Sweet Victory: Back-to-back edition, Overview.

And there it is.  For the first time in two years, BG has strung together back-to-back wins.

Well done, team.  I admire your grit and determination.  Enjoy it.

BG beat Akron 21-6 in a front of essentially no one at InfoCision Stadium in Akron.  Yes, that's right.  Akron scored 6 points and no touchdowns against Bowling Green's defense.




Let's get all of the disclaimers out of the way.  The preview Friday showed that Akron is not a strong team offensively and their QB Kato Nelson was hobbled and not at 100%.

With all the obstacles and difficulty this defense has faced this year, though, we're not going to feel sorry because we faced a team going through some of their own.  In fact, BG was also facing obstacles on defense.  DeMontae Haigler woke up with some kind of injury and couldn't play and Croslen didn't play either and BG played the entire game with four defensive lineman, something that Coach Pelini says he has never done.

So, BG had that going on against a team in the conference and we were on the road and BG's defense held them and the offense woke up late in the second quarter and scored enough for BG to win and celebrate.


How did it all happen?  The first 25 minutes or so were not promising for BG.  The offense had drives of 32, 27, 10, and 7 yards, followed by an INT and then a fumble.  Akron had kicked an early FG and then turned the INT into a FG and led 6-0.

At this point, the game turned around.  Loy had fumbled and Akron had it on their own 45.  They drove to the BG 36 but had a holding penalty and the Falcon defense got off the field.  The offense started at their own 10.

And then, BG put something together on offense.  The Falcons got the ball with 2:45 left in the half and marched the full 90 yards before Doege hit Dorian Hendrix with a 7-yard pass to put BG in the lead heading into the locker room.  The drive included BG converting a 4th and 1 from its own 29 and converting a 1st and 20 set of downs.  BG scored with :10 left in the half.

I just feel like that was huge.  You play pretty poorly on offense but the defense keeps you in the game and then get that late drive, especially the 4th down play, and take advantage of some penalties and take the lead.

The second half was all BG.

More depth issues emerged for BG when Montre Gregory was called for targetting on the second possession.  It looked like one they usually reverse to me, but it is what it is.  I don't see a lot of consistency in how those are called.  Ty Redding checked in and did a nice job, in fact.

BG got the ball on its own 23.  They used the Loy option quite a bit more in this game...which included a Loy pick on this drive called back due to Akron offsides.  In all, BG went on a 7 play 77 yard, 4 minute drive--highlighted by Doege to Miller for 42 yards and a Frye TD--to give BG a 14 to 6 lead with 1 minute left in the 3rd.

Here's an odd feeling I had.  At this point, you're pretty sure we can hold them for the win.

And then the finale.  BG catches a break because the kickoff returner put his knee down on the one yard line with the ball.  BG gets a 3 and out.  The offense starts on their own 48.  The Falcons covered the 52 yards in 8 flipping minutes to put the game away.  That's right, a 13-play, 52 yard, 8:00 dagger drive.

That includes converting a 3rd-12 on a Denley RUN, a 3rd and 10 to Wayne-Prather, committing a false start on 3rd and goal from the 2 and then scoring from the 7.

At that point, it was 21-6 mid-way through the 4th and the game was over.  Akron had a last drive which BG stopped and then it was as follows.

To the winners go the spoils! #FlyWithUs pic.twitter.com/btQLxqua7f

— BG Football (@BG_Football) November 17, 2018