Happy Halloween to the Falcon Nation!

 

Buffalo Preview

 OK, back at it.

UB comes to town.  They are 4-4 and 3-1 this year.  

They scored a TD in the last minute to beat Kent by 3, beat EMU in OT, scored a TD with :19 left to beat UMass by 7 and lost by 8 to Akron.

So on one hand, they are 3-1.  Or, they are a sliver away from being 0-4 with a schedule that was Kent, EMU, UMass and Akron.

At home and with the QB uncertainty, BG is a 1.5 point favorite. If we can play with some consistency and get back to avoiding penalties and turnovers, this is a team we can beat. BG is last in the MAC in penalties--yes, we have sunk below UT.

A few notes.  I think we've worn out the batteries on the big crowds. That won't help.

QB is a serious issue.  We don't know who will start, but none of them have been very good.  BG needs to run the ball efficiently in high volumes to have a shot.

We need special teams to come back.

BG has won 2-3 against UB, after losing four straight.

This is a chance to see who we are.  Did we feel the sting last week?

 

Football De-Commit

The Falcons have a second de-commit.  We've seen this young man continuing to take visits, so that is not a huge surprise.  This one is Joshua Smith, from Africentric in Columbus. He is a HS QB and 3rd-team All-State in D4.  He tracks to a WR at our level, and is 6'5".  He had offers from WMU, UB, CMU, KSU, Miami, UT and YSU.

(Thanks to the alert commenter, who reminds me to say that he is heading to UC).

Best of luck, Joshua.

George Presser

The big news was that Pyne and Anderson are questionable for Saturday and May is out longer-term.  Which leaves Hunter Najm taking the first team reps this week.  Coach George, displaying dark humor, did note that he is "healthy."  It did sound like Pyne in particular might be ready to go Saturday, so we will have to see.  We have played teams on their 4th QB--including the 2015 Championship game against NIU--but I don't remember being this low on the depth chart before.

True FR Carsen Melvin is the only other healthy QB on the roster.

Other thing.  I know a lot of people wondered about where Austyn Dendy has been hiding.  Coach was asked that and he said that he was raw when he got to BG, but our RB Coaches worked hard with him to get him ready.  

He can clearly help us. Pettaway and Jake Burns are also questionable.

On we go.

MBB Exhibitionism, Part ii

BG wrapped up the exhibition season at the UD Flyers last night.  Not much to say...BG led by 3 at the half and then Dayton outscored them 63-29 in the second half to end the game with a 90-59 victory.

Dayton made 13 of 16 on 2FGs and 9 of 16 on 3FGs.  BG had 20 turnovers for the game.

Coach made one change in the starting lineup...Ruffin started in place of Shackleford.  The starting lineup was +5 over 9 minutes of play.  Most of BG's other combinations were outscored, which is not surprising, given that we lost by 31.  Also, no player had a positive plus/minus.

Mayar Wol played 18 minutes after playing 5 in Lansing.

Leach played 11 after playing 7 in Lansing.

Pardon, Dedivanaj, and Maxamud got time at the end.

Squire and Adem DNP.  I understand Squire is injured.

The next one counts.  Preview coming up over the weekend...Texas State Monday at the Stroh.

Past and Future Opponent Land

Lafayette (5-3) Idle

Cincinnati (7-1) Beat Baylor.  Tied for first in Big XII.

Liberty (3-4) Off

Louisville (6-1) Beat BC

OU: (5-3) Beat EMU

UT: (4-4)  Lost to Washington State

CMU (5-3) Beat UMass

Kent (3-5)  We played them

UB (4-4)  Lost to Akron

EMU (2-7) Lost to OU

UA (3-6) Beat UB

UMass:  (0-8) Lost to CMU

MAC vs FCS: 11-2

MAC vs P4: 1-23

MAC vs.G5 4-11

Standings wise, only Miami is undefeated in MAC. @Ohio next week in a big one, and then UT after that.

CMU, OU, WMU and UB all have one loss.  CMU and WMU play Saturday in a big one. UB plays BG.

Three teams have 2 losses...UT, BS, and KS.  

BG loses to Kent. Sun Rises Next Day.

Hey everybody, look.  The sun came up.

