Falcons Let ODU Slip Away

 Here was my last comment in my ODU preview:

"What the Falcons need to worry about here is a letdown, not unlike UT experienced.  It would be a terrible shame to do that at home on homecoming.  We need a strong performance to keep people coming back, especially with NIU here in a couple weeks.

The key test for us this year is whether we can bring a strong game consistently.  This is an opportunity to prove that we can."

I actually don't think it was a letdown.  But what happened was very disappointing.  We cannot finish games and did not play a winning game overall.  I'm not knocking ODU.  They are a good team.  They are at best a typical team we would play in our conference, and we lost to them at home after taking ranked teams to the end on the road.  There was a big crowd, it was homecoming.  If we are the team we think we should be at this point in the program, we defend the home field.

The good thing is that it wasn't an actual MAC game.  But, there is no room for error.  Every game counts from here on in and we can probably only lose twice more to have a shot at the MAC title game.

We will be who our record says we are.

I'll start my recap in the 3rd Quarter, with BG down 17-14 and with the ball.

Stewart got 7 on the first play.  On the second play of the half, BG was unable to get the right guys on the field and got an illegal substitution penalty.  Two incomplete passes were thrown and BG was punting.

The defense got a three and out with a sack, and BG started on its own 41.

On third and ten, Bazelak looked deep right to Fannin, who tipped the ball off his fingertips, stayed in bounds, regained his balance and raced down the sideline for a 51 yard TD reception.  The man is simply a human highlight reel.  

Here is what Ricky Rahne said:

...That number 0, he’s special. I coached a lot of really special tight ends, and that guy is a really, really, really good football player.” 

And he is.

So we are up 21-17.

ODU switches to their running QB.  Put a pin in that.  BG swarmed them and ODU lost 8 yards and punted.

The Falcons got the ball back. On 3rd and 8, Bazelak went back to pass and scrambled around for 15 seconds before surviving a strip sack and losing 13 yards.

Here's the thing.  Bazelak will take the brunt of the criticism, but his WRs are not getting open.  It was a shallow position when the year started, and RJ Garcia is injured. We are just not getting production at WR.  You can't hide from it.  The program has failed to recruit sufficient WRs. This is an ongoing issue, because as Loeffler indicated in his post-game presser, teams are going to put more guys on Fannin, which should open things up...if we can't take advantage, well, see the 2nd half of the Toledo game when Mitchell was on Fannin.

There's 7 left in the 3rd. BG has ODU on 3rd and 11 at their own 44.  As often is the case, BG fails to control a running QB and Joseph ran for 26 and a first down.  Put a pin in that for sure.

The defense rallied forced a punt and BG started on its own 16.  Bazelak hits a couple passes and has  2nd and 3 from our 47.  Bazelak took an 8-yard sack and BG failed to convert the 3rd down on the last play of the 3Q.

BG punts ODU down to their own 7.  So, freeze frame here.  You're up 4.  You get a stop, you're on a short field, you should be able to make it a two-score game and then play it out from there.

BG did get the three and out they needed, taking the ball over on the ODU 46.  Everything is right where you need it.  Except BG is intercepted on the 2nd play from scrimmage.  Coach said after the game that it was on the WR who "stemmed" the route and let the back get under him for the INT.  Live I thought it was a bad throw, but I just watched the replay, it was where it was supposed to be.

Anyway, ODU returns the INT to the 20, the QB scores on the 2nd play from scrimmage, the XP is missed and the game is now very different at 23-21.

BG gets the ball back, now needing to score.  Stewart has his best burst of the game, getting 30 on 3 carries.  Then he is stopped for none, gets 5 on 2nd down and BG then burns a timeout before 3rd and 5 and still fails to convert.

BG punts...Lorfils makes an incredible play, tipping the ball into play where it was downed on the 1 yard line.

BG gets the 3 and out and starts on the ODU 44 with 8 to play.  This game is still completely winnable.

BG makes one first down and then is stopped on the ODU 33, a very disappointing offensive series. We try a 51-yard FG into the wind, which is short. But BG gets the gift of all gifts. ODU jumped over the center and BG got a 15-yard penalty and moved to the 18 and 2 Stewart runs later BG had the lead 27-23 with 2;55 left (missed 2-pointer).

So, this is a close-the-game-out situation. The defense has been handling them and ODU has their running QB in, not their passing QB.  We should be able to win this game.  ODU has plenty of time and 3 timeouts, so a stop is required.  They wouldn't run out of time.

The first play was a run for 15 yards.  BG tightened up and forced a 4th and 6 and had Joseph scrambling, but he found their TE with a wobbler and they converted.  They also converted a 3rd and 3. With :39 left on the BG 25, 2nd and 6, Joseph got out of the pocket and ran to the 4, an absolute gut punch play which was followed by the winning touchdown.

It is a tough loss.  Coach tried to put a good face on it but BG is better than ODU and should have won this game.  ODU appeared better prepared (off a bye week), BG was again unable to handle a running QB and rode one guy as far as he would take them.

What happened?

On offense, BG did not run the ball. Stewart got 67 yards and it took him 20 carries to get there.  On many of his carries, he was swamed at the line.  According to PFF, it was our worst run blocking game of the season, with our guards getting torched.  (Reimer did not play). In the end, it was 4 yards per carry, sack adjusted.  Rushing was going to be our identity, and against G5 opposition it did not happen.

On defense, BG did not defend the run.  ODU had 6.8 sack-adjusted yards per carry.  The QBs were both effective and their lead back had 6.2 yards per carry.  According to PFF, it was our worst tackling game since the 2022 Kent debacle.

BG dominated the passing game.  Bazelak was 28 of 37 for 303 yards, with his highest depth of target of the season.  (ODU was packing the front to stop Stewart).  He was only sacked once and threw some amazing passes....including one of Fannin under an all-out blitz and another pass to the far sideline to Smith.  PFF gave him 5 big-time throws and 3 turnover-worthy passes.  He was far from perfect but I don't think you can pin this one on him.

Fannin was 12-118 and 2 TDs.  He's just an incredible player. Malcolm Johnson caught 3 of 7 targets. BG WRs were targetted 17 times, and caught 10 for 82 yards.

ODU did not pass effectively, but we cannot forget that the defense allowed them that fake QB draw jump pass for a 75 yard TD in the first half.

Special teams?  We have a good punter.  He had a net of 41 with 2 inside the 20.  We are #16 in the nation in net punting. BG missed a 51-yard FG into the wind, no shame there. The return game was negligible either way.

On defense, Dontrez Brown had a sack and 3 pressures.  Overall, BG had 4 sacks. Rosser led the team in tackles.

So on it goes.  Next week is Akron.  You just gotta get this one done.