BG Finds Defeat in Opener

It was a beautiful day with a nice crowd for the BG opener.  BG had opted to bring in a top FCS team for the opener.  More on that later.  BG's young team paid the price for that decision, falling behind 17-0 and ending up misexecuting a couple of comeback chances and then taking the defeat.

Everyone here knew what we were facing.  The world did not, and we are unfortunately featured on the "can you believe this" part of the highlight shows.  Which hurts the pride, to be sure.  And it might not have been surprising that this Falcon team lost yesterday, but there is also the question of how we got this Falcon team.

BG came out flat.  They got the ball to start the year and did not score a touchdown on the return.  Four plays into the drive, they did what they could not do, which is turn it over.  Dendy fumbled, Tarleton took the ball, and nine plays later the Texans were up 7-0.

BG went 3 and out, and Tarleton--who punted only once--turned it over on downs at the BG 42.  BG took it to the TS 37 (and into the 2nd quarter) before punting a touchback.

Coach mentioned the defense giving up explosive plays as a problem, and we saw it here.  TSU completed a 38-yard pass (net 28 due to a holding penalty), ran for 13 on the next play, passed for 20 a couple plays later to the BG 2.  BG bowed up and made the stop and TS made it 10-0.

BG took the next kickoff and drove to the 50 before punting TSU down to the 1.  Here is one of the key plays of the game.  Situationally, when you have a team on their own 1, you are looking to score, either on defense or when you get the ball back. Down 10-0, this is a shot.

What happened was BG gave up a 72-yard run that led to a TD five plays later, and from, say, 10-3, it was now 17-0. 

There was 3:43 left in the half.  BG hooked up a 23-yard pass followed by a 29-yard pass, a 15-yard penalty, and then a couple of plays later a badly needed TD to at least keep the conversation open at 17-7, with TSU getting the ball.

BG's defense did what they needed...they took the Texans 3 and out to start the 3rd.  BG then went on a drive that I think illustrates how they want to play, with one exception.  Starting on their own 15, BG drove methodically upfield.  They converted third downs in the first 3 series (one on DPI). From the TSU 24, however, they ran into a familiar problem, which is converting drives into the end zone.  We lost a yard on a run, made two on a pass and threw incomplete on 3-9 and the FG made it 17-10.

13 plays, 68 yards, 8:09 elapsed.  3 points.

It illustrates why explosive plays are so important. Driving the ball that far in that fashion is hard.  You're more likely to not be able to continue to execute.

TSU started on their 20 off the kickoff and went 42 yards on first down.  From the BG 38, the Falcons tightened up, with a sack on 4th and 3 to get the ball back.

There is 2:16 left in the 3rd and a chance to tie it up. BG fumbled it on the first play and TSU had the ball right back. They got to the 9 before BG forced a FG and made it 20-10.

BG's offense was clicking now.  A nice pass to Scoby and then a game-high 17-yard run for Dendy, and BG was at the 22.  Again, though, BG could not take it farther and ended up with a FG to make it 20-13.

TSU took the ball back with 10:45 left.  They drove to the BG 43 and had 4th and 2.  They made an idiotic decision in my opinion.  That's a clear punting situation. They went for it and BG got the stop.

The next 7:49 is crazy.

Kastantin hit Sharp for 15 and Scoby for 20, and then there were two nice runs and BG was 3rd and 1 on the 8.  So, when you ask why do we have this team,  you have to realize we had two shots to make 1 yard inside the 10 and we didn't do it.  As Coach said after the game, you have to be able to make it.

Still, field position, right?  We could get another shot. There's 2:08 to play.

Except TSU went 83 yards on first down.  Credit to the defense, they kept working and BG used their timeouts. On 3rd and goal on the 7---even a made FG is game over--Cade Kostus forced a fumble that BG recovered in this end zone.

We actually did get another shot.

There was 1:40 left.  I know BG wanted to move controllably up the field, but I think this drive was poorly executed.  There was:38 left when we finally got to midfield. With :24 left BG was on the 42 and no timeouts.  A nice hook-and-ladder took it to the 23.