No doubt, it was a tough day on the football field.  But we've had way worse days in the last few years.  I'm surprised at the cataclysmic vibes from the Falcon Nation.  I know you will never admit this, but this is not the Kent team from the last two years. I'm not claiming they are great or that we should have lost, but it's not as humiliating as people (including Todd Walker) seem to think it is.  Strip away the 3 P4 losses, and they are competing.

As for Coach George...last year we were 7-6.  We lost the core of that team. Our Coach left in the middle of Spring practice, and we found a guy who has brought energy to the program.  Will he succeed?  That's an open question. Of course it is. But I'm surprised at the lack of patience, especially from those of you who defended Loeffler.

I do detect an undercurrent of Loeffler supporters who are jealous of how quickly George was accepted...as opposed to Loeffler, who never really won the hearts of the Falcon fans. It reminds me of when Lloyd Carr left Michigan and his supporters sniped away at the new regime.

As for those of you who are "done," Maybe there is a fan portal. I say best wishes. I'm here for the long haul.  This is my team.

All that is not to deny that it was a very disappointing loss.  Yes, we were a touchdown favorite.  If it was known that we were down to our third-string QB with zero FBS snaps, I doubt it would have been that high, especially on the road.  Seriously...how many games do you win under that scenario?

Even so, it started pretty well.  The defense got a 3-and-out.  People have been screaming that BG needed to throw upfield to open up the run game, and they were working that plan.  Jyrin Johnson bailed May out when he out-fought double coverage for a 20-yard gain.  May threw a great 13-yard pass to Jacob Harris for the TD, capping off a nine-play drive.  BG up 7-0.

Kent drove the ball to midfield and punted.  BG misplayed the punt, but drove the ball from their own 3 to midfield to flip the field. The teams traded punts and then Kent put together a nice drive before a false start and a negative play set them back, and they kicked a field goal to make it 7-3.

I neglected to mention that Cam Pettaway was also out.  RB has been a position where we are just average.  Austyn Dendy played in this one, and on this drive he was highly productive.  He was at Missouri for one year, 3-star recruit.  BG drove 11 plays, 75 yards, aided by 2 Kent 15-yard penalties, and Dendy scored to make it 14-3 with :33 left in the 2nd and BG getting the ball to start the 3rd.

Which BG scored on.  It was as good a drive as BG has had all year.  May scrambles for a first down.  Hits Garcia for 18 and Johnson for 29. McMillian and Dendy chipped away with the running, and then May scored, and it was 21-3.

And here, the laughter turned to sadness.

Kent had the ball and drove into BG territory.  As noted in my preview, Kent relies on getting Wolford over the top for their offense.  And they did, for a 30-yard TD where he just beat our guy.  Not a blown assignment.  21-10 BG.

BG got a holding penalty on the kickoff return, started on their own, and went three and out.  Henderson shanked the punt, Kent started on the 45 of BG, and scored again on the next play on a run.  21-17.

BG gets another penalty on KOR and starts on their own 10.  The offense rallies (contrary to what you might be reading), Dendy for 16, May for 28. They drive 65 yards to the Kent 25.  It's 4-2, first play of the 4th.  A lot of people point to this play.  I agreed at the time...they sent Kleather out...he's been great...and this time he missed.  It happens.  Without the penalty, that drive ends at the 10.  Of course, you go for it, you might put the game away.

Kent has the ball. BG's defense is still competing.  Branch-Haynes nailed a big sack and the Flashes had to punt. 

Still 10:18 to play.  BG made one first down and then sent May out on his own for a pass play...he was hit and fumbled.  BG recovered but it was an 11-yard loss and then Henderson shanked another punt.

Kent had the ball, 6:49 to play.  Wolford gets over the top against for 37 and two plays later Kent has the lead, 24-21.

With 3:15 left to play, BG drives to the Kent 48.  The Flashes are pressuring everything, and they sack May, and BG turns it over on downs and BG was finished.

Later in the half, to finish with a tragic twist, May suffered a non-contact injury that had him leave in an air cast, probably ending his football career.

Honestly, though, he did as well or better than our other QBs did.  As we noted in the preview, Kent can be passed on, and he did OK. 

