Eastern Kentucky tops Bowling Green 59-57 in 7OTs

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (AP) — Parker McKinney threw for 324 yards with three touchdowns and hit Braedon Sloan with the winning two-point conversion as Eastern Kentucky defeated Bowling 59-57 on Saturday in a game that went to seven overtime periods.

Bowling Green had the ball first in the seventh overtime and Matt McDonald threw incomplete, leaving the door open for Eastern Kentucky to finish one of the longer games in NCAA Division I history.

Eastern Kentucky scored 24 consecutive points to turn a 17-7 deficit into a 31-17 lead only to see the Falcons answer with three consecutive touchdowns of their own for a 38-31 lead.

Down seven with 3:39 remaining in the fourth quarter, McKinney led the Colonels 75 yards in 14 plays, culminating in a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Higgins on the final play of regulation. EKU chose to kick the extra point to force overtime.

Both teams scored touchdowns on their two full possessions in overtime and both missed a two-point try after their second touchdown, sending the game to two-point conversions tied at 51. In addition to his winning catch, Sloan ran for one of the two-point conversions.

Higgins caught two TD passes for EKU and Jaden Smith had seven receptions for 102 yards. Sloan had 56 rushing yards with two touchdowns and caught seven passes for 52 yards.

Bowling Green’s Matt McDonald completed 23 of 40 passes for 283 yards with five touchdowns.

The record for most overtimes is nine, set by Illinois and Penn State in 2021. Illinois won 20-18.

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