Getting to know the opponent: Tarleton State.

Tarleton State is in the Texas A&M system in Texas.  We don't have this in Ohio....in Texas they have six.  That includes the University of Texas system (Austin, Arlington, UTEP, Rio Grande...nine in all), the Texas State system, (seven schools, Texas State, Sam Houston State, Lamar), the Texas A&M system (including East Texas, Prairie View, Tarleton, Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, and seven others).

It was founded in 1877 by John Tarleton, a prominent local settler.  As seen below.

He also had a pet duck named Oscar P., who is buried next to him.

It became a university in 1973 and is located in Stephenville.  Die-hard football fans will be familiar with Stephenville, because it is the school where Art Briles won four state championships.   Other notable people include Jewel, Brock Holt, Kevin Kolb, three world champions in rodeo, and Jarrett Stidham.

Tarleton has been D1 since 2020, after 26 years in DII.  They are the Texas, but were once known as the Plowboys.  (Until 2019, their women's teams were the TexAnns.)  They have a 24,000 seat stadium and put 20+ in it three times a couple years ago.

They play in the UAC which is a football only partnership between ASUN and WAC.  Tthey won the UAC last year and beat North Dakota in the 2nd roiund of the NCAA tourney before losing in the quarters to Villanova. 

They were 12-2 last year and finished #6 in the FCS polls.

They are coached by Todd Whitten.  He has coached there for 16 years with a 151-87 record.  He went to SFA where he was a QB and was drafted in baseball and signed a UDFA with New England.  He played one game during the strike.

He is in the SFA hall-of-fame.  He has been coach of the year 7 times.

George Sick of Watching Baseball

Eddie talked first about QB. He said it was a tough decision.

Austin took it hard but has embraced the role.  My aside is that this is what you want.  You don't need a player who is happy to not win the job. One other thing...you OSU people are your starts.  OMG.  You're taking his ranking at a HS senior, have not seen him once since then and yet still carries "4-star" around his neck).

Jay got the job because of his stats, his big plays his command of the huddle and being a dual-threat QB.  And actually playing for two years.  Someone tried to say we might need Austin because he had played in some big venues, but Coach said he had played "a few snaps" and Jay had started for two years.

Tarleton is explosive.  They have great talent and great coaching.  Their WRs will challenge our backfield...will be critical to keep them in front of us.  Also, the old saw that your biggest improvement is between week 1 and week 2 works in their favor this week.

There were ominous words about the OL.  He said he expects them get better each week. They will be tested Saturday, and they are young and inexperienced.  "Growing pains."  

We haven't seen our OL play against someone else.  we will see how we match up front in first quarter or so.

Team is healthy-ish.  Nobody out for the year. 

The team also released the depth chart, which is below.  Of course, to your normal fans, they are mostly all strangers.

The big question mark is the o-line, which lost a lot.  At the end of last year, we had the following players with the following career snap counts returning

Sanchez moved to C, leaving Bolyn at G.  I think we expected Bolyn to go to C.  Alex Harris moved to the other G.  Thomas stayed at RT, and the LT is either Gabe Funk or Kraatz, meaning we got five of those six guys in one way or the other.   Funk is an App State transfer who played in one game there.  He was here in January.  Most of all, I think we expected Travis Robertson to start at T for BG...he's a FR who we stole back from UCLA and he is in third-spot at LT.  Note also that Theo Andall is on the depth chart after coming from the London version of the NFL Academy. 

QB we have talked about.  WR is guys who have yet to really excel at their position. TE is mostly for blocking....I expect us in 12 and 22 a lot.  The one proven position is RB.  Dendy was a stud last year and Amarchee has played himself onto "or" level with him.  Amarchee was highly recruited out of Michigan and having two backs will really help if the line can get them into space.

Defensively, I don't think there were many surprises and I think we will be decent.  Kostus was all-MAC at CMU.  Selah Brown is a Louisville transfer.   We are familiar with Myles Bradley and Dorian Pringle.  Sanders Ellis was highly productive for George at TN State, went to Purdue, wasn't used and now is at BG.  Was FCS all-american.  JoJo Johnson is returning All-MAC.  Andrews came to BG through HS (Erasmus in Brooklyn). EstoEsta also came to BG after HS as did Pascal.  Drey Braxton was highly productive at NC-Central. 

Special teams are also all new.  Kingston is the punter.  Coach says he needs to be consistent. Kenner was the holder last year. Return game has, well, returning players.

Well, that's that today.  Great to be back in the rhythm.  Looking forward to being at the Doyt on Saturday.  Based on predictions, nowhere for us to go but up.

