25 Questions that Flash Fast

   

Gerald Tinker, WR and Olympic Gold Medalist

What is their body of work?

This is a program without any consistent success in 50 years.  Don James was once coach there...in the early 70s they had players like Tinker, Gary Pinkel, Nick Saban, Jack Lambert, Don Nottingham. In the 47 seasons since Don James left, they have had 5 winning seasons.

In 2019, after firing Paul Haynes, the Flashes were publicly turned down multiple times for the HC job.  They eventually hired Syracuse OC and former BG OC Sean Lewis.  Lewis has one of those winning seasons and a second season right at .500.  Two bowl appearences.   Overall record is tough, because Kent plays a brutal non-conference schedule.  Lewis is 14-6 in MAC play over the past 3 years, coming into this season.  They won the East last year.

They are not as good this year, at 2-3 in MAC play.

They have beaten BG 4 straight, twice by 30+ point margins.

How experienced are they?

They have 33 juniors and above on the roster, which is a lot.  15 are listed as graduate students.

Who are their nationally ranked players?

Marquez Cooper is #11 in all-purpose yards, #12 in rushing yards

Devontez Walker is #10 in receiving TDs

Dante Cephus is #13 in receiving yards

Nico Bolden is #9 in solo tackles

What is their turnover ratio? 

They are -1

Offense

How is their QB play? (MAC Only from here on in)

Colin Schlee is their QB.  Their Flash Fast attack has him #3 in the MAC in yards, but he's 6th in efficiency, behind McDonald. He has only 59% completions, 5 TD over 1 INT and 12.3 per completion. He is very much a dual-threat QB.

What is their scoring and yards per play

They are #5 in scoring and #2 in yards per play.

Can they run the ball?

They have the 2nd best running attack in the MAC, at 5 per carry.

Do they pass the ball?

As noted, Schlee is #6 in efficiency.  As a team they are #4.  Dante Cephus averages 119 yards per game and 16 per catch.

How is their run/pass balance?

They run on 57% of their plays.

Do they convert on 3rd Down?

They are third in the MAC at 44%.

Do they score in the red zone?

They are not good.  That's why their #2 yardage only converts to #5 scoring. They average 4 points per trip.

Do they protect the quarterback?

They have been sacked on 5% of their pass plays, which is pretty good.

Defense:

Topline: Scoring and yards per play

They are 10th in scoring defense and 11th in yards per play allowed.

Do they defend the run effectively?

They are 8th in yards per rush allowed.

Can they be passed on?

They are 11th in defensive pass efficiency. The allow 68% completions (last), 11 TDs and 12.9 per completion.

Do they get off the field on 3rd down?

They are 7th, allowing 41%.

Do they defend in the red zone?

Pretty good at 4.5 yards per trip.

Do they pressure the QB?

Not bad, sacks on 6.5% of opponent attempts.

Special Teams:

Punting?

They are 7th in net punting. They have been blocked once.

Punt Return?

They are decent and have 1 TD.

Placekicking? 

All games, he's not great. He's 13 of 21, 3 misses under 40, blocked twice, long of 50.

Kickoff? 

Opponents start on the 29.

Kickoff Return?

They start on the 29, which is not bad.  Their returner is #2 in the MAC.

Intangible Miscellany

Kent is a 2.5 point favorite, which I find a little interesting.

Here's the thing.  BG's defense has played poor offenses with young or ineffective QBs for the last 3 weeks.  They have done what they are supposed to do, which is shut them down.  Many other times we have made poor offenses look like world-beaters.  This offense is better than that and plays at pace.  BG will have a chance to prove it can stop a team that is good on offense.  It will require stopping the run and being strong in the back end and tackling well, because Kent plays in space a lot.

And the offense simply has to show up.  Kent is not good on defense and BG has to put it together.  Not three plays away from an excellent performance, but a strong consistent performance.

This is the most meaningful game we have played in 7 years.  Not to look too far ahead, but a BG win over Kent and a Buffalo loss somewhere along the line and BG plays OU for the East Title, regardless of the UT result.  And a win makes BG bowl eligible, a huge accomplishment for the program given where they came from, and the line we were looking for when we started the year.

I don't know if we are there, yet.  But this one is winnable but BG needs to continue to bring strong efforts on both sides of the ball and especially the offense has to complete the plays that should be out there.