Welcome to DeKalb

Next up for BG is NIU. a game that is shaping up to be one that BG needs pretty bad.  At 1-4, playing this team, BG needs a win.  And, of course, NIU is not great but they are on home court.

For whatever it is worth, home teams have a losing record in the MAC to date.  I wouldn't expect that to continue, but that's where it is now.

NIU is rebuilding.  In 2019 they ended up with a kenpom of 136 and played BG in the MAC semi.  They were 18-13 the next year and 11-7 in the MAC, which is not too bad.  Things went bad in 2020, when they went they went 3-16.  They fired Mark Montgomery.

Their new coach is Rasho Burno.  He came from Arizona State, where he was an assistant.  He is a Hurley guy.  Burno is a Hurley guy, playing for Bob Sr in HS and coaching with Bob Jr. in Tempe.  He played at DePaul and coached for Billy Donovan, among others.

They are 5-8, all of it D1.  They opened the season with a win @UW, currently the #4 upset in D1 for the year.  They lost the next five--with a couple bad losses in there--they are 4-3 since then, although not against the best competition.

They are 2-1 in the MAC. They lost by 31 to UT, and then won @ Kent (an upset) and WMU.  Their kenpom for the season has moved up from 326 to 304.

BG has won the last 4 against the Huskies, and 5 of 6. That includes the last two in DeKalb by a combined 46 points.

BG plays at 74 possessions a game (all stats MAC only) while NIU plays 71, so both pretty upbeat teams.  When NIU has the ball, it has the potential to be pretty ugly. NIU is 10th in offense and BG is dead last in defense.  Meanwhile, BG is #4 in offense, while NIU is #7 which is the middle of the pack.  For my money, BG is now not playing a great offensive team...they need to deliver some stops out there.

On the NIU end, they are a decent shooting team, pretty much average.  BG is easy to shoot against, though the UT game is a little inflating.  NIU gets to #10 in the MAC by being poor on turnovers and offensive rebounds and only average at getting to the line and #11 at FT shooting.  

They are last in their rate of attempting 3FGs.  They are effective at shooting them, at 33%, which means they take good 3FG shots.  Meanwhile, they are 48% on 2FG, which is not great.

Overall, BG needs stops.  If they hold NIU to their shooting average, that would be a 5% improvement right there.  BG has been terrible on its defensive boards as well.  Here that can be corrected.

On the other side, NIU is easy to shoot against, especially from 3FG and they give up a lot of FTs.  They do force turnovers--possibly leading to the fouls--and they are average on the defensive boards.  BG leads the MAC in taking care of the ball, and that's vital to how they play, given below average shooting. If BG does get to the line--which they have not been doing--they are #5 in shooting FTs.

In MAC play they are led by Kaleb Thornton at 14.7 PPG.  He's making 55% on 2FG and 40% on 3FG which 4 RPG and 3.3 assists  He is a 6'0" G who played one year in JUCO before moving to NIU, where he is in his second season.  

Trendon Hankerson is scoring 11 PPG.  Not efficient, at 43% and 35%.  He has 4 RPG and 11 assists so far. He's an honest to god sr.

Keyshaun Williams is scoring 10.5 PPG.  He played one year at Tulsa and is in his first year at NIU. He's strictly off the bench in MAC play and missed the UT game.  He's shooting 47% on 2FG and takes very few 3FGs.

The team's leading rebounder is Anthony Crump, who scores 7 PPG and 5 RPG.  He's in his second year at NIU but came from Middle Tennessee State.

We aren't sure who will play for BG...including Matheny, Fulcher, Matiss and Reece.  That will be a big test.  No matter who is out there, BG needs to get this W against a not-great opponent.  A 5th loss this early and Akron on Thursday really begins to tighten the collar.

Malone back to Louisiana. OC Open at BG.

I am told that BGSU Offensive Coordinator Terry Malone is heading to join LSU as an offensive analyst.

Malone spent a lot of years in Louisiana when he was on the New Orleans Saints staff.

— Jordan Strack (@JordanStrack) January 15, 2022

This news broke yesterday....Terry Malone is on his way back to Louisiana and will be leaving BG.  I understand he has family there, including a daughter, and enjoyed living in Louisiana while he was with the Saints.  Also, the analyst role is an opportunity maybe to slow a little as he moves toward retirement.

