 35 . The first winning record came in 1936 when the Falcons finished the season with a record of 4 - 2 - 3 . In 1937 , University Stadium was dedicated as the team ' s home stadium . The venue was located in the northeast part of campus and replaced the field and wooden bleachers with a larger capacity , permanent structure with the aid of Federal funding part of the Works Progress Administration . The new stadium did not provide much home field advantage , with BG only recording two home wins and ending the season 3 - 4 - 1 . One of the team ' s best seasons in the OAC came in 1939 when BG finished with a record of 6 - 1 - 1 . The Falcons came within a point of an undefeated season , their only loss to Capital by the score of 6 - 7 . Robert Whittaker became head coach in 1941 and guided the Falcons to their best record as a member of the Ohio Athletic Conference when the team outscored opponents by a combined score of 173 - 40 and recorded a 7 - 1 - 1 overall record ; and finished as one of four undefeated teams in conference play with a conference record of 4 - 0 - 1 , along with Case Institute of Technology , Ohio Northern and Toledo . From 1942 until 1952 The team played independent of a conference affiliation until the university joined the Mid - American Conference ( MAC ) . The highlight of BG ' s independent years came in 1948 when the Falcons went 8 - 0 - 1 . The only blemish on the season came at the hands of John Carroll , when the teams battled to tie score of 13 - 13 . Bowling Green had initial success in the new conference and finished with a record of 7 - 2 in the 1952 season . The only losses on the season to Miami ( OH ) and Ohio . The success of the first MAC season was short - lived with Bowling Green only winning 3 games over the next two seasons ; and in 1955 , Doyt Perry replaced Whittaker as head coach . Doyt Perry Era : 1955 - 64 . Perry , who attended Bowling Green and was a three - sport athlete for the Falcons and the captain of the football , basketball and baseball teams in 1931 - 32 returned to Bowling Green after serving as a high school coach at Upper Arlington and the offensive backfield coach of Ohio State . Perry changed the culture of the program , and focused on decreases in mistakes , penalties , fumbles , interceptions , blocked kicks and missed assignments . With the new coach and coaching style , the team ' s record quickly turned around and finished with a 7 - 1 - 1 record Perry ' s first season as head coach . In that season , the team ' s only loss came to the Miami RedHawks by the score of 0 - 7 . The team outscored opponents 224 - 53 , compared to being outscored 125 - 196 in the 1954 season . The team continued success into the 1956 season and recorded seven straight victories before picking up a 7 - 7 tie vs . Miami ( OH ) and finishing the season with an eight win on the season for a final unbeaten record of 8 - 0 - 1 and Bowling Green ' s first MAC Championship . After two successful seasons in 1957 and 1958 , in which the Falcons went 13 - 3 - 2 overall between the two season , The season included conference wins over Miami , Kent State , Ohio , Toledo , and Western Michigan and non - conference opponents of Dayton , Delaware , Marshall , and Southern Illinois . BG recorded two games where the team scored 51 points , and the closest game of the season was a 13 - 9 win over Ohio in the last game of the season on November 21 . Bowling Green finished the year with a perfect record of 9 - 0 - 0 and were named the Mid - American Conference Champions and National Champions in the NCAA College Division . The next season , the Falcons began the season with a 5 - 0 record that included wins over MAC rivals Miami , Toledo and Kent State . And on October 29 , 1960 , the team got a sixth straight win on the season and seventeenth straight victory overall , beating California Polytechnic 50 - 6 . Shortly after the victory , news spread that the Mustangs ' plane crashed on takeoff when leaving Toledo . Two weeks later , the team faced Ohio University in a rematch of the championship - clinching game in the 1959 season . The Bobcats snapped the team ' s eighteen - game win streak and ended the team ' s chance at a second consecutive national title . With the 14 - 7 win , the Bobcats earned the MAC Championship and 1960 NCAA College Division National Championship . The Falcons went on to beat Texas - El Paso and finished the season with an 8 - 0 - 1 record , ranked second in the MAC . The 1961 team finishing the regular season with an 8 - 1 record in the regular season , the single loss to Miami ( OH ) by one point , 6 - 