White smoke, a QB emerges, and other news

 Here we go.  T minus 6 games to the start of the season.  Let's catch a few things up before game prep begins.

1. Pete Thamel has just reported that Jay Kastantin will be BG's starting QB Saturday against Tarleton State.  The battle was between Kastantin and Austin Novosad, who transferred over from Oregon and was a 4-star recruit out of HS in Texas.  I think the assumption was that Novosad would win the job, but you heard some not so good things and then the matchup continued and then today Kastantin won the job.

(Remember the time Shilz and Matt Johnson battled in camp, Schilz got the lost and last about two series?)

He represents a different model of QB than BG has traditionally gotten in the portal era, where the Falcons have taken P4 QBs who lost their jobs or never had one.  Kastantin was highly productive in DII at Assumption, and is moving up.

There is a lot to like here:

• Appeared in 22 career games over three seasons (2023-25) at NCAA DII Assumption
• Accumulated 3,658 career passing yards on 299-of-515 passing during his Assumption career
• Threw for 28 career touchdowns
• Also has rushed for 710 career yards and nine touchdowns
• In 2025 was named Most Valuable Player in the Northeast-10 Conference and first-team All NE10
• Completed 138 of 223 passes (61.9%) during the MVP season
• Led the conference in: Passing yards: 1,974; Passing touchdowns: 19; Passing yards per game: 219.3
• Added significant production on the ground:100 carries for 530 yards (5.3 yards per rush); 5 rushing touchdowns
• Recorded a 159.9 passing efficiency rating, ranking 18th in all of NCAA Division II

That rushing part is probably important and @thetalontribune feels might have been decisive. 

BG is looking to be run focused on offense.  I talked to one FB at the season ticket event who said he was ready to hit someone else's players in the A-gap.  If so, having a QB who can tuck it and run can be very effective.  In fact, it starts to look like the offense OU ran the last few years.

BG has 6 QBs in the QB room, so hopefully won't have the issues we had last year.

2.  Eddie George is selling bourbon. (Other versions has the NY removed from the hat).  He is working for the Ohio Liquor Authority.

3.  Scotty Miller was released by the Bears.  We'll see if he gets picked up, but either way he's a big success story for us.  Emerging from wreckage of the program's worst years, he caught 99 NFL passes and wears a Super Bowl Ring.

4.  So we all watched Tarleton State last night, where they were -21 over Prairie View A&M and won by 19.  They had some big horses on offense and scored 49 points.  They are #5 in the nation in FCS--that was the pre-season ranking.  As of today, FanDuel has BG at a 2.5 favorite.  ESPN makes it a 55% chance to win.

Not quite what you expect from your FCS game.  If BG does win, though, it's a decent W.  And important.  A loss and BG could easily open 0-5.

5.  Preview coming later.  I can just say this...being back at the Doyt makes me happy.  One way or the other.

MBB Schedule is Out

 

Well, here it is!  The men's basketball schedule is out.  On the surface, I think it is an improvement. As you know, my primary source of heartburn is the non-D1 games.  This year has only two, which is a reasonable number.  One is Cornerstone, which is Grand Rapids.  We beat Aquinas by 81 last year.

That was made possible by a critical scheduling change by the MAC--moving from 18 MAC games to 22.  Given the difficulty of scheduling non-conference games, this makes total sense and ensures competitive basketball inside MAC gyms.  Adding two MAC games to replace Bethany and Siena Heights is a win from my view.

This will create a new wrinkle in scheduling timing.  The Falcons will now play four MAC games before the new year, meaning that teams who are sorting it out (and that's most everyone in the NIL era) will have less time to do so.  But the same should be true for everyone. 

It's pretty impossible to tell how good anyone is going to be, including us, so it's hard to know if, for example, Niagara or Cleveland State are good pulls for home games or not.  But they are D1.

And putting the Falcons in Assembly Hall first time in 28 years will be a big day.

As in football, we seem to be moving into haves and have-nots in MBB.  Having said that, I'm 100% behind Todd Simon and his team. He's what we would want in a coach for this bizarre and dysfunctional era...we may never routinely be in the top 3 of the MAC again (unless the top teams in the MAC leave), but we can still put together a team and make a run and make the Big Dance.  Any year.  Every year.

Here Comes Football...

Football season is on the way....

It's a great time of year.

It's really difficult to tell anymore how good you are going to be.  We have so many new players on this year's roster.  

