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 What is their body of work?

Where do you start?  If it wasn't for Akron, this would be the most troubled program in the MAC. In 2012, they had an historic season, ranked #18 at one point.  Since that year, they have had 2 winning seasons, one of them the COVID year. Sean Lewis was 27-34 there.  When he left, they brought in Kenni Burns, a Minnesota RowTheBoat guy. He is 1-17 with 0 FBS wins, in possible running for the Tom Arth Award.

They are 0-6 this year, and played three P4 teams---Pitt, Tennessee, and Penn State....lost that one 56-0. They are 0-2 in MAC play, and both games were pure MACTION, losing to 52-33 to EMU and 37-35 to Ball State.

Through all their issues, Kent won 5-straight against BG (Sean Lewis never lost to the school where he was the OC)...Pelini once. Loeffler the other times. Three of them were ugly.  They put 60 on us twice.  BG broke the streak 49-19 last season.

BG is a 21-point favorite. 

How experienced are they?

Their depth chart is TBA on their game notes.  Phil Steele ranked them #6 in experience in the MAC.

Who are their national leaders?

Crishon McCray is #5 in receiving TDs and #18 in yards per catch.  That's for all games.  In MAC games he has 13 catches for 401 yards (30 yard average) and 5 TDs.

What is their turnover ratio? 

They are -4, which is rough.

Offense

How is their QB play? 

This is super interesting.  Their #1 and #2 QBs sustained season-ending injuries in the Penn State game.  In comes Tommy Ulatowski, who threw for 284 against BG last year, despite splitting time most of the year with another guy.  Here's the weird part...he has lit a fire under the offense.  His QBR is over 170, leader in MAC GAMES ONLY by a long-shot.  His completion % is only 46%, 4 TD over 2 INT but 748 yards in 33 completions will get it done. At least officially, we do not know who will QB the Falcons.

What is their scoring and yards per play

It's night and day.  They are last in the MAC in scoring overall and #3 in their MAC games. Similarly, they are #2 in YPP over 2 MAC games at 6.9 ypp. (All games from here on in) BG's defense allows 24 points per game, which is 6th.  The Falcons allow 5.7 yards per play.

Can they run the ball?

No. They are second to last in the nation in rushing overall and 10th in MAC play at 2.3 yards per carry.  BG allows 4.8 per rush, 9th in MAC.

Do they pass the ball?

See above.  In addition to McCray, they have Luke Floriea as a productive wideout. BG is #6 in pass defense efficiency.

How is their run/pass balance?

They are really committed to the run.  Sack adjusted they have run on 49% of their plays.

Do they convert on 3rd Down, 

Not really.  21% overall and 33% in the MAC.  BG allows 33% which is #2 in the MAC.

Do they score in Red Zone?

7 points per trip in MAC play, about 4 overall.  BG defense is really good in the red zone, with 3.8 points per trip allowed, #10 in the nation.

Do they protect the QB?

They have been sacked 18 times on 178 sack-adjusted attempts, which is a lot, over 10%.  BG gets sacks on 10% of passing attempts.

Defense:

Topline: Scoring and yards per play

They are last in the nation in total defense and scoring defense and that has not changed in MAC play.  BG scored 24.8 which is #7 and 5.8 yards per play which is #4.

Do they defend the run effectively?

They are last in the nation. In MAC games they are 10th. At 4.5 yards per carry, BG's offense is #5.  Even so, our rushing of late has been a disappointment, which Coach attributes to a lack of confidence.

Can they be passed on?

They are #127 of of 133 in team passing efficiency defense. In their MAC games, they are #7.  They have allowed 70% completions on mostly short passes.  BG is #8 in team passing offense, largely due to 6 TDs over 5 INT.

Do they get off the field on 3rd down?

They are 120th in the nation for all games and 3rd in the MAC in MAC games. At 40%, BG is #4.

Do they defend in the red zone?

They have allowed an unbelievable 35 red zone trips, tied for the most in the country.  They allow 5.6 points per trip.  BG offense scored 4.8 per trip, which is not great.

Do they pressure the QB?

No, they have sacks on 5.4% of passes, all games. In MAC play, they have only 2 sacks. BG allows sacks on 7.8% of pass attempts, which is creeping up.

Special Teams:

Punting?

At 36 a punt, they are #113.  No blocks, 1 TD.  FWIW, BG is #21 in net punting.

Punt Return?

Three returns, 45 yards.  No TDs, no blocks.

Placekicking? 

Andrew Glass has been their kicker for a while.  All-MAC last year.  He entered the portal on October 2.  His replacement, Will Hryszko is 0-1. That's his only D1 FG attempt.

Kickoff? 

Opponents start on the 24.

Kickoff Return?

No idea

Intangible Miscellany

OK.  Well, this is a should-win and a must-win.  Whether it is a will-win remains to be seen.  You can't be blamed for not trusting this team. A big performance by the Falcons does not mean they are out of the woods...this is the trap we fell into last year.  But there's no path anywhere without a win in this one.  On paper, BG should be able to move the ball against Kent--just as BSU and EMU did--and our defense is playing well, and they are one-dimensional.  We are at home. We should be able to manage this one.

On the other hand, Coach alluded to guys worrying about where they are going to be next year.  Even if Bazelak plays he will probably not be 100%.  Or we have a guy making his first start.  Kent came close to winning last week and has to be very hungry, given they have lost 16 straight FBS games.