Temple Beats Miami

Maybe a little lift for our guys, looked at right.

On one hand, it means Miami now has to win out to beat us--if we win out. It also points out that our win over Temple (who has beaten Miami and Akron in consecutive weeks) may have meant more than we thought it did at the time.

On the other hand, Miami can't move the ball against Temple at all....or anyone else...except us. Gulp....and Minnesota?

Beat Kent.

Carle on Media Day....The Words of Orr

Jack Carle writes on the media day stuff. This ought to get your orange blood flowing...

These are excerpts from Jack Carle's article on MAC Media Day...gotta say, the words below are music to the ears of the Falcon Nation.

“They have really had to adjust because we play a totally different style from what they have done in the past under coach (Dan) Dakich,” said BG first-year head coach Louis Orr during the Mid-American Conference preseason media day Thursday at Quicken Loans Arena. “That’s not necessarily an easy adjustment … It’s just about developing an up-tempo mentality.”

While the Falcons will pick up the pace on offense, the key is defense and rebounding.
“He’s been stressing defense before offense,” Clements said. “Everybody is comfortable with it.”
“Rebounding is a big area that we have to improve,” Orr said.

And running the floor is not about being the fastest or the quickest, Orr said.
“Who doesn’t want to run?” Orr said. “Running and being good at running are sometimes two different things. Most young players want to get up and down the floor, but you just can’t be running up and down the floor and not be productive and efficient.

“You don’t want to turn the ball over and you want to get high-percentage shots,” he added. “We just want to try to get some easy baskets and not have to work for every point that we score.”

BG will also play more inside-out than outside-in as Orr hopes to develop play at the low post, in the lane and also scoring off dribble penetration.

The Falcons were picked to finish sixth in the MAC East in the preseason media voting.

“I’ve never been a head coach of a team picked to finish first. In most cases we weren’t picked to finish in the top half of the league,” Orr continued. “I don’t pay a lot of attention to it … We’re going to determine our success.

“Joe Jakubowski can be a