I will say this...any success this team has will be a pleasant surprise.  Bowl eligibility would be a miracle.  Much more likely, it's another season of people comparing Eddie George to Mike Jinks and a lot of bad vibes.

Consensus seems to have BG 9th or 10th in the conference.  We have an FCS team on our schedule, like everyone, but we have chosen to play the #4 team in FCS, and we open as home dogs in our FCS game.  The very possible scenario is that we lose our first five games before we play Sacramento State.  Being 1-4 would be a success.

What's going on?  First of all, we are investing in high school players, and that leaves this year's team very, very young.  CBS sports ranks BG as #135 out of #138 in terms of experience.  In the old world, this would be a re-building year.  Your hope is that you can retain these high school players long enough for them to contribute before they transfer,

So, could we be better next year or the year after.  It's possible.

The way I see it, I think our offense will be the problem.  I think the defense will be competitive.  The reports are that we are going to go to a very heavy run attack.  I have no problem with that.  (My favorite style of offensive football is the one where we win).  However, our offensive line is really young and unproven.  Even in 12 personnel, I worry about us being able to open up holes for a heavy run attack.

I'm worried about QB as well.  Austin Novosad was once thought to be a rising star.  And he might still be.  But Coach is saying right now that it's an open competition between Austin and DII standout Jay Kastantin.  Coach says one of them will step up and take the job, but to me, the fact that no one has is worrying.  Especially Novosad, who went from Oregon to battling at BG with a DII guy for a starting job.

With question marks on the line and at QB, it's hard to see the offense being consistently effective.  Austin Dendy is back at RB, so that's a strength.  At WR Isaiah Dawson was highly productive at Richmond, but the depth is unproven.

I don't think the defense will be bad.  We will be solid on the front 7 and the back end looks pretty decent.  I don't think it's carry the team good, but I do think we will compete on defense.

Season ticket event coming up on Monday.   

Odds and Ends

 So, a few little updates here and there for Falcon sports.

BG MBB will play Georgia State in the Sun Belt-MAC Challenge, which has been extended through 28-29.  This is a good thing for us...some of the coaches don't like the game being in the middle of the conference season, but if you look back, BG used to play non-conference games all the time during MAC play.  Georgia State will be tough to get a line on that early in the year...they fired their coach last year after going 10-22.  He has been replaced by Jon Cremins, former Vanderbilt assistant and nephew of Bobby Cremins.

There's an addition to the football roster.  His name is JayT Jackson, and he plays DB, a position always in need of numbers. He's from Columbus, Georgia.  He went to Garden City CC, where he played all 10 games in his one year there.  He had 22 tackles, including some impactful plays.  He went to Georgia State where he played in six games over two years, then to La. Tech where he played in 11 with 4 tackles total.

Welcome to the Falcons, JayT.

In the meantime, July first came and went, making it Sacramento State day for those who celebrate.

Here's a trivia question.  Obviously, Sacramento is in the state capital.  What founding member of the MAC was also located in a state capital?

So what do we know about them?

They are the Hornets. 

Their mascot is "Herky the Hornet" and has been for 70 years.  There's a lot of folklore about where the name came from.  The Hornet was selected over the elk, which was not considered aggressive enough.

They say "Stingers Up!!" giving us a 1:1 battle with the dumbest sayings in college sports.

They have 30,000+ students with a 94% acceptance rate.

Former students include:

• Tom Hanks (did not actually graduate).
• Lester Holt
• Joan Lunden
• This guy:

• Joseph DeAngelo, the Golden State Killer.
• Buck Martinez
• About 22 NFL players, plus Ricky Ray, CFL Hall-of-Famer.
• Ryan Coogler
• David Hodo, the construction worker in the Village People
• Bobby McFerrin (attended five universities)
• An adult film star, a Playmate of the month, and a girlfriend of H. Hefner.

Welcome to the MAC. Herky.

Football Closes Recruiting Strong

Holy Falcon Saturday...I have to be more careful not to fall behind on these verbals, because Eddie and the team are landing commits like crazy.  Recruiting at BG is a real test of scouting, and time will tell our ability to identify and develop talent and character.  Much credit to @thetalontribune for his dogged work keeping track of not only commits but also offers and OVs. 

Let's look at the players.

Theo Andall, OG

The first guy to note is Theo Andall.  He is going to be immediately eligible (as in for '26) and is from London, England. He's 6'3" and 290 pounds and came to football through the NFL Academy.  He is credited on line for a "meteoric" rise last season. 

FWIW, we had offers to a couple of other foreign players as well.

