At Look At Our Guests---the Hilltoppers

If you are a member of the Falcon Nation, you find yourself at road games from time to time, and when you do, you will find that almost everyone things BGSU is in Kentucky. In fact, you might think that right now.


It is not. It is in OHIO. That's right, round on the ends and high in the middle.

We were in East Lansing for the Spartan game, and, in fact, more than one person indicated that they thought BG was in Kentucky--and they ARE ONLY TWO HOURS FROM OUR CAMPUS.

So, now we are playing the University that actually IS in Bowling Green, Kentucky....Western Kentucky University.

In fact, our paths have crossed before. Back in the 50's, we had a huge rivalry in basketball. In fact, both schools named their arenas after the coaching combatants--Harold Anderson in BG, and (I swear to god) EA Diddle at WKU. We played every year in some great contests, as I have heard it. (We played 29 times and WKU won 20.)

In football, WKU has had a very strong I-AA program. They won national championships there, and are now moving to I-A. In fact, there were rumors of them coming to the MAC as the 14th (note, this is what we call an EVEN number. Even numbers are our friends). Instead, they are entering the Sun Belt.

What do we know about them? They are 3-1. They lost to Florida, which you would expect. They beat Eastern Kentucky, which I would guess you would expect, too. They also delivered a biblical can of whopass (87-0) to West Virginia Tech, a NAIA school. (Check the boxscore out here. WKU lead 49-0 at the end of the first quarter. WVTech made 2 first downs. There's more, but that's enough).

That leaves the Middle Tennessee State game. Coach is pointing to their win in this one to show they are dangerous. MTS did play in the Motor City Bowl, but let's not overstate it--they did not win the Sun Belt Conference.

I tried to look at the stats, but, frankly, when 1/4th of your games are against WV Tech, its hard to judge much from the stats. They are primarily a runspread team--like we were in the Harris years or last year. In fact, they run significantly more often than they pass (182 against 89. They use two QBs, Wolke, a runner, and Black, more of a passer. They also have a pretty decent RB named Tyrell Hayden.

Teams like this are so hard to defend. I will say this...if we don't show up and make some open field tackles, it could be a long day. We have to tackle effectively, and pressure the QB to hold them in check.

Defense? Hard to say. They had MTS to under 300 yards total offense. They don't seem to create a bunch of turnovers, when you take out the one outlier.

They appear to have a decent kicker.

So, in the name of Harold Anderson and EA Diddle, lets tee it up. This game is dangerous. If we come out playing sloppy, especially on defense, WKU could beat us. If we come to play, they shouldn't.