Guajardo wins it for South Alabama on last-second field goal

Sep 12, 2021, 08:18 am

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- — Diego Guajardo kicked a 44-yard field goal as time expired to lift South Alabama to a 22-19 win over Bowling Green on Saturday.

Terrior Avery scored on a 13-yard run with 1:39 remaining to get the Jaguars (2-0) a 19-all tie and then Quentin Wilfawn recovered a fumble at the Bowling Green 33 that led to the winning kick. Avery's TD run was made possible by Jake Bentley's 20-yard pass to Caullin Lacy on fourth-and-8 with three minutes remaining.

South Alabama took its first lead on Kareem Walker's 1-yard run in the third quarter but the Falcons grabbed it back at 19-12 on Matt McDonald's 33-yard scoring pass to Andrew Bench and a two-point conversion.

Bowling Green (0-2), which had only 9 rushing yards, still led most of the way. A blocked punt out of the end zone for a safety and Jake Bentley's 27-yard pick-6 gave the Falcons a 8-0 lead after the first quarter. Guajardo kicked a pair of field goals in the second quarter to get the Jaguars within 8-6 at halftime.

South Alabama had 11 more first downs and outrushed Bowling Green 114-9 though the Eagles had a 308-257 edge in passing yards.

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