Data Skrive

Harold Fannin and the Bowling Green Falcons and the Arkansas State Red Wolves play in the 68 Ventures Bowl. The bowl matchup is December 26, 2024, starting at 9 p.m. ET, airing on ESPN.

Interested in watching the matchup featuring the Falcons and Red Wolves? You can find it on ESPN.

Keep up with college football all season on FOX Sports.

Learn more about the Bowling Green Falcons and the Arkansas State Red Wolves.

How to Watch Bowling Green vs. Arkansas State

• When: Thursday, December 26, 2024 at 9 p.m. ET
• Location: Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama
• Live Box Score: FOX Sports

Read More About This Game

• Bowling Green vs. Arkansas State Predictions

Bowling Green’s 2024 Schedule

Bowling Green 2024 Stats & Insights

• Bowling Green ranks 87th in total offense (369.4 yards per game) and 32nd in total defense (331.1 yards allowed per game) this season.
• Bowling Green ranks 70th in passing yards this year (224.6 per game), but has been thriving on the other side of the ball, ranking 20th-best in the FBS with 181.3 passing yards allowed per game.
• The Falcons rank 73rd in points scored this season (26.8 points per game), but they’ve been shining on the defensive side of the ball, ranking 20th-best in the FBS with 20.3 points allowed per game.
• The Falcons are totaling 144.8 rushing yards per game on offense this season (83rd in the FBS), and they are surrendering 149.8 rushing yards per game (73rd) on the other side of the ball.
• Bowling Green ranks 91st in third-down conversion rate this season (37.5%), but has been playing really well on the defensive side of the ball, ranking 16th-best in the FBS with a 32.3% third-down conversion rate allowed.
• The Falcons rank 47th in college football with a +3 turnover margin after forcing 13 turnovers (99th in the FBS) and committing 10 (15th in the FBS).

Bowling Green 2024 Key Players

Arkansas State’s 2024 Schedule

Arkansas State 2024 Stats & Insights

• Arkansas State’s defense has been bottom-25 in total defense this season, allowing 460.7 total yards per game, which ranks sixth-worst. On the offensive side of the ball, it ranks 66th with 386.4 total yards per contest.
• Arkansas State is putting up 227.1 passing yards per game on offense this season (67th-ranked). Meanwhile, it is allowing 234.4 passing yards per contest (96th-ranked) on defense.
• The Red Wolves rank 93rd in points per game (24.8), but they’ve been less productive on the other side of the ball, ranking 23rd-worst in the FBS with 32.3 points allowed per contest.
• The Red Wolves rank 73rd in rushing yards per game (159.3), but they’ve been less productive defensively, ranking fourth-worst in the FBS with 226.3 rushing yards surrendered per contest.
• Arkansas State’s defense has been bottom-25 on third down this season, surrendering a 46.9% third-down conversion percentage, which ranks 12th-worst in the FBS. On offense, it ranks 71st with a 46.9% third-down rate.
• The Red Wolves have recorded 19 forced turnovers (43rd in the FBS) and committed 17 turnovers (60th in the FBS) this season for a +2 turnover margin that ranks 54th in the FBS.

Arkansas State 2024 Key Players

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Bowling Green Falcons

Arkansas State Red Wolves

College Football

Pine Bluff native and Missouri transfer wide receiver Courtney Crutchfield signed with Arkansas on Wednesday.

The former four-star recruit announced his intentions to enter the transfer portal last Thursday and he officially entered last Friday. Crutchfield redshirted this season for the Tigers.

A 6-foot-2, 188-pound pass catcher, Crutchfield recorded 42 receptions for 930 yards and 13 touchdowns his senior season at Pine Bluff. He was committed to Arkansas for nearly seven months before eventually signing with Missouri.

Crutchfield will have four years of eligibility remaining. He was rated by Rivals as the No. 2 overall recruit and No. 1 wide receiver in the state of Arkansas in the 2024 recruiting class.

WASHINGTON — U.S. officials are moving to phase out the leading decongestant found in hundreds of over-the-counter medicines, concluding that it doesn’t actually relieve nasal congestion.

