ICSTR Akron....

As the season reaches the midway point, the good monks of the ICSTR have issued their report for the Akron game.

Both teams ended up in positive territory.  (This is possible because not all of the scoring plays are reversible.  For example, a punt downed inside the 10 is +2 for the kicking team but a 0 for the receiving team since they did nothing wrong.)  Anyhoo, Akron ended up +7 which was the same score Florida had and BG was +1 which is just the second time BG has been in positive territory this year.

Note that BG had almost the same number of positive points, but Akron had only two negative plays and BG had 5, including a roughing the punter that gave up a first down.

Falcon Positive plays (+8)

BG punt to Akron 16
BG punt to Akron 10
BG 47 yard net punt
BG 19 yard PR to turn 60 yard punt into 41 yard punt
AK KO return to own 20
AK KO return to own 21
BG Punt to Akron 7 (+2)

Falcon Negative plays (-7)

BG 24 yard net punt
BG roughing kicker (-3)
BG KO Return to 22
BG KO out of bounds
BG Miss 24 yard FG

Akron Positive plays (+9)

Punt to BG 2 (+2)
KO Touchback
Punt to BG 6 (+2)
46 yd FG
BG KO return to 22
Punt to BG 9 (+2)

Akron Negative plays (-2)

AK KO return to 20
AK KO return to 21

Game Notes out...

Not much on the depth chart.  The only thing I noticed was that Mike Minns is no longer listed on the two-deep at D-tackle.  Now one backup D-tackle is Zach Colvin, who has been playing end and, I would guess, was moved inside due to the loss of three interior players.  The other backup D-tackle is Taylor Royster.

InfoCision...and the future of the Zips

We were at the game Saturday.  These were tickets we got as part of our season ticket package and there was a free BG tailgate tent for lunch, which all adds up to seeing the game for the cost of a tank of gas, so we were happy Falcon fans on a number of fronts.

InfoCision is a fantastic facility.  Honestly, it has a big time feel but it is intimate, great sightslines, feels great with the hill on one side and the training area on the other.  I haven't been to all the stadiums in the MAC, but I think it is as good as any football facility in the MAC and possibly as good as any facility for any sport.  It kind of reminded me of 5/3 field in the way it has a big time feel without being too big.

They only drew about 10K, and that was for homecoming.  Obviously, it has been a long road for them with one win both of the last two seasons and being 1-5 this year.

They did a great job with the game day too.  Good use of the scoreboard, the sound system is very strong.  I was impressed.

Let me say this.  Bowden is going to win there.  It is a huge football area, that is an awesome facility to recruit to and Terry Bowden has never failed anywhere, including Auburn.  He was even winning at North Alabama.  These guys are not going to stink very long.

Final note.  I saw BGSU board members at the pre-game tent and then I saw somewhere that they were they to pick up hints for the renovation of the Doyt.  It would be a good place to learn...

Ryland MAC East Defensive Player of the Week

Congrats to Ryland Ward, who was named the MAC East defensive POY.  He didn't have eye popping numbers, but he did make perhaps the biggest single defensive play of the game as he forced a fumble inside the BG 5 that left a 90 yard Akron drive for naught and might very well have turned the game.  As noted in previous posts, at 17-0 BG might not be able to come out and not pass anymore.

Congrats Ryland.  Here's the MAC write up.

Sophomore defensive back Ryland Ward (Columbus, Ohio) had five tackles and a forced fumble as the Falcons won 24-10 at Akron, holding the league’s No. 1 offense to just 10 points and 316 yards of total offense. Ward’s biggest play was one of the turning points in the game. With Bowling Green already trailing 7-0, Ward forced a fumble at the Falcons 3-yard line as Akron was marching towards the end zone and a potential 14-0 advantage.

Benchmark Results, AKRON

So, here's the first benchmark report for the MAC season.  Just to recap, the benchmarks are MAC averages from last season (MAC games only) and the stats are the results BG got on both sides of the ball Saturday in Akron.

A few notes.

When you take sacks out, Akron was pretty effective running the ball.  Yes, that was mostly in the first half.  Still, they did get passing yards.

We talk about how ineffective our passing game was, but once you charge the sacks back against the Zip passing game, their's was actually worse than BG in most measures.  The one thing BG got that the Zips didn't was a big passing play, which obviously helps the average.

Neither team was great in the red zone, but BG held Akron to two red zone trips for the game.

Akron had a lot of yards to get 10 points.

BG ran the ball on 59% of its plays for the game, which is near the highest quarter of NCAA teams, when you exclude the military academies, etc.

Anyway, that's a pretty good portrait of how BG won.  We ran the ball effectively, made first downs on a large percentage of plays, stayed out of third down, etc.  We didn't convert 3rd down very well, but that's a story for another day.

Blogpoll Draft Ballot

Here is my blogpoll draft ballot.  I'm pretty happy with it.  Not sure why I moved OK up 9, but I do the rankings organically each week, which means I don't worry about (or even look) at where I had them before.  Anyway.  OSU might be 2 spots high.  And, South Carolina is ahead of Oregon on the basis that they have had the better season.  Not sure they are the better team, however.

Hit the comments if you like.

Falcon Blog Ballot - Week 6

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
2	South Carolina Gamecocks	8
3	Oregon Ducks	-1
4	Florida Gators	5
5	West Virginia Mountaineers	1
6	Kansas St. Wildcats	1
7	Ohio St. Buckeyes	6
8	LSU Tigers	-3
9	Georgia Bulldogs	-5
10	Florida St. Seminoles	-7
11	Texas Longhorns	-3
12	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	--
13	Oklahoma Sooners	9
14	Clemson Tigers	-3
15	Louisville Cardinals	--
16	Cincinnati Bearcats	1
17	Oregon St. Beavers	-1
18	Iowa St. Cyclones	--
19	Mississippi St. Bulldogs	4
20	Stanford Cardinal	-5
21	USC Trojans	--
22	Texas Tech Red Raiders	--
23	Ohio Bobcats	2
24	Rutgers Scarlet Knights	--
25	Louisiana Tech Bulldogs	--
Dropouts: Washington Huskies, TCU Horned Frogs, UCLA Bruins, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Baylor Bears

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

Former and Future Opponent Land

Florida: (5-0) Huge win over LSU
Idaho (1-5) Beat New Mexico State
Toledo (5-1) Beat CMU
Virginia Tech (3-3)  Lost to UNC
Rhode Island (0-5) Lost to Brown
Miami (3-3) Clubbed by UC
UMass (0-6) Lost @WMU
EMU (0-5)  Smoked by Kent
OU (6-0)  First bowl eligible team.  Beat Buffalo, though they are playing close games.
Kent (4-1) Killed EMU
Buffalo (1-4) Lost to OU.  Played them tough.

2012 MAC vs:

All out of conference: 21-23
All FBS: 11-23
All FCS: 10-1
All BCS: 6-19