Redhawk Recap

Still very pleased with the victory yesterday...the stats were a lot more even than I thought, but once we get through with this, I think we'll see that this is a game we might not have won last year, and some of the things we were able to do were built on the way Coach Clawson has built this program.

BG went 3-out with a sack to start the game, but then Dwayne Woods intercepted Dysert on their first play from scrimmage and BG had a chance to make a huge start on the road...the ball was on the Miami 25.  BG drove inside the 5 before Jordan Hopgood fumbled and BG lost the ball.  Here, Falcon fans began to experience PTSD from the Wyoming game.  (Coach Clawson just lit Hopgood up on the sidelines after this, following him all the way back to the bench.)

Miami went 3 and out, and then BG went 3 and out with 2 sacks.  Schmediebusch pinned the Hawks inside their own 10, and BG was rewarded when Dwayne Woods just clocked the Miami runner in the open field, popping the ball loose.  Great open field tackle, and BG had the ball on the 18.  Jamel Martin, the third string back came in with 3 runs and it was third and goal on the 2 yard line.  BG went to the wildcat with Hopgood and he put the ball in on third down.  (I really like it when a Coach gets the guy back in right after he was "corrected."  He is least like to fumble right at that moment).

Back to the PTSD.  BG missed the XP, and led 6-0.

Miami drove to BG territory but they were stifled on a 3-6 draw play designed to catch BG off guard but went nowhere.  They pooch punted and put BG inside the 20.  Here, it looked like BG was setting up a screen but it was tipped and intercepted and run in for a TD and Miami's XP was pretty weak but good and they led 7-6.

At this point, BG adjusted its game to go to shorter drops because of the protection problems in the first couple of drives, and it paid off.  In 3 plays, BG went from its 38 to the Miami 13.  BG had the ball on the 1 but lost 3 yards on a run (here the Wildcat was not working), but Schilz rolled out, showed great patience, and found Alex Bayer in the end zone for a TD.  This is just one time BG showed great resiliency and coming back after having something bad happened.

BG switched to Stephen Stein at this point for placekicking, and he hit the XP. Kudos to BG for not falling in the trap of going for 2.

Miami bounced back to that, using a 48 yard pass to Harwell to get inside the 5 and after that was over, it was 14-13.

BG went 3 and out, but Schmeidebusch ripped a 47 yarder to put Miami at their 18.  Miami got out to their 32 in one play, but in the next series both Chris Jones and Dwayne Woods (-15) got sacks on Dysert, and Miami was punting from their 18.  Ray Hutson blocked the punt and Adrian Hodges recovered it at the 1.  Coach said later that BG gave up a TD on the INT and got it back on the punt block.  BG converted when Schilz rolled out again and hit Kendall Montgomery with his first TD.

There was 1:47 left in the half.  Aided by a pass interference penalty, Miami drove to the BG 28, where their kicked hit a long field goal and it was 20-17 at halftime.

BG kicked off for the second half, and it couldn't have started worse as Miami ran the kickoff to the BG 22.  Aaron Foster gets the kudos for saving the TD.  Miami drove it to the BG 1 where it was 4th down and the Redhawks decided to go for it rather than tie the game.

Here the game really changes.  Coach Clawson talked about this play post-game.  Miami ran a fake sweep and a pitch to Finklea going the opposite way, a kind of reverse.  They had not shown this play, which was designed to get BG's CB to leave home.  Coach said that last year, we would have had 11 guys running after the ball.  This year, freshman CB Devon McKoy stayed home, and he had Keith Morgan rewarded themselves with a no-doubt smothering tackle for a loss of 9 yards and a change in possession.

BG then showed that they had made offensive adjustments.  BG went to a "heavy" formation, meaning more of their TE sets and more running.  BG drove 89 yards in 8 freaking minutes of time to score, giving themselves a 10 point lead after having removed about 25% of the second half.  On the drive, BG converted a 3rd and 8 to Jordan and a 3rd and 12 to Cooper (for 24 yards) and then a 3rd and 18 to Jordan before Schilz hit Jordan for the touchdown.  BG was up 27-17.

Miami had the ball, but BG took them 3 and out including a sack, and a poor punt left BG starting at the 50.  BG was moving the ball well at this point, including a crazy improvised Schilz pass to Shaun Joplin, and had the ball inside the 20 before Miami stopped Hopgood on 3-1.  BG lined up for a FG by Stein.  As Falcon fans invoked the the religious powers of their respective cultures, Stein hit the 35 yarder to give BG a 30-17 lead very early in the 4th.

Miami then ran a very effective 9 play, 74 yard drive in about 3 minutes and scored.  They missed the XP (seriously?) and it was 30-23.

And here, the game starts to go one way and then goes the other.  Eugene Cooper was out returning the kick instead of Gates, and he fumbled it and a melee ensued.  Two Miami players flew right over the ball and Ray Hutson ended up with it.  However, BG was on its own 3 and Yager was rocking for about the only time in the game.

BG ran once into the line for not much, and then Samuel ran into the line, broke through the line, and outran everybody for a 96 yard TD run, the longest rush in Falcon history.  Samuel was running as hard as he could run--he out ran a very quick Miami D-back to get to the end zone to give the Falcons a 37-23 lead (after BG made the XP AGAIN).  It was incredibly exciting and a great moment to be a Falcon fan.  And a back breaking play.

Miami made a first down (off a BG personal foul for taunting Dysert) but BG was playing very solid pass defense at this point, and the drive stalled when BooBoo Gates was untouched on a "rover blitz" off the corner and made a resounding sack.  Miami pinned BG deep with the punt and BG was very careful in going 3 and out.

Miami had the ball on their own 48.  Dysert was hurried on his first pass, the second pass was a flat pass BG ate up for a loss of 2 (Darrell Hunter), and then Miami had to go for it on 4th and Devon McKoy was all over the coverage and there was a turnover.

BG was careful again, and punted Miami back to start on their own 20.  (Important--Schmeidebusch hit a very high punt that didn't allow Givens the chance to make a play).

Miami had the ball with 4:11 left and one time out.  They completed 4 straights passes, but 3 were for 5 yards or less and were the result of BG players making immediate, sure tackles.  Dysert then hit Harwell for a huge gain inside the 30 before Ryland Ward picked Miami off in the end zone with 2:20 left to win the game.

Very nicely done.

A few things.  A very nice performance by the defense.  Miami made a couple plays, which they are going to do, but BG got sacks, turnovers, and maybe had the best tackling game I remember them having.  This defense has the potential to develop into BG's best defense since Meyer I.

On offense, just a point to make.  BG made some adjustments because Miami was killing BG with pressure on the first two drives.  Schilz was sacked 3 times early and once for the rest of the game.  Coach Clawson has been vocal about upgrading the TE position, and here it paid off.  That adjustment is not available under our previous regime...the only answer would have been bubble screens until the end of time.

And BG did have enough of a running game to be there when they needed it.  There were victories both ways on the line when BG had the ball, but we won our share.

More later...but for now, savoring a very entertaining and satisfying win.