Falcons Get First Win....

BG did what they were expected to do tonight, beating an undermanned VMI team 48-7 at the Doyt.  That's what they were on the schedule for and that's what happened.

We'll have more analysis tomorrow.  A few thoughts:

Injury issues continue to plague this team.  With Johnson out and Colvin reported out, things got a little tougher.  DJ Lynch left the game with what appeared to be a serious injury and Jude Adjei-Barimah also left with a leg injury and did not return.  Coach had no update on Lynch after the game and wasn't asked about Adjei-Barimah, so we don't know.  Tough situation, though, with the offensive juggernaut from Indiana coming in next week.

I thought James Knapke played well.  He made a bunch of throws, found guys open, seemed to be pretty accurate, certainly a good start.

Greene and Coppet are an outstanding running combo.  Roger Lewis had a great game for BG.  Heath Jackson also made some nice grabs.

The defense was certainly improved.  I thought the tackling was better.

The run defense is excellent.  Neither team has had any success running against BG.

At times the coverage was better, but I thought even VMI exposed it at times.  Even in a victory where BG allowed only 7 points, I'd say this remains a concern.  Coach said after the game that if guys aren't going to challenge the ball, they might as well be on the sidelines.  I still thought we were soft on a lot of coverage, and VMI seemed to be able to check into a quick hitch pass to the side for much of the game.  And, for a team that was playing soft, VMI got behind BG a couple of times, too.

So for all that, in every game BG plays from here on in, teams will be harder to pass against, run against, tackle and cover in space.  So the question is whether the Falcons can continue to improve or whether these issues will be exposed as the competition gets better...and whether BG has the bodies on defense to complete what was already a struggle.

One comforting thought is that it was not a great day for the MAC East.  Miami lost to Eastern Kentucky, Buffalo lost to Army, and Kent lost to Southern Alabama...meanwhile, UMass lost to Colorado (in a close game...Colorado must be awful), Ohio managed only 3 @Kentucky and Akron lost at Happy Valley.  Point is, this is not the world's toughest division right now.  If you can get enough going to win the division, then you're in the big game and that's not  until December.

But there's a lot that has to happen for that to become a reality.