If anything, BG lost this game on special teams (two shanked punts, two KO penalties and one missed FG) and the defense allowing three big plays--the two Wolford catches and Garcia's big TD run.  A third factor was Kent pressuring May with blitzes--tough for a new QB to handle, and we didn't always protect him.

But we needed to go downfield.  Everybody said so.

BG ran the ball effectively.  The backs had 36 carries for 171 yards.  That's 4.8 per carry.  Not overwhelming, but solid.

The defense?  Take the Garcia run out and Kent had 77 rushing yards. Take the passes to Wolford out, and it was under 100 yards passing. 

The problem is that all of the 8 plays I cited above happened in 21 minutes of play.

It was a very disappointing loss and clearly a game we should have won.  It's not the armageddon some think.  We are way too early to decide whether this coaching staff can get it done.

Lansing Exhibitionism

Falcon MBB played their first exhibition game in Lansing last night against MSU.  This is new...previously, these games were closed to the public and secret.  This one was open to the public and on Big Ten Network +.

It's hard to tell what you get.  It was a relatively tight game.  With ten minutes left, it was tied at 57, but from there MSU outscored BG 18-9 to put it away.

From BG's standpoint, I'm more interested in who played and how much.  I'll annotate who these guys are while we get to know them.

A couple notes.  We played (pretty much) a seven man rotation...MSU played 9.  (Measured by >10 minutes).  The numbers below are minutes played and then the plus minus for the game, remembering we lost by 9.

• Towns 36  (-5)   We know him
• Glover 21 (+6)  Transfer from Missouri-St. Louis
• Campbell 37 (-6) We know him
• Shakelford 31 (-17) JUCO Transfer
• Thomas 20 (-5) Florida State Transfer
• Goins 15 (-17) JUCO Transfer
• Ruffin 17 (-2) Colorado Transfer
• Leach 7 (2) Freshman from Whitmer
• Wol 6 (-6) Transfer Eastern Kentucky
• Kimbrough 4 (-7) JUCO Transfer
• Karel 3 (+2)  Freshman from Michigan
• DNP: Pardon, Spurgin, Dedivanaj, Maxamud, Squire, Adem (No idea about who might be healthy)

If you really want to wade in, here are the lineups BG used for more than 2 minutes.  The starters were +3 in 10 minutes, which is a good sign.  Drop Ruffin in for Thomas, and you get -7 in 5 minutes.  Campbell, Leach, Ruffin, Towns and Glover were +6 in 3 minutes as were Campbell, Ruffin, Towns, Glover and Thomas--

We will see them try and work to sharpen these lineups for the regular season.

Dayton on Monday.

Kent Preview

OK, here we go.  One week after the week after...

First off, if you think BG had problems with Jinks?  Man.  Kent's previous coach had gone two seasons without winning an FBS game and then was fired because he took a $100,000 loan from a donor/vendor and mis-used his P-Card.  

The firing was on April 11.

So in comes Mark Carney, a familiar name to Falcon fans.  Carney was an All-American QB at Fordham when Clawson was the coach...he followed Clawson to Richmond and BG, when he was the WR coach.   He didn't go to Wake, went sub-D1 for a couple years and then to Charlotte and Kent.  He is an interim Coach.

They are better than you might think.  I used MAC-only stats this week, because their overall stats are distorted by their ridiculous non-conference schedule, where they lost to Texas Tech, Florida State and Oklahoma by an aggregate score of 172-24.

In the MAC, it has been a little different.  They smoked UMass, which you'd expect; but also, they did what you would expect. They were up on Buffalo with a minute left before losing.  And they battled UT tough for a half.

I'm not claiming they're great or even good.  But there are signs this isn't what we saw there the last two years and they are capable of beating us.

The matchup is tough.  BG brings their "putrid" offense.  The Flashes aren't great defensively, but they are good against the run and vulnerable to the pass. Unfortunately, that's a set up that will be tough for us to exploit.  

BG is a 7.5 point road favorite, though that has been bet down a little.

Coach said he was going to challenge his coaches to figure out how to move the ball.  If they succeed, we should be fine.  Or, we could play a really tight, defensive game and get a narrow win that way.  But this is not the normal Kent team.