This ends his second stint as an assistant at BG.  Best of luck to him.

This is a pretty big hire for the BG program.  The offense has added some pieces and has to be productive next year for the team to compete for a title, as Coach says it should.  You have to get the chemistry right since the head coach is, shall we say, heavily involved in the offense.

Malone also coached the running backs.

Also, Steve Addazio is available.  

I kid.  I hope.

Sadness Accrues. Rockets Win.

Well, there is much sadness.

Not surprise.  But sadness.  When I looked at the game, and the two teams this year, I had a fear that BG might struggle to match up with the Rockets.  And that was at full strength.  Down Metheny, Reece, Fulcher and Reece, the odds get even longer.

At full strength, you might get the rivalry game effect, home crowd and produce a surprising result.  In a way, it might have been a surprising result in that it was as competitive for as long as it was. 

In the end, though, UT was clearly better on this day and I think is clearly better this year.

BG started as they often do, pitching to an 8-0 deficit right out of the gate.  Six minutes in the lead was 11 and 11 minutes in the lead was 12.  What happened next was an unforgettable interlude.  BG's Trey Diggs his 7 straight 3FGs, in just an incredible streak of shooting that carried BG through to the break.  The Falcons led briefly in the last minute and trailed by 1 at the half.

After the game, Coach said that as a coach you have be ready to find something else when a player is on a streak like that, because you know he can't keep doing it.  He didn't.  In fact, Diggs did not score again.  And BG didn't really have anyone else.

UT game out on an 8-1 run for the first 2 minutes, blowing the lead up to 8.  It was never a one-possession game again.  In fact, it was up to 10 with about 16 left and never inside 10 for the remaining 14 minutes of the game.  It got as high as 21.  BG closed on a 10-2 garbage time run to make the deficit 13 points.  Looked closer than it actually was.

Simply put, BG could not stop the Rockets.  UT had 1.25 points per possession.  Sadly, it is only BG's second worst defensive game of the year, Buffalo was worse.  It's been exceeded only 4 times in the last 4 seasons.  

UT shot the ball unbelievably well.  They made 61% of their 2FGs and 44% of their 3FGs.  You will rarely win a game when your opponent shoots like that.  BG is 2-15 in D1 games when their opponents shoot at this level over 5 seasons.

BG won the turnover battle and UT complimented almost never missing by being good on the offensive boards.  Overall, no one shot many FTs, but UT made all 11 of theirs and BG was 8-11.

BG didn't have a terrible offensive night at 1.07 points per possession.  They made 53% of their 2FGS and 32% of their 3FGS.  Outside the Diggs 7-7 streak, BG was 3-24 from 3FG.  

Individually, Diggs led the way.  He scored 21 points, shooting 7 of 12 in the end from 3FG.  Plowden had a rough 14, on 5 of 11 and 0 of 3, plus 7 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. Myron Gordon had 14 on 6 of 10 and 0 of 4 shooting. He also led the team with 4 assists.  Chandler Turner had his usual highly-efficient night, scoring 11 on 2 of 4 shooting from 2FG and 3FG.  

Man, JT Shumate had essentially a perfect night.  He made 8 of 10 from 2FG, 4 of 4 on 3FG, plus 9 rebounds.

Last couple notes.  First, BG actually played a zone in the second half.  We very rarely play a  zone, despite sometimes struggling badly in man.  It was funny looking (the zone was).  Todd Walker asked Huger if it was a 3-2 and Huger said he wasn't going to say what it was.  It looked a little like a matchup zone to me, but we'll see what comes out of it.

Last thing.  This season is in a little trouble.  BG was 1-4 in MAC play.  Assuming that everyone ends up playing 20 times, BG probably needs 9 wins to get to Cleveland.  They need to go 8 and 7 from here on in.  They are hitting an easier part of their schedule.  Their next 7 games are:

1. @NIU
2. UA
3. @WMU
4. EMU
5. KSU
6. @CMU
7. NIU

BG has got to make a run in this part of the schedule.  Each of these games is winnable.  Even so, for example, the NIU, WMU and CMU games against the weaker teams are all on the road.  And it will start in DeKalb Tuesday, and we don't know who will have.

