Sweet Victory #4: The defense.

The defense was having the same problem the offense was having...struggling to get things going.  In that sense, it felt a little bit like the Kent game, where the opponents started out moving the ball around and then the defense found their bearings and that was it.

Akron scored on their first two drives.  One was on a 51 yard TD pass where BG bit on a double move (Clawson said BG gave up a "cheap one") and then a 12-play 72 yard drive for another TD.  (Note...the drive was assisted by a couple of atrocious calls, including a pass interference where the QB was throwing the ball away.)

I looked down on the sidelines.  BG's defensive coaches were talking to the players.  There was no yelling.  No screaming.  Just coaches talking, players listening.

After that, Akron did not score again.  Akron had 134 yards in the 1st Q and 162 the rest of the way.

My observation would be that BG is successful when it gets pressure on the QB.  There wasn't much in the first half, but the second half was a different story.  There may not have been sacks, but the pressure was disrupting Pohl and it made a difference.

I wrote yesterday about the play Gabe Martin made on that key drive when BG was up 10.  It was just huge to be in space and be able to jump up and deflect that pass.  I think he was spying Pohl for the run...when Coaches talk about making plays, that's what they talk about.  How often do you look back and see the player miss the ball by an inch?

Another individual who deserves credit is Aaron Foster.  He was in the mix a lot.  The Zips showed no willingness to throw near Cam Truss.  He was the player beaten on the double move, but he played himself a great game....10 tackles, one for loss and 3 pass break ups.

The other is Boo Boo Gates.  He had 7 tackles but when the defense was struggling in the 1Q, it always seemed to be Boo Boo who was making the plays.

Ted Ouelette did not play, and Coach said BG had d-lineman who had to play more reps than they are accustomed to, and in the end they delivered.

In the end, Akron had 3.9 yards per rush, 5.4 per passing attempt, and 4.8 yards per play, all very solid production for the Falcon defense.

One last thing.  There were at least a couple times when BG stopped Akron less than a yard from where they needed to be...once on the goal line, and once in the middle of the field.  Coach has talked about BG increasing their strength, and this was a really good example of that paying off.  In other years, that guy gets upfield but BG was able to prevent a push in a situation where six inches was vital.

BG obviously misses Chris Jones on passing downs and has to blitz more on account of it, but the defense is producing this year to date.