Gunnar Gillentine, P

I'm calling it now, the most accurately named recruit we have ever had.  He is either the #1 or #2 punter in the country.  He's from Petal, MS.  He committed to Mississippi State at one point, but then de-committed.

You don't always get as much data on punters, certainly from games.  There is some info from Kohl's, the kicking school.

With an impressive performance at the 2026 Kohl's National Underclassman Challenge, Gunnar Gillentine continues to be one of the top punters in the country for the 2027 class. He won the punt competition day 2 and scored 114.12 points in the overall combined punt charts. He is technically sound and has excellent quickness with his operation. Gillentine punted at Kohl’s National Scholarship Camp in July of 2025. He scored 112.92 points in punting over three sessions. He also won the punt competition held at the end of camp in front of 1,000 people. He is one of the best punters we have seen in the last five years! Gillentine had a dominant performance at the 2025 Texas Spring Showcase. His hand to toes were in the 1.2-1.3 second range. He is compact with his steps and creates excellent consistency with his contact. He moves well in the roll-out portion of punting and scored 18 points. His overall score for punts at camp was 117.96 points. He loves to punt and is Power 4 punter right now. 

Ben Hale, OT

Ben Hale committed last week.  He's an OT from Nashville, weighing in at 6'5" and 300 pounds. He had D1 offers from UB, Middle TN, Army, Air Force, Troy, Georgia State, Arkansas State, Navy and UNLV...and 9 FBS offers. His school won a state-title. 

Tyler Carpenter. LB

6'2" and 212 pounds, he's a flip after decommitting from Ohio.  He also had offers from Toledo and Kent. He's from Trotwood-Madison, and 

Christian Mollino, CB

is another highly-recruited player.  One of three players who have committed from Sumner HS in Riverview, FL, he had P4 offers from Pittsburgh, Louisville, and USF and G6 offers from Army, UB, FIU, FAU, Georgia Southern, along with 4 FCS offers.

Terrell Karim, Jr., ATH

Coming from Akron East, Karim had only one offer--from KSU.  He's 6'3", 195 lbs and played WR, TE, DE and LB.  He was all-Ohio HM, and has 31 catches for 503 on one side of the ball and 42 tackles and 10 sacks on the other.

Dai'saun Blanchard, EDGE

He's from Westinghouse HS in Pittsburgh, and lists himself as a top pass rusher in WPIAL.  He also had offers from Akron, Ohio,Youngstown State, Monmouth, Richmond, UIW,   He's fast, offering a 4.4/40 and had 19 sacks in his junior season, but 38 TFLs.  He was first-team all-city.

Ace Luther, TE

He's from Palmetto, FL, 6'4" and 215 pounds. Also highly recruited, with offers from Memphis, Sac State, EMU, Kent, Toledo and six FCS schools.  He has a strong, muscular frame and there is a lot of talk online bout his contested catch ability.

Knud Davis, DL  

From Longwood, FL, He's 6'3" and 260 lbs. He had offers from Marshall, Coastal Carolina, FAU, Georgia Southern, UMass, Liberty, and 4 non-FBS programs.

Jace Boyd, EDGE

He is a 6'4", 240-pound EDGE from Alcoa, TN.   BG was his only FBS offer, along with 2 FCS offers.  He is listed as a rising star in his part of Tennessee.

Wesley Summersett, LB/S

He's from South Adams HS, in Bane IN.  He's 6'2" and 200.  He played TE/WR and defense in his junior year, but apparently BG projects him to be a defender. Offensively last fall Summersett tallied 80 receptions for 1,562 yards and 16 touchdowns. Defensively, Summersett had 65 tackles as a junior with 1 pick six and 3 forced fumbles. He had offers from the real Miami, Colgate and Dartmouth.

Jean Pierre Furtado, DL

Quite possibly the top recruit of the class right now.  He's 6'2" and 290 and rated a 3-star on 247 with one more year in HS. He's from Lake Minneola, FL. He had offers from Duke, Iowa State, Louisville, Ole Miss, Wake Forest, WVU, UB, Charlotte, EMU, FAU, Georgia Southern, Liberty, MT State, UConn, UMass and 2 FCS schools.

Drew Kryscynski, IOL

He's 6'4 and 285 from Marysville, MI.  His other offers were from SEMO and Army.  There are also D2 offers. He was first-team all-region and all-conference. 

And for now, that is it.  We enter a dead period now that more or less lasts until Fall camp starts.  That's 22 commits already...I'll have a little more analysis and observations soon.  In the meantime, I think we're on the right track.