BGSU Media Guide is Out....Changes here at there

The football media guide was released last night and for those of us who prefer to wallow in minutae it provided us with an opportunity to check in on the Falcons.  There was nothing too shocking, but let's look at what we did see.

First, we look at the roster from the last game and compare it to the roster in the media guide.  There are a few players who have left who were unexpected.  Some of these we have discussed earlier, sme we have not.

The surprise was Fahn Cooper, last year's starting LT who is no longer with the team.  This means that BG lost both tackles and returned 3 starters instead of 4 on the O-line.

The other surprise was Trenton Greene, who made some special teams plays last year.  The surprise is that his brother remained and appears to be in the running for reps at a new position.

Dalton Chapman was another O-lineman who left after his redshirt year.

Of course, we knew about Anthon Samuel.

On the d-line, we knew about Shaq Hall and Hunter Maynard, whose departure has put some pressure on the numbers up front.

D-back Johnny Jospeh is also no longer listed

Then we move to the depth chart.

First, Jacob Bennett jumps to top at LT.  He is a redshirt FR and is now listed at 6'4" and 324 lbs, which is a pretty good sized fella.  He will be backed up Clay Rolf, who has moved to the interior of the line from TE.

On the RT side, replacing Roussos, Christian Piazza and Logan Dietz are listed as OR.

QB listed as an OR with Schilz and Johnson.

Givens is listed at the top at RB, followed by Greene, Hopgood and Martin.

Defense

Not too much here.  The front line is mostly as expected.

Kendall Montgomery is a fulltime-DE and on the 2nd string.
Ronnie Goble now backing up at DE, but D-lineman rotate all the time.

Back 7 is rock solid.

So, in sum, I have said that the biggest question marks on the team were RB and WR, with D-line next.  With Cooper leaving, the O-line certainly becomes a bit of a concern.  We could be relatively young up front.  This team absolutely must run well so we need a productive line.

Anyway, that will all reveal itself.

Football Verbal....Jack Walz

The Falcons have another verbal.  His name is Jack Walz, the second verbal from Lakewood St. Ed's.  He is a safety that de-committed recently from Florida Atlantic and then committed to BG. He's 5'11 and 185 pounds and the 5th defensive back in this class and BG takes steps to ensure a flow of talent at a position where depth is vital.

The Sun-Sentinel in Florida referred to him as "hard nosed" which certainly agrees with how he looks in his picture.  He plays LB in HS and had about 50 tackles and also blocked two punts.

One last note...the @Dell_goin_01 mentioned in the tweet is Odell Spencer, who we reported a while ago and now appears finalized to BG.

Welcome to the Falcons, Jack.

Falcons Land 3-star player as Verbal

The Falcons landed a verbal yesterday and according to Rivals, he is a 3-star player.  His name is Odell Spencer and he plays for Shaker Heights over in the Cleveland area.

According to rivals, he is our 2nd 3-star player---the other is Chance Weitz.

Spencer was listed at 5'10", 165, in the article cleveland.com did on the last signing day about players to watch for the next signing day.  In the article, they said he had "terrific speed off the line and [is] very athletic."

According to Rivals, he had offers from Old Dominion, Akron and Buffalo.

During his junior season, he had 33 receptions for 461 yards...a 14.6 yard average.  He scored 4 TDs, and 2 of them came in their final game of the season.  His best game was against Parma where he caught 9 passes for 82 yards and a TD.

He played on a good team--they went 8-2 last season.

Welcome to the Falcons, Odell!

On Vacation....

Back in a week.  In the meantime, Go Falcons....

Football Verbal....Jared Weyler

The Football verbals continue to roll in.  The latest is a G from Centerville named Jared Weyler.  We've noted before that you don't get a ton of info on lineman (unlike QBs and RBs and guys with actual stats) but rivals does report that Weyler had offers from Air Force and six other schools in the MAC--including UT, OU, Ball State and Buffalo.