MBB Update

The MAC poll is out--there's no media day anymore, but they still do the predictions.  Never been tougher, given the uncertainty and the changes.

Which is interesting.  Because even given the crazy world that exists, the same teams usually end up at the top.  Up until a couple of years ago, it was Akron, Kent, UT, OU, and everyone else trying to crack in.  Now, based on this, it's changed a little as Miami re-takes their historic place with the cool kids.  Add UMass and Toledo....and there is your top 6.  I believe UT won't compete when I see it.

BG is 7th, a good distance behind UT.  Blue Ribbon also has us 7th. Kenpom has us 6th, ahead of UMass, with a 17-13 (14-13 in D1 games) and 9-9 record.  Our KenPom is 193, our best starting KenPom since 2022, the very disappointing year we lost 7 of 8 coming home and to UT by 40. ESPN BPI has BG #10, behind BSU and EMU.

Which yields a pretty decent consensus on expectations.  What will happen could be another story.  I will do a MBB preview before the Texas State game.

Exciting news that Javonte Campbell was first-team All-MAC for the pre-season.  Certainly, you can build around that guy, especially with two healthy hands.

Last thing.  Exhibition games are coming up.  In the old days, these were "secret."  Now they are on the schedule.  BG plays @MSU on Thursday at 7:00 pm, and can be viewed with a Big Ten Plus subscription.  BG then will play Monday @Dayton at 7:00.  The BG release mentions audio, so either or Dayton will be calling the exhibition.

George Presser

Coach George had his presser today.  Here are a few things...

In the news portion, he says Drew Pyne is getting better but is unknown for this week.  Note:  there was a 0% chance he was going to give a definitive statement on his status either way.

He points out that coming into the Toledo game, Anderson had thrown only 5 passes.  What you are seeing is what you would expect from a young QB.

Also, he referred to our offense as "putrid."  Twice.  Said the coaches have to figure out how to move the ball with what they have.  Reminds me of this scene in Apollo 13. 

 Discussed 2 homespun phrases.

One was "victory is a perfume that remove a lot of stink" in reference to the UT game.

The other was "Chop wood and carry water."  It comes from this book about a young man chasing his lifelong dream of being a Sumarai.

BG Loses OL Recruit to UCLA

Travis Robertson, a 3-star OL from West Bloomfield, MI.  He had a number of P4 offers when he committed and now is heading to UCLA.  Here's what I had at the time. 

That leaves 2 OL coming in this class.  Time will tell.

Best of everything, Travis.

Past and Future Opponent Land

 Lafayette (5-3) Lost at Oregon State

Cincinnati (6-1) Beat OK State

Liberty (3-4) Beat New Mexico State

Louisville (5-1) Beat The Other Miami

OU: (4-3) Beat NIU

UT: (4-3)  Beat Kent

CMU (4-3) We played them

Kent (2-5)  Lost to UT

UB (4-3) Beat UMass

EMU (2-6) Lost to Miami

UA (2-6) Lost to Ball State

UMass:  (0-7) Lost to UB

MAC vs FCS: 11-2

MAC vs P4: 1-23

MAC vs.G5 4-10

Sadness Accrues

Well.  That ship crashed to earth.  Last week, we saw the very best we could do with a team that is proving to be limited.   This week, we saw the other side of the coin.  In the words of Gibby, "we were pummelled."

It was a beautiful day.  Another huge crowd, nearly unprecedented two weeks in a row.  And BG gave a performance that Coach called "extremely disappointing."

The game started with promise.  BG took the opening kick and drove to the CMU 15, featuring big runs by Anderson and Pettaway.  Fatusaki picked up one of his four penalties on the day, and BG ended up with a FG to make it 3-0.

The rest of the first quarter settled into a punting duel.  On the 3rd play of the 2nd quarter, Anderson was intercepted on a tipped ball, and CMU returned the ball to the 1 and scored on the next play.  7-3 CMU.

Little did we know that CMU had all the points they needed to win.

BG punted, and CMU had the ball on their own 21.  CMU went back for a rare pass, and BG blew the coverage and completed a 63-yard play to the BG 16, scoring a few plays later to make it 14-3 with 8 minutes left in the half.