This is the time for BG to turn this around and be in a position to make it to Cleveland.  Right now, things are not looking great.  The Ball State loss, in particular, really stings.

The Hated Rockets

 Assuming it happens...Saturday is the big day.  The first BG-UT match up in front of fans in a couiple of years and a really important test for the Falcons.  As the team plays, there's no question they are about what they were picked to be, which is a mid-conference team.  I think there's ability to be more than that, but we have not seen it on the court yet...BG is 1-3 in the MAC.  This is only their second home game, though.  If they can defend home court against the Rockets, it will be a good sign.  And a needed one.

UT is good this year.  Their kenpom is up to 89, due largely to blowout wins over WMU, CMU and NIU--kenpom loves blowouts.  Overall they are 12-4 and 11-4 in D1 games.  In the MAC, they beat WMU and NIU at Savage, @Miami and @CMU and they lost @ Kent.  To date, they have played the second-weakest MAC schedule.

This is the 177th time we have played the Rockets.  BG has won 3 of the last 4 in the series, but 4 of the last 10.

Both teams play at a fast pace....BG a little faster at 74 possessions per game while UT is at 71.  Still, both teams are very comfortable moving up the court.

UT has some really good numbers this year.  They always score well.  For the last 9 seasons, they have never been worse than #103 in the country in defense.  Normally, they are much higher.  Last year they were #19, scoring 1.14 points per possession.  They are often ranked in the 200s, and were #182 last year, which is right in the middle of the nation.  This year they are #122.

The last time they had this kind of combination they went 25-8, won the regular season and lost to NIU in the first round in Cleveland.

As you can see, is performing below UT on both offense and defense.  I'd say the key issue will be for BG to get some stops.  I don't think they can outscore a Rocket team lighting the scoreboard up.

How do the Rockets do it?  They aren't a great shooting team.  At 50.1%, they are just a hair over the national average.  However they take excellent care of the ball, they are great on the offensive boards and they are good at getting to the line, where they make 79%.  

They shoot a heavy 2FG mix.  By being selective, they make 35% of their 3FGs.  They are just below average on 2FGs at 49%.

This is going to be a challenge, because the numbers UT generates to get 1.09 points per possession are pretty much where the BG defense is used to allowing.  BG's going to have to be better across the board, especially on the defensive boards and not fouling.  Coach Huger says we need to be tougher after almost every loss so a rivalry game might be the chance to ramp that up.

So this is the change.  The Rockets are playing really good defense.  They are really hard to shoot against...that's the #60 shot defense in the country.  They allow only 29% on 3FG, which is #44 in the country.  They also defend the 2FG tough.  They don't force turnovers, but they are very good on their defensive boards and they don't give up very many FTs.  BG is already not a great shooting team, but they are going to need to get some to fall and win what should be a very tough battle on the boards on both ends.

They are led by Ryan Rollins, the #2 scorer in the MAC at 19.2 PPG.  He's shooting 51% on 2FG and 34% from 3FG.  That goes with 5RPG and 2 SPG.  

JT Shumate is their next leading scorer, with a very efficient 15 PPG, 55% on 2FG and 52% on 3FG (top in MAC), a team-high 7 RPG and 13 blocked shots for the season.

Setric Millner is scoring 13.6 PPG.  He's shooting 45% and 38%, which is pretty good, and 6 RPG.  Finally, Rayj Dennis, a Boise State transfer, is scoring 11.6 PPG, shooting 54% and 31%, 5.8 RPG and a team-high 58 assists.

They have used the same starters for all games.  They play a very tight rotation, with only 7 players averaging 10 minutes or more.

On paper, the Rockets are clear favorites.  BG has been known to rally for this game--though for much of the team this is their first UT-BG game--and they will need to.  It will take a quality game on both ends of the floor and especially on the boards, to win.

BG Fills Special Teams Coordinator Position With Familiar Face

BG has landed a new special teams coordinator and he's someone we are well familiar with.  His name is Alex Bayer, an all-time great TE during the Clawson years.

He is the all-time leader in receptions by a TE at BG.  He was all-MAC twice, and went 7 for 124 and 1 TD in the Glorious Night at Ford Field.