He's reported to be 6'5" and 266, which is good size for a rising senior in HS.  He seems to be pretty athletic--he also played basketball and was 2nd-team all-conference as a junior.

Clawson has worked hard to rebuild BG's offensive line and he seems committed to making it an annual strength for the program.  Weyler is the third O-lineman among this year's reported verbals and it would not surprise me to see one more.

Welcome to the Falcons, Jared

Fools Rush In: MAC Predictions

The MAC Blogger roundtable is back, being run by Carter up at EMU.  This year, we are jumping in with our predictions ahead of media day, which is Tuesday.  We were asked to pick a power poll...and who we felt would win the conference title game.  For extra credit, we could predict the winners of the individual awards, which I took a shot at except for freshman of the year, of which I have no earthly i-dea.

Power Poll

1. NIU
2. UT
3. BG
4. Ohio 
5. Ball State
6. WMU
7. Buffalo
8. Kent
9. CMU
10. Akron
11. Miami
12. EMU
13. UMass

Title Game:  NIU beats BG

Offensive Player of the Year:  The obvious pick is Jordan Lynch and what am I if I am not obvious.  Look, the guy led the league in passing efficiency and had over 1,800 yards rushing.

Defensive Player of the Year:  I'll say Roosevelt Nix with Jonathan Newsome in tough competition.

Coach of the Year:  Jeff Quinn

Some comments...

For my Falcon fans, BG just has too many question marks on offense to be picked at this time to beat NIU.  If BG can produce better offense than last year (significantly better) than I think they have a shot at the Huskies.  This could look different in December, but for now, I think you have to pick NIU.

NIU is everyone's pick and for good reason.  They lost a lot on defense, though, and have to play @Toledo.  I believe the Rockets are being underrated this year.  They have a tough schedule in the MAC, but they have a good shot at winning the West.

I think BG is positioned to win the East.  I think OU is always dangerous, especially if they are healthy this year and they are a legit threat.  BG's game at the Ralph on November 29 is going to be a tough one and is very likely to have title implications.

Having said that, I'm not quite as high on Buffalo as others are.

People see Kent falling back this year.  Phil Steele points out they were +20 in turnovers, which usually comes back to haunt a team the next year.  The Flashes have a question mark at QB but do have Dri Archer.  They could be better than people expect.  The 9/7 game with BG at Kent is going to be an early test for everyone.

Little Caesar's Bowl Threatened....

This week, the Big 10 announced their Big Move, which is to host a bowl game at Ford Field in conjunction with the Detroit Lions.  The game will guarantee a Big 10 participant--something the Little Caesar's Bowl rarely had--and be held a little later in the bowl calendar...12/30 to be specific.

When asked about the fate of the existing bowl, Lions President said he didn't think Detroit could support two bowl games.  I would add that based on the current calendar, the games would only be 4 days apart or so.

Ken Hoffman, who runs the LC Bowl says he doesn't agree, but he has also been studying options, perhaps betraying his true feeling.  The sponsor deal is up after next year, and he says he has looked at other cities.  There was even talk of Comerica, which appear to have been shelved and wisely, in my opinion.

The loss of this game would be a shame.  Not that it won't be replaced with something else--the current glut of bowl games is going to require teams and I don't see anyone trying to change that.  It just means rather than an accessible and generally well-attended game will be replaced with an empty stadium in...where ever.

The overall promise of the game never materialized.  The Big 10 only sent a team a couple times and it was normally the MAC vs. the Sun Belt, which is nice but not exactly the matchup you'd like to see.

This is all part of the shifting of college football.  As noted earlier this year, the bowl system is pretty much a joke.  These games are awful money-losers, ill-attended and generally not watched either.  The Military Bowl BG played in was a disaster on almost every level.  I cannot imagine how long this is sustainable...

Samuel Appears to be Transferring to FIU

The BG News found this news on Anthon Samuel's instagram site...welcome to the brave new world...he says he is transferring to Florida International.  (I found the above image on an instagram that either belongs to Samuel or to an incredibly obsessive stalker.)

