25 Questions that puzzle

What is their body of work?

Miami is 3-3.  They have wins over S. Illinois, Akron, and Umass and while that's not terribly impressive their losses are to OSU, UC and Boise, which is pretty tough.  They certainly were in a down position after the Shane Montgomery years, but in their second year under Coach Treadwell, they look to be getting better.

How many seniors and juniors on the two-deep?

26 which is a decent number.

Who are their statistical leaders?

Dysert is #15 in the nation in total offense.

What is their turnover ratio?

They are -1.  One three teams in the MAC have positive ratios.

Offense:

How is their QB Play?

Huge.  Dysert is 2nd in the MAC in total offense and 4th in passing efficiency.  He's only 2 yards away from being their top rusher.  He has been MAC East Offensive POW the last two weeks.  And he looks like AJ Hawk.

What is their scoring and yards per play?

In all games, they are 8th in scoring and 6th in yards per play in the MAC.  As noted previously this week, they have scored more in their MAC games and they are probably better than their overall record shows.

Can they run the ball?

They are not running effectively overall--last in the MAC in yards per game and 12th in yards per carry.  However, they are getting about 5 yards per carry in their MAC games, and that's the whole problem with knowing what you are getting, because that was also against Akron and UMass.

Do they pass the ball?

They can.  They have 3 really good WRs to go with Dysert.  I believe they will present a serious problem for our guys in coverage.

How is their run/pass balance?

Relatively pass heavy play calling. They run on 42% of their plays.

Do they convert on 3rd Down?

They are 15 of 26 in their MAC games.

Do they score in the red zone?

Same as everything else....they were good in their two MAC games, not so good against everyone else.

Do they protect the quarterback?

They have given up 16 sacks but that's on 236 attempts.  Equals out to 6.7% which is pretty high.

Defense:

Topline: Scoring and yards per play.

They gave up 49 to Akron but only 16 to UMASS.

Do they defend the run effectively?

Here the picture is a little clearer.  Akron ran for 7.2 yards per carry and UMASS over 5 yards (and 258 total).  I would think the Falcons are looking at extending the second half Zip strategy.

Can they be passed on?

They defended the pass well against UMASS but Akron torched them pretty good.

Do they get off the field on 3rd down?

They are allowing 16 out of 30 in their MAC games, which is not especially good.

Do they defend in the red zone?

BG is the worst offensive team in the MAC in the red zone. Miami's D was 0/5 against Akron.

Do they pressure the QB?

Not too much, they have sacks on only 2.5% of their opponent's passing attempts

Special Teams:

Punting?

They are 6th in the MAC in net punting.

Punt Return?

They are 10th in punt returns, though with the players they have it wouldn't surprise me if they weren't better than that.

Placekicking?

They have a good kicker.  He is 6 of 8 with 3 over 40 and a 45 yrd long.

Kickoff?

They are 11th. Teams start on the 27 against them. They have 9 touchbacks.

Kickoff Return?

They are starting on the 22 and are last in the MAC in KO returns.

Miscellaneous: Overall atmospherics and intangibles.

Well, the last time BG beat Miami at the Doyt was four coaches ago, which can't be a good sign.  However, as Coach Clawson mentioned, most of the guys on this team have only been there for one of those losses and that's all that matters to them.

How about this for an atmospheric?  BG hasn't won back to back FBS games since Clawson's first year here.  That's been a stumbling block.  You have to string wins together to succeed, and BG has not done that since the 2009 season.  So the question is, can this team bring a 60 minute game and play well enough to win two weeks in a row?

To me that's the biggest question.  I think BG can establish the run and if they can control the ball and get points, they have a shot.  It will be interesting to see how our defense performs against Dysert after a good day against Dalton Williams.