The smaller college football bowl games may not have big-name appeal or the same importance as the classics (or the College Football Playoff), but that does not mean they can not still be fun.
Or that the teams do not care.
Sometimes you get some really fun stuff happening in these games, and the Bowling Green Falcons were a great example of that in Thursday's 68 Ventures Bowl against Arkansas State.
With the Falcons trailing, 10-0, and facing a fourth down situation near mid-field, they managed to sneak backup quarterback Baron May onto the field to pull off an absolutely perfect fake punt that resulted in a touchdown for Malcom Johnson Jr.
Have a look.
Oh the Trickery!!!!
— BGSU Football (@BG_Football) December 27, 2024
Fake Punt by BGSU goes for 43 yards and a touchdown as Baron May finds Malcolm Johnson Jr. for SIX!!!
BGSU trailes, 10-7.
ESPN pic.twitter.com/RmkS9zBnfN
The beauty of this play is everything that went into the deception.
May spent the entire season wearing No. 8 for the Falcons. In this game he changed that to No. 18.
Bowling Green's regular punter, John Henderson, wears No. 19.
When you put all of those pieces together you can kind of see how it would be easy for Arkansas State to not realize that was not a punter on the field, but actually a quarterback that is perfectly capable of dropping a perfect downfield pass in for a touchdown.
That is a lot of moving parts for a trick play in a lower level bowl game, but that is also what makes it so incredible.
More must-reads:
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!