Coach said after the game that it wasn't the blown coverage that bothered him--that happens--it was how BG reacted to it that was the problem.

BG started on their own 19, went three and out, and ran a fake punt on 4th down.  Coach said he was looking for a spark.  There seemed to be a lot of open field, and Henderson has run that play before, but one guy got to him, and we turned the ball over.

BG's defense rose to the occasion and forced a 3-and-out and CMU FG, and it was 17-3, with 3:48 left.

Could BG find second-quarter magic again? BG put together an effective drive, with Anderson hitting Roberts and Johnson for 15+ gains. But from the CMU 35 the drive stalled (as they so often do) and Kleather hit from 49 yards to make it 17-6.

CMU took the opening kick and scored on a 7-play drive to make it 24-6.  At this point, until and unless BG came up with some offensive production, the game was pretty much out of reach. 

As it happened, BG did not get past the CMU 48 until a garbage-time drive.  They went for it on their 34 in their first drive of the half and lost 2 yards on a 4th-1 play, leading to a CMU FG and 27-6.  There was also an interception. 

Take away the garbage drive, and BG had 53 yards in the second half and 4 first downs.

CMU's coach came from the Army, and their game plan looked like that.  They threw 5 passes and completed 3. They threw one pass in the second half.  They ran for 203 yards, but it took them 46 carries.  That's 4.4 yards per carry and nothing special.

Stats can be misleading...I mean, BG outgained CMU.  But for my money, the defense held up.  CMU scored 13 points on drives of 10 yards or less.  Two of those were the defense bailing the offense out and forcing a FG off a short field.  

In the 3rd quarter, when the game was put away, CMU was 13 for 101, 5.4 per carry, and the key to closing the door on the Falcons.

It's BG's offense that is just not enough.  This is not going to be an Anderson attack.  He certainly has struggles...makes some plays, misses others.  But the offense wasn't moving the ball with Pyne in the game, either.  We are undermanned at QB and at WR, which leaves significant pressure on our RBs and OL facing packed boxes...in MAC play, BG is #8 in yards per rush.

BG's line play is pretty good.  According to PFF, #3 in run blocking and #6 in pass blocking.  Their big 4 (the returning guys) are solid, but Kilfoyl, Thomas, and Sanchez have struggled to fill in the last slot. And yesterday, Fatusaki had 4 penalties--2 of them personal fouls.  We started with a 4-man RB rotation, and yesterday we were down to Pettaway and McMillan.  I'm getting the feeling we are undermanned at RB, too, though it is tough to tell when we can't use the pass game to open some space up.

This puts BG at 2 losses in the MAC.  Three teams have zero losses, and 3 teams have 1 loss.  Even given that, we have yet to show that we are capable of running the table, even with a favorable schedule coming home.  Yesterday's result, in front of that big crowd, puts lots of other games in question.

In fact, we can only lose 2 more to make a bowl game.

A clearly down Coach George said after the game that he isn't thinking about Detroit.  He wants to see us get better.  Which would be fine...first year...new Coach.  Everyone could see that.  But you might start next year with 30 new guys.

25 Chippy Questions

It's an incredible time. And so unexpected.  In February, we had a coach just successful enough not to be fired but not enough to give us any real enthusiasm.  Now, we are looking at our 2nd straight sellout in who knows how long, if ever. So many times we got the big crowd and shit the bed.  This time, we got the big crowd and we gave them a lifetime memory.

Back at it this week.  The beat goes on.  Coach says our team grew up last week.  It's going to be very interesting to see how this game plays out.  BG is -5.  It's also rare for us to be favored.  You can see below that CMU is an average team by all measures.  CMU has lost to a poor NIU team. Lost to an improving Akron team, and then beat EMU.

And not to get ahead of ourselves, but the schedule is much softer coming home.

Can BG focus after the big win?  Who will QB the Falcons?  Despite winning, BG had a lot of trouble moving the ball last week.  Can they pick it up and run the ball against CMU?  And can they withstand the pounding of the CMU attack, even as their run game is only average?

Big crowd.  Let's reward them again.