From here, he spent a couple years in the NFL, where he played 6 games. He went to Otterbein where he was a  GA.  He then went to Wake Forest where he was the special teams analyst for two years.  Last year, he went to Valparaiso, where he was special teams coordinator.

Sounds like he had a good year...here's what the BGSU release says:

Bayer guided the special teams unit to numerous accomplishments in the fall of 2021, including leading the nation in blocked kicks with nine, the second-most in program history and most since 1991. Valpo was the only team in all of Division-I college football (both FCS and FBS) to block nine kicks during the season. During a game at San Diego, Valpo tied a PFL record for blocked kicks in a single game with three. Brett Bittner blocked three kicks during the season, finishing as one of just six players in the FCS nation with three or more. Elsewhere on special teams, Valpo made 12 field goals, tied for the fifth-most in program history.

Under Bayer's tutelage in 2021, punter Ben Niesner averaged 43.2 yards per punt, which ranked third in program history. He finished the season 16th nationally in punting average while leading the PFL. Niesner was selected to the FCS Bowl, Tropical Bowl USA and received FCS Bowl Special Teams MVP honors.

A loaded Fall 2021 specialist group also featured Brian Bartholomew, who finished the season tied for second in single-season program history with 12 made field goals. He also cracked the program record book by finishing with 32 made PATs, a total that ranked fifth all-time. He led the PFL in both field-goal percentages and made field goals per game.

Welcome home, Alex.

Football Lands Grad Transfer

The Last Dance‼️ Committed ‼️ pic.twitter.com/iBNTgV9kAb

— Deej (@dacorian19) January 12, 2022

So , BG has another transfer to announce.  Coach talked about having 4 slots open on signing day and there have been 2 more young men transfer since then.  There could be more, but now that classes have started they would have to come for the fall and not be in Spring practice, which is obviously highly desirable.

His name is DJ Taylor and he is from Huntland, TN.  He is transferring from...wait for it...Wake Forest.  He played as a true FR and then he was in on 50 tackles the next year. In 2019 he missed the entire season with an injury, had 7 tackles in the COVID year and then this year played 12 games and had 35 tackles and a sack.  

He was a 3-star recruit out of HS and was all-state in TN.

Welcome to the Falcons, DJ.

BG MBB Loses in Athens

BG went down to Athens to play a team with a seven-game winning streak that ended up becoming eight.

OU led pretty much the entire way.  The game was tied twice but BG never led.  Even so, it was a tight and competitive game the whole way.  For the first 30 minutes of the game the lead was never over 6.  OU got it to 7 with 10 left in the game and BG went on a run to cut it to 1.  OU called timeout, got Jason Carter back into the game, and then went on an 8-0 run to expand the lead to 9 with 5:38 left.  BG hung in there, but it was over 10 with about 2 to play.  BG had it down to 4 inside of a minute but that 8-0 had put the better team, playing at home, into the winning position.

BG ended up getting the pace they wanted, at 73 possessions.  BG had a good offensive game at 1.07 points per possession. OU had a better one at 1.17, a number that is almost always marked by a win.

As you can see, shooting and turnovers were essentially even.  That's a victory for BG, given how many turnovers OU has caused this year.  Unfortunately, BG was killed on its defensive boards, did nothing on its own offensive boards, and allowed a very good FT shooting team to get to the line a lot.  OU made 23 out of 30 while BG made 11 out of 15.

OU shot 54% on their 2FGs but their mix was heavily 3FG.  BG made 39% from 3FG, which is pretty good, but only 46% on 2FG in a 2-heavy mix.

Daeqwon Plowden had 18 points, shooting 4 of 10 from 2FG and 2 of 4 from 3FG and added 8 rebounds. Myron Gordon also had 18, shooting 5 of 10 from 2FG and 1 of 1 from 3FG, with 4 assists over 2 turnovers.  He also made all 5 of his FTs.  Brenton Mills had 13 points on 3 of 7 3FG shooting and 2 of 3 2FG shooting. Samari Curtis added 5 assists.

Kaden Metheny did not play with an injury.  Joe Reece played, but was in foul trouble most of the way and logged only 7 minutes. Josiah Fulcher played 9 minutes.

So, BG has UT in Saturday in what might be the toughest week of the season.  After that, they get into a 6-game stretch that they will need to more or less run to get to Cleveland.