Phenylephrine is used in popular versions of Sudafed, Dayquil and other medications, but experts have long questioned its effectiveness. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration formally proposed revoking its use in pills and liquid solutions, kicking off a process that’s likely to force drugmakers to remove or reformulate products.

It’s a win for skeptical academics, including researchers at the University of Florida who petitioned the FDA to revisit the drug’s use in 2007 and again in 2015. For consumers, it will likely mean switching to alternatives, including an older decongestant that was moved behind the pharmacy counter nearly 20 years ago.

Doctors say Americans will be better off without phenylephrine, which is often combined with other medicines to treat cold, flu, fever and allergies.

“People walk into the drugstore today and see 55,000 medicines on the shelf, and they pick one that is definitely not going to work,” said Dr. Brian Schroer of the Cleveland Clinic. “You take away that option, and it will be easier for them to self-direct toward products that really will help them.”

The FDA decision was expected after federal advisers last year voted unanimously that oral phenylephrine medications haven’t been shown to relieve congestion.

Experts reviewed several recent, large studies indicating that phenylephrine was no better than a placebo at clearing nasal passageways. They also revisited studies from the 1960s and 1970s that supported the drug’s initial use, finding numerous flaws and questionable data.

The panel’s opinion only applied to phenylephrine in oral medications, which account for roughly $1.8 billion in annual U.S. sales. The drug is still considered effective in nasal sprays, though those are much less popular.

Phenylephrine wasn’t always the top choice for cold and allergy products. Many were originally formulated with a different drug, pseudoephedrine.

But a 2006 law required pharmacies to move pseudoephedrine products behind the counter, citing their potential to be processed into methamphetamine. Companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Bayer decided to reformulate their products to keep them readily available on store shelves — and labeled many of them as “PE” versions of familiar brand names.

PHARMACY NEEDED

Consumers who still want to take pills or syrups for relief will probably need to head to the pharmacy counter — where the pseudoephedrine-containing versions of Sudafed, Claritin D and other products remain available without a prescription. Purchasers need to provide a photo ID.

Beyond those products, most of the other options are over-the-counter nasal sprays or solutions.

Saline drops and rinses are a quick way to clear mucus from the nose. For long-term relief from seasonal stuffiness, itching and sneezing, many doctors recommend nasal steroids, sold as Flonase, Nasacort and Rhinocort.

“These medicines are by far the most effective daily treatment for nasal congestion and stuffiness,” Schroer said. “The biggest issue is they’re not great when used on an as-needed basis.”

Nasal steroids generally have to be used daily to be highly effective. For short-term relief, patients can try antihistamine sprays, such as Astepro, which are faster acting.

Phenylephrine-based sprays will also remain on pharmacy shelves.

SWALLOWING STIFLES AID

The experts who challenged the drug’s effectiveness say it’s quickly broken down and rendered ineffective when it hits the stomach.

“This is a good drug, but not when it’s swallowed,” said Leslie Hendeles, professor emeritus at the University of Florida’s College of Pharmacy, where he co-authored several papers on the ingredient. “It’s inactivated in the gut and doesn’t get into the bloodstream, so it can’t get to the nose.”

When Hendeles and his colleagues first petitioned the FDA on phenylephrine, they suggested a higher dose might be effective. But subsequent studies showed that even doses 400% higher than those currently recommended don’t treat stuffiness.

The FDA and other researchers concluded that pushing the dosage even higher might carry safety risks.

“If you’re using very high doses, the risk is raising blood pressure so high that it could be hazardous to patients,” said Randy Hatton, a University of Florida professor who co-led the research on phenylephrine.

Because of its cardiovascular effects, the drug is sometimes used to treat dangerously low blood pressure during surgery, Hatton noted.

    A decongestant pill containing phenylephrine is displayed for a photograph in Philadelphia on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Jonathan Poet)
  

    A decongestant pill containing phenylephrine is displayed for a photograph in Philadelphia on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Jonathan Poet)