7 . Despite the loss , the Falcons claimed their third MAC title and was selected to play in the Mercy Bowl , the program ' s first bowl game . The team flew to California to play Fresno State at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum . Proceeds of the game went to the survivors and families of the Cal Poly plane crash . The Falcons lost the game 36 - 6 but over $ 170 , 000 was raised for the victims . Bowling Green repeated as MAC champions in 1962 , and finished the season with a record of 7 - 1 - 1 with a 24 - 24 tie at Miami ( OH ) and a 7 - 23 non - conference road loss to West Texas State . In the 1963 season , Bowling Green ended with a record of 8 - 2 , including a home loss to Miami RedHawks and a road loss at Ohio . The Falcons started the 1964 season on an eight - game winning streak . In the ninth game of the season , Bowling Green faced tough rival , Ohio and was held scoreless with the Bobcats winning 21 - 0 . The team rebounded in the final game of the season to beat Xavier 35 - 7 and claimed the MAC Championship . BG finished the season with a 9 - 1 record and outscored opponents 275 - 87 . Perry stepped down as head coach of the football team after the 1964 season to take a position as the athletic director at the university and served in the position until 1970 . He finished with an overall record of 77 – 11 – 5 and a conference record of 46 – 8 – 5 over ten seasons . During Perry ' s tenure at Bowling Green , he won five Mid - American Conference Championships and one NCAA College Division National Championship . His . 855 winning percentage placed Perry among the top five in college football history and he was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988 . Gibson and Nehlen years : 1965 - 76 . Bob Gibson , a long - time assistant coach at BG , was hired to replace Perry as head coach of the Falcons . In the 1965 season the team again won another MAC title with a 7 - 2 record . The Falcons continued their winning ways under Gibson in 1966 and 1967 , posting records of 6 – 3 and 6 – 4 respectively . After one season as an assistant coach to Gibson , Don Nehlen took over as head coach for the Falcons in 1968 . Nehlen played quarterback at Bowling Green from 1955 to 1957 and led the team to the 1956 MAC championship . After graduating from BG , he began his coaching career in 1958 at Mansfield Senior High School . He later served as head coach at Canton South High School and Canton McKinley High School and an assistant coach at the University of Cincinnati . The Falcons welcomed Nehlen in as head coach with a 62 - 8 win over Ball State and opened the 1968 season on a three game win streak . The team finished the season 6 - 3 - 1 and followed with a 6 - 4 record in the 1969 season . Despite a 2 - 6 - 1 record in the 1970 season , Bowling Green rebounded back to a 6 - 4 record in 1971 . The Falcons began Nehlen ' s fifth season as head coach against Purdue on September 16 , 1972 . The game was tied in the fourth quarter when the Falcons moved into field goal range and Don Taylor kicked the ball through the uprights to give the Falcons a 17 - 14 upset win against a top 20 ranked opponent . In the 1973 season , BG again picked up a big opening win , at Syracuse 41 - 14 . The Falcon ' s rushing game greatly improved under Nehlen . The team was led by Paul Miles , who ran for more than 1 , 000 yards in three consecutive seasons from 1971 to 1973 . Miles teammate , Dave Preston earned a position as the career leader in rushing with 3 , 423 yards during his time with the Falcons . In 1975 , Dan Saleet rushed for a team leading 1 , 114 yards . Nehlen led the Falcons added two more upsets in the Nehlen era with a 23 - 21 win over BYU and a 22 - 7 win against Syracuse in 1975 and 1976 respectively . The major wins gave Nehlen the unofficial title of the “ Master of the Upset ” from many BGSU fans . Nehlen left Bowling Green after the 1976 season and guided the Falcons to a 53 - 35 - 4 record in nine seasons as head coach . He went on to coach at West Virginia and coached 21 seasons for the Mountaineers and became the 17th coach in NCAA Division I - A history to record 200 victories with a 202 - 128 - 8 overall record . 21st century . Bowling Green competes in the East division for football . Originally Bowling Green was to move to the West division for the 2012 season , but that never occurred after Temple left the MAC for the Big East prior to the 2012 season . Championships . Conference championships . Bowling Green has won or shared a conference championship 15 times , including 10 times in the Mid - American Conference :