 

Past and Future Opponent Land

Lafayette (5-2) Beat Bucknell

Cincinnati (5-1) Beat UCF

Liberty (2-4) Beat UTEP

Louisville (4-1) Idle

OU: (3-3) Idle

UT: (3-3)  We played them

CMU (3-3) Bye week

Kent (2-4)  Beat UMASS

UB (3-3) Idle

EMU (2-5) Beat NIU

UA (2-5) Lost to Miami

UMass:  (0-6) Lost to Kent

MAC vs FCS: 11-2

MAC vs P4: 1-23

MAC vs.G5 4-10

Sweet Victory

Toledo football began the season with national aspirations.

We learned Saturday it’s not even the best team in northwest Ohio.

---David Briggs (to be fair, most of the national aspirations were in Briggs' column).

How sweet it is.   I have a lot to say.  I'm sure we all do.  I've been going to games at the Doyt since 1971.  That's a top-five experience.  Maybe top three, it isn't always easy to remember.  (Miami '85, Game Day, Indiana '14 are in the conversation.)  First sell-out since Game Day.  Beautiful Day.  Let us not forget...a Saturday, because the next two years will be under #maction.  A true college football, tail gate, rivalry, hate (pure white-hot hate) your opponent Saturday.  How it is meant to be.

And then the game.  Thank you so much to everyone, from the players to the coaches and staff, for the hard work and dedication you showed to give us the thrill of a lifetime.  And thank you to the game staff...in the past, we have really mismanaged big crowds, but for my money, everything was organized and orderly.  And thank you to the people doing the scoreboard and entertainment...it was a fun and Pudge-y environment.

And thank you to the UT fan in the man-bun who was verballing us in the 2nd Quarter.  You made victory even sweeter.

It could not have started worse. First, we learned at 11 when the availability report came out that Drew Pyne would not play.  (Note:  The George crew can keep a secret.)  So we are 11-point dogs, and now our starter is out.  

When play started, it was worse.  UT scored twice in the first quarter, outgaining BG 171-5.  BG had -3 passing yards. It appeared that a blowout was about to commence.

It continued into the second quarter.  BG got a small drive going to the UT 38.  It was 4th and 5.  BG took a timeout to decide what to do.  They decided to go for an FG, but were too slow, and the play clock was running out...but you can't call two timeouts in a row anymore, and we got the delay and had to punt.

UT started on their own 4 and marched it right down the field.  Eight plays later, it was 4th down from the BG 2. The Falcons got the stop, but it was just a temporary reprieve.  BG went three and out, had a terrible punt and UT cashed in to go up 21.

Let us freeze-frame here.  There is 1:29 on the clock.  BG says the Falcons have never rallied from 21 down...I'm not sure how they know that.  But anyway.  ESPN says we have a 2% chance of winning.

Remember, also, that I noted in the preview that UT is a complete football team except that they will disappear for long periods of time.  As the saying goes, no one has done less with more than Jason Candle.

BG has 42 yards of offense and two first downs.  They start on their own 30.  Make a first down.  One thing I mentioned is that Drew Pyne had the lowest depth of throw of any QB in the nation.  Anderson can throw deep.  And he did.  And he had Finn Hogan deep, and UT interfered.  We're on the 45 of UT after an incompletion. 

Anyway, what happens next changes everything.

You know the feeling when you can tell when a screen play is going to break?  You can just feel it.  You see the ball, the space, and the blockers...that's what this was.  UT blitzed from the left, BG called a tunnel screen to the right, Pettaway caught the ball and made an unbelievable effort for the last 8 yards to get into the end zone.  He carried guys the whole way.  With :13 left.  And it's 21-7.  Great play call, great execution, and the game changes in the blink of an eye.

You can't underestimate how important that was.  It kept the crowd in the stands.  It gave a glimmer of hope to the team, since we were getting the ball.  Coach Fisher apparently gave the defense a little talking to.  (His Father was in attendance as well.) 

UT has a 91% chance of winning.

It didn't turn around right away.  But the game was stabilized.  BG went three and out.  UT had the ball, but Hines hit Trayanum for a five-yard loss, and a delay of game penalty followed. UT punted. 

BG went three and out.  UT starts on their own 16 after a holding penalty.  They make first downs on their first two plays.  Then they get an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.  When they shanked the punt, BG started at their own 49.