We've talked about this.  Anthon has a wife and son living back in Florida and he feels like he needs to be closer to them, feelings made especially strong by the fact that his own Father died when Anthon was 8 (Samuel witnessed the deadly shooting, in fact).

I believe everyone in the Falcon Nation has total respect for Anthon and his decision in this situation.  He will be missed, but he has our full support.

From the bgsufalcons.com website, here are some highlights for his career.

• Third-Team Freshman All-American by Phil Steele (2011)
• MAC Freshman of the Year (2011)
• Most rushing yards (844) by a freshman in BGSU history.

Career: Has 1,842 career rushing yards on 346 attempts and 16 touchdowns ... averages 87.7 yards per game in his career ... added 37 receptions for 291 yards and a score.

Note:  he had some injuries, so those numbers were developed in something less than two seasons.

This is also not entirely unexpected.  As the situation developed, Coach Clawson added 4 late signees at RB.  He noted on signing day that he views RB as a position where someone can contribute as a true freshman.  Also, note that Clawson likes RB by committee, so you'd hope that one guy will not be expected to carry a full load.

The options for 2013 all have potential and all have question marks.

• Jamel Martin--averaged 5.3 yards per carry last year but coming off an injury.
• Jordan Hopgood--Came on a little last season.  Has had serious injuries throughout career.
• Andre Givens--highly recruited before transfer to BG, has yet to develop.
• Travis Greene--took reps in the spring as a WR convert, was productive but no experience.

Then, the freshman.

• Fred Coppet is the most likely player to be in the mix.  Ranked the #30 RB in the nation, he was BG's top ranked recruit.
• Marcus Levy, the #47 ranked RB and BG's third highest ranked recruit.
• Eric Harrell, the #101 ranked RB and BG's fourth highest ranked recruit.
• Brandon English--less decorated RB from Orlando.

The offense is the team's most significant question mark and the biggest question marks are at RB and (to a lesser extent) at WR.  BG needs more first downs to be a great team this year and we need the balance and clock-eating that you get with a running game.  Without a running game last year, BG does not make a bowl game.  If you want any area to watch, keep an eye on this position.

Gehrig Dieter will not be eligible in '13

Gehrig Dieter is the young man from Indiana who went to SMU and has now transferred to BG.  The WR had applied for immediate eligibility, but the Blade informs us that his waiver was turned down and he will sit out this year, per NCAA rules.

Per The Blade: Falcons Land Transfer

The Blade has some good news for the Falcons today...they have landed a transfer from Pittsburgh.  He is defensive lineman Terrell Jackson, a 6'3", 275 lb player from Marion-Franklin in Columbus.  He originally committed to Duke, then went to Pitt, red-shirted a year and now is heading to Bowling Green.  He will sit out this season and have three years of eligibility next year, according to the article.

Here is how The Blade captured his HS career:

Jackson was an All-Ohio first-team pick as a senior in 2011, posting 75 tackles and 20 sacks to lead Marion-Franklin to a 13-1 record, the Columbus City League South championships, and the semifinals of the Division II state playoffs. 

He was named Central District D-II defensive player of the year and selected to play in last year’s Big 33 Football Classic.

BG is clearly determined to remain strong up front and this is a part of that equation.  He was clearly a very productive player in HS.  I believe that getting Chris Jones drafted helps us land a guy like this.  So, welcome to the Falcons, Terrell.

Falcon Football Verbal....Trevahn Beery

This one is a little different in that he is actually a de-commit and from inside the conference.  On June 3, Ohio.com reported that Beery was heading to WMU to play for the messianic PJ Fleck.  Then, today the Internet says he is going to be a Falcon.  You don't see that many de-commits at this level and when you do, they usually move up to a higher level.  Within the MAC, it just doesn't seem that common, especially absent a coaching change.