Kastantin threw a jump ball to the corner that was broken up.  Then with :09 left a short pass was luckily broken up.  And then on the last play BG threw it short of the end zone entirely (to the 8), which the Texans made the stop and won the game.

Even if BG scores either of those two drives, there's work to do, either a 2-pt conversion or OT.

And clearly not one play away from winning.

Every year, it seems, we have a vow that we are going to run the ball.  And every year, it seems not to happen.  BG ran 67 offensive plays, and 37 were runs. And on those plays, BG averaged 2.8 yards per carry. Bad math there. Dendy ran for 4 yards per carry (15 for 60), but the other 22 plays were 2.5 per carry.

On the 30 passes, Kastantin was effective. He was 24 of 30, no INT and no sacks. That's 10.9 yards per completion, not too bad. On the last drive, I'm not sure who was behind the short passes, but we should have been trying to score from the 10, not the 23, and probably should have thrown the last one in the end zone.  Overall, he kept the offense afloat when we couldn't run.

He clearly has chemistry with Jeremiah Scoby, who caught 10 on 11 targets, 102 yards and 89 after the catch.

The defense was victimized on big plays.  Defining an explosive play as 10+ on a run and 20+ on a pass, both teams had 7 explosive plays.  But BG's were for 144 yards (39% of total offense), and TSU's were for 290 yards, or 63% of their offense.  Coach promised to address what he called a "disappointing" part of the game.  The defense won its share of the battles, held the opponent to 20 points, but did not play complementary football when TSU was pinned deep.

The Texans had 7.8 yards per rush. 

Special teams seemed decent.  TS was pooching the kickoffs, so not much there. BG's 3 punts were solid, with one to the 1yard line.  We nailed 35 and 40 yard FGs.

Last thing.  To read an interesting critique of why we were playing Tarleton State at all, read @JamesNahikian on twitter last night.  According to him, last year (as in, when you knew they had a good program) we put them on the roster and paid them $360,000 to make the trip.  His question--why did we play these guys at all?  

To illustrate, Miami is playing Holy Cross, 3-9 last year and 0-2 this year, aggregate score of 70-20.

Vibes are not good right now.  The honeymoon with George ended with last year's losing streak and picked up where it left off this year.  We could be 0-5 before Sacramento State comes to town.

Tarleton Preview

Here we go!  Here are some quick points to help prepare for the Texans.  

This is a good FCS team.

They are ranked #5 in the nation right now.

Last year, they were 12-2, 7-1 in conference play, won one game in the NCAA (beating North Dakota) before losing to Villanova by 5.  Also, they beat Army.  But, that was with a different set of guys.

Of the 63 players in the NSD class (that's correct) were, 37 are on defense, 23 on offense, and three for special teams. 

Of the 63, 54 are transfers and nine are high school signings. Of the transfers, 17 are joining Tarleton State from the FBS level, 10 are staying in the FCS, nine are from NCAA Division II and 16 are from the JUCO ranks.

Starting RG Terrence Saunders transferred from EMU.  They also have a transfer from Findlay (Desmond Brown). 

They are co-favorites in the UAC.

They have five players on the pre-season All-UAC team.

RB Tylan Hines, 184 yards and 2 TD on 25 carries in openers

DB Omar Emmons, DNP in opener and is not listed on the depth chart

OL Aidan Moe.  Starts at LT

P  Charlie Mullen--one punt for 40 yards in opener.  Averaged 39 YPP last year.

KR  DeAndre Buchannon.  Returned 2 for 76 last week, long of 45.  Transferred from West Georgia.

The QB is Kaden Anderson, a four year starter at Wyoming. Had a big game against Prairie View but was #118 in passing efficiency last year in FBS.

Marquis Willis had 6 catches for 109 yards and 2 TDS. He's a JUCO transfer.

They led the nation in FCS last year, with a turnover margin of +2 per game.  Whether that carries over remains to be seen.

Important:  they gave up 6.7 yards per carry in the opener.  The top back for PV had over 9 yards per carry. BG's offense needs to show up tomorrow and I like the BG's chances.

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.