There was 5:12 to play in the 3rd.  Still 21-7.  Didn't start out great....on 3rd and 10, BG went deep to Garcia, and he was there, so UT interfered, and the drive was kept alive.  After a false start, BG had 3rd and 11 from the 32.  Anderson ran for 14 to keep the drive alive.  He seemed to be settling in.  He had real struggles before this.  But he threw a dart to Roberts to get to the 9 and then hit Jacob Harris on the back shoulder for the score, a high-quality throw.

21-14, 1:52 left in 3Q.  BG with a 15% chance of victory.

Next drive, UT gets a first down.  We're in the 4th now. David Afogho gets a sack and UT punts.  BG goes deep again, and Anderson is picked.  UT has the ball on their own 30.  They get a holding penalty and go three and out.

BG goes 3 and out.

Here is a key play that Todd Walker noted...easily forgotten with all the drama.  UT has it 3rd and 2. 8:36 to play.  You expect Trayanum to get the ball, get 2.5 yards, and move the chains.  But Isaac Thomison shot the gap and hit him for -3 and forced a punt.  We're still down...that's a huge play.

And now the magic begins.  BG on their own 23.  BG fakes a reverse to Garcia, who stopped and threw an absolute dime to Pettaway down the left sideline.  I mean a DIME.  Pettaway catches the ball on the BG 40, steps out of one tackle, and scores.  Tie game.  BG up to 42%....31% increase on one play.

Now the crowd's into it.  You can't believe it, but we might WIN this game.

UT continues to implode.  They get a block in the back penalty that results in them starting on the 4-yard line.  Next play, Gleason is passing.  He's just in the end zone when Myles Bradley flies from the far side and strips the ball, which Thomison recovers on the 1 yard line. On the NEXT PLAY, BG scores to take the lead.

Two TDs, 1:06 apart.  6:02 to play. BG 86% chance to win.  Still very much in the balance, though.

UT gets a false start on 3rd and 1.  BG pressures Gleason on the next play, forces INC and a punt.

BG had the ball with 4:44 left.  BG starts on their own 35, gets a run to midfield and then has to punt.  Hederson shanks it and UT starts on their 27.  4:23 to play.

And they begin a drive.  But are guys are focused and competing. They get a DPI.  UT gets to the BG 37.  On 2nd and 5 from the 32, Caden Marshall breaks a pass up and nearly picks it.  Then on 3rd down, BG makes a play that will go down in rivalry lore.  Gleason hit his receiver, but it was in traffic.  There was a battle for the ball, it ended up on the receiver's butt, and MJ Cannon snatched it...for the game-sealing pick.

Anderson took a safety to run the clock out, and BG won 28-23.

It is hard to believe. You start a game as an underdog, without your starting QB, and then you're down 21-0 partway through the second, and you win in regulation, running the clock out.  

Let me just say...when the alma mater plays after we beat UT...not a dry eye moment for me.  Screw them.

Here's what's so interesting about football.  Stats don't always tell the story.  You can make big plays and change the story.  Also, you can fail to turn yards into points.  It's part of what makes it so compelling.  Any individual play can have a disproportionate impact on the game.

BG was outgained 429-226.  UT had a lot more plays, but even on a per-play basis, it was 5.9 vs. 4.3.

After the first quarter?  258-221.  In the second half...UT 121, BG 124. Including a 23-yard loss on the last play.

Here's the thing. UT had a chance to put BG away and didn't do it.  And a combination of their own ennui and BG playing really tough defense, especially up front, kept BG in the game, and then BG made the plays in the last 8 minutes, and made them count, while UT made mistake after mistake.  

I believe Anderson played a heroic game.  Yeah, he was 9 of 16, 92 yards, 1 INT, 1 TD, and 32 yards rushing. This was a really tough assignment, and it started poorly.  But it didn't spiral, and he made a couple big throws, two of them leading to the Harris TD...and if he didn't win it, he made sure he didn't lose it. PFF graded him at 53. All on a team that did not run the ball effectively at all.

Did the OL dominate? Maybe not, but Anderson wasn't sacked, either.  Pass blocking graded at 90, our highest grade at anything this year.

The defense graded 72, their best FBS game of the year. Tackling at 83...pass rush at 77.