Anyway, Trevahn is a CB from Norwayne HS, which is in Creston between Medina and Wooster.  He plays both ways...and another of his teammates is committed to UC.  I haven't seen a lot of other stuff on him...in the meantime, welcome to the Falcons Trevahn.

Football Verbal.....Austin Labus

BG has another football verbal.  This one is Austin Labus from Portage, MI.  Portage is over by Kalamazoo.  He is 6'6" and 270 pounds...a frame you have to believe we can put some additional weight onto and make him a real contributor.  As always, lineman are hard to track down...I found one site that said he was "highly recruited."  (Rivals only lists an offer from WMU, but you can't really tell much from that).

He plays line both ways in HS, but Rivals says he is an OT, which is what you would expect with that size.  This website listed him as the 16th best junior player starting last season, and this one listed him as the 10th best 2014 prospect in the state.

The D-Zone says he was the 3rd highest ranked OL prospect in West Michigan.  Finally, M-Live put him on their Kalmazoo Dream Team....here is their write up.

The 6-6, 285-pound junior two-way lineman had a strong season for the Huskies, but his best may be yet to come. Labus played left tackle on offense (Northern had a left-handed quarterback), and on defense manned the tackle and noseguard positions. He finished with 37 tackles, including one sack and 9.5 for lost yardage. "He's a legit Division I prospect. He walks in and looks the part," Northern coach Pete Schermerhorn said about Labus, whose versatility gives the Huskies options.

Finally, if you think you might like an OT with enough athleticism to score 16 goals for the lacrosse team, this would be your guy.

Welcome to the Falcons, Austin.

Falcon Football Verbal...

Marlon Tyree has verbally committed to BGSU for the '14 class.  Tyree is a Safety from Erie, PA, where he attends Cathedral Prep and was part of last year's Pennsylvania State champions....people, we are talking Pennsylvania here.

I have found info online (for what it is worth) that he had offers from Buffalo, Toledo, Temple and UMass.  According to this, he had 3 INTs and 3 fumble recoveries last season for Prep.  Here's a game where he had a 53 yard punt return for a TD.  He has a teammate from last year headed to MSU and one this year has committed to Old Dominion.

He is the 2nd safety in the class and the third DB, based on what is now reported.  BG's d-backfield is the anchor of the defense and this is clearly part of an effort to ensure that the quality is sustained.

Welcome to the Falcons, Marlon.

Some All-Sports Rankings....

As the summer passes along, I looked back and found the Reese and Jacoby Trophy standings for the 12-13 year.  The Reese Trophy is for performance in all-sports for men, and the Jacoby is for women.

BG has struggled in these rankings over recent years, finishing last for men and 11th for women in the 11-12 year.

This year was improved, if not overwhelming.  Kent won the men's trophy for the 5th consecutive year.  BG finished 10th, up 2 spots from the year before.  Miami won the women's trophy, and BG finished 7th, up 4 spots from last year.

You could certainly sense that the teams were having a stronger season this year.  Some of the new coaches are off to good starts, and we look forward to seeing the improvement continue.

Another measure is the Learfield Sports Director's Cup.  Sponsored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, it measures performance in up to 20 sports, men and women's combined.  In this ranking, BG finished 140th and 6th in the MAC.  I have no idea how that gets calculated, but another figure heading in the right direction for our athletics program.

I think this is important.  I only follow two sports, really, but we want to competitive up and down our program.  We have hard-working student athletes and we are behind them all!

Football Verbal....

The Falcons have another reported football verbal, this one from the Columbus area.  He is Ben Hale, a safety.  He's reported at 6'2" and 185.  He was Division I second-team all-district as a junior and had 3 INTs vs. Marion Harding to end the season.  He is the second reported DB in the class of '14 and the first safety.  BG has created a stronghold in the defensive backfield, and Hale is part of the effort to create what strong programs have, which is a constant flow of productive players.

Welcome to the Falcons, Ben!

Happy Independence Day to the Falcon Nation!!