Falcons Victory....the Cardiac Kids of the Flatlands

My son was with me at the game Saturday, and on the way back to the hotel he asked me what the most exciting game I ever saw was. I think that the winner remains the BG-Miami game my senior year when Brian McClure was injured and BG rallied with a backup QB and TWO onside kicks to stun Miami---made extra sweet because that is usually the type of thing that happens TO us when we play Miami, not the other way around.

But the Kent game was up there. The rally was fantastic, right down to the finish. Kent fans probably feel much the same was we did after the Buffalo game, when everyone realized that any number of times, Kent was just one normal play away from putting the game away.

I commented last night on my initial impressions, and now I have a few other things.

First, the clock management by Coach Clawson was exemplary. We didn't want to score with enough time for Kent to get back into FG range (even though their kicker is poor). When we failed on second down, with the clock running, everyone was screaming for BG to call timeout. We had two plays to go, and we only had to finish the first play before the clock expired.

By not calling timeout, not only did the clock tick closer to zero, but we were left with our whole playbook on third down. If we had called timeout, then the QB draw is out.

That was an incredibly gutsy call. If he doesn't make it, people are going ape today. Here's the more important thing. A coach can make the right call. If a player drops a pass or doesn't execute, than it suddenly becomes the wrong call. Tyler Sheehan gutted out the TD as he was being tackled by Kent's best defensive back, and that kind of play makes coaches look good.

Freddie Barnes ended up 1 catch away from the NCAA record for receptions. He is on track to set the MAC and NCAA season reception records. I keep waiting to see him getting massive coverage, but if he is, they are not working. I do think that opposing defenses in the past might have not worried about it, because even though he was getting catches, they were rarely "explosion plays" but against the Flashes a number of them were.

Freddie had double the passing yards that Kent had.

We did get other receivers into the action, including true FR Austin Collier, who caught 6 for 70 in his debut, replacing injured Ray Hutson. (ED: Doh!)

More on Tyler....he set a lot of single game records for BG and Dix Stadium. He completed 69.8% of his passes for an average of 7.9 per attempt, which is pretty stunning all around. He certainly can't be accused of dinking and dunking against Kent, and he did show poise and command in bringing us from behind. Yes, there were drops and times when I felt he held onto the ball or locked onto a receiver, but a 70% completion rate is pretty much all you can expect out of a guy.

The running attack is clearly a concern. Coach Clawson said in the postgame that we are running far less often than "anyone" would like. Adjusting for sacks, we ran 24 times for 72 yards, a straight 3 yards per carry. Obviously, that is pretty poor. Furthermore, what yardage Willie did get appeared to be largely on his own. I'm worried that we are simply not getting run blocking out of our offensive line. We struggled between the tackles, only to be eclipsed by our struggles outside the tackles. We even had trouble with the direct snap, normally a safe and successful play.

Going forward (as they say), I think that this is going to present a problem to us. Teams are going to stop putting guys into the box, (much as they did against Omar his senior year) and we are going to have to produce something on the ground to move the ball. I'm sure everyone is aware of this, including our coaches. We are prepared to throw 60 passes a game to win if necessary, and we don't stay with the run beyond the normal realm of common sense.

The defense was on the low side of decent. The big TD play was awful (Kent was so sure that we would over pursue to the ball that they didn't even bother setting it up, but went straight to the reverse), but I give them credit, they rallied back from that. For the rest of the game after that, Kent picked up only 3.9 yards per carry, and while I know you can't pretend that the big run never happened, for much of the game, we were reasonable against their run attack.

Further, there was a special teams TD and a very short field from an interception, both of which don't represent a long drive. Kent did punt seven times, and the defense gets credit for two stops at the end when Kent was trying to run the clock out. You could argue that BG's success in stuffing the run is what drove KSU to going to the air on those second and third down plays.

Keith looked like a freshmen, especially in the game's waning moments. He certainly did not do any serious damage. I think he has the ability to be a very good player, however.

On special teams, we had a nice surprise from Matt Norsic, a senior who has never been used in anger at any point in his time at BG. In fact, he is so BELOW the radar that when I looked back at his bio on the BGSU site, it showed he was still a sophomore. Phillips was injured and was blocked on his first FG, so coach went to Norsic, who had a short FG and hit all his extra points. He boomed the crap out of them.

Freddie Barnes also had a meaningful punt return from the up position. I'm not sure I really understand why Willie is returning punts, as he typically fair catches almost everything, and Barnes has transformed games with his last three returns.

The game experience at Kent was pretty good. It was a great day and there was a decent and spirited crowd. Their big scoreboard and good sound system are probably the envy of the Falcon's administration. Having said that, I heard their backwards-hat pitchman in my sleep, and they should be put on probation for playing that awful staticy-electric sound effect, just on general principles. It is even more annoying that the dyspeptic bird that BG plays.

The Falcons are turning into the next version of the cardiac kids. With the exception of Boise, each of our losses have been by one score, and two of those losses ended up with us in the red zone and failing to score in the final 2 minutes of the game. Of course, you can look at this two ways (we're just THIS close, or teams are playing prevent until we get close and then dialing it up and making the stop), but the Falcons have treated their fans to some very close and dramatic finishes.

Partway though a grim first quarter Saturday, I was remarking to myself that perhaps the locker room in Columbia, Missouri should be tested, because it seemed as if everything went fine when we went in and everything started going wrong as soon as we came out. I'm happy to say the Falcons rallied Saturday against Kent and showed not just fight (which has been there all along) but the execution necessary to win a game.

Here's hoping that this was a confidence for our team, starting with the QB, and we can get on a roll starting on Saturday.