Gideon Lampron....are you kidding me?  13 tackles, 3.5 TFL.  Player of the week numbers. Cannon...7 tackles and a butt-pick.

McClendon, 6 tackles, 2 PBU and not taking any crap.  Pascal 6 tackles and forced a fumble.

Andrew Hines, 6 tackles and a TFL.  (He's a Wake Forest transfer.)  Marshall 2 PBU.  And...Thomison, 2 tackles, and a recovery, both of them HUGE.  You get the idea.

Last thing.  UT had 13 penalties.  With the tone of a husband who didn't take the trash out, Candle said, "I suppose that's my fault."  Note:  UT leads the MAC in penalties. And have been 10th or worse the last 3 years.

Briggs again:

The Rockets beat two Power Four teams last year, then kept every starter with eligibility remaining and added 15 transfers. The preseason Mid-American Conference favorites were double-digit favorites Saturday and looked primed to pour it on. They outgained the hosts 429-226.

The Falcons, meanwhile, have 50 new players and a staff assembled in March. They were starting a backup quarterback with five career completions and trailed 21-0 late in the first half.

And yet, the second team beat the first team.  It's a competition.  And we're better.  It's a better football team and a better university.  Talk a walk, Rockets.

Victory!!

 

Rocket Preview

Here we go!  It's rivalry week.  The game is sold out.  It will be a great fall day in a great rivalry, a day to be savored and enjoyed.

It wouldn't be any fun being a BG fan if we didn't have UT to hate.

OK, the numbers are below.  A few points.

On first glance, they are lopsided.  UT is a 10.5-point favorite. The stats are a little misleading...according to the ESPN Football Power Index, UT has played the #122 ranked schedule (out of 137), and BG has played the #56 schedule.  Certainly playing a schedule like UT has will help you inflate your numbers.

Having said that, UT is a very strong MAC team with only one apparent weakness.  They have a strong offense and play really good defense.  They have solid special teams.  You get the idea.

Their apparent weakness is that they don't always show up to play in games they are favored to win.  In the last three years, they have lost 8 games they were favored to win....lost outright.  They were a double digit favorite over BG last year, also, in 2022, and a 25.5 point favorite and lost all three times. 

So, it's a rivalry game.  Throw out the book.  The last four games have been won by the road team in this series, which has finally become competitive after almost a decade of laughers favoring the Rockets.

Past and Future Opponent Land

 Lafayette (4-2) Beat Fordham

Cincinnati (4-1) Beat #14 Iowa State

Liberty (1-4) Idle

Louisville (4-1) Lost to VA in OT.

OU: (3-3) It was pure MACTION this week.  Ball State scored on a 45-yard pass in the last minute to win.

UT: (3-2)  Idle

CMU (3-3) Lost to Akron

Kent (1-4)  Lost to Oklahoma

UB (3-3) Beat EMU in OT

EMU (1-5) Lost to UB in OT in the most EMU way ever

UA (2-4) Surprised CMU

UMass:  (0-5) Lost to WMU

MAC vs FCS: 11-2

MAC vs P4: 1-23

MAC vs.G5 4-10

MBB Lands Verbal Commit

The East Lansing connection has hit again for BG, as the MBB team picked up a commit from KJ Torbert, a 6'4" G known for being a three-level scorer and having a high basketball IQ.

The link to MSU is Kelvin Torbert, who was a Mr. Basketball in Michigan, McDonald's All-American, and third-team All-Big Ten performer...and KJ's Dad. Obviously, BG's Associate Head Coach Tum Tum Nairn is a noted Spartan as well.

KJ is from Lansing and led East Lansing to a Division I state title last season. He was named to the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan's Best of Best team and a Michigan Sports Writers Division 1 all-state selection after averaging 21 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals during a 2024-25 season where he surpassed 1,000 career points.

Here's what his HS Coach had to say...

(Bowling Green is) getting an ultimate warrior. This guy works super hard. He's a gym rat. He's going to compete every single day in the gym and he hates losing. They're going to love having him.

The finalists were BG, Oakland and WMU (also an MSU connection).  He also had offers from CMU, UDM, EMU, Old Dominion and UT.

Welcomes to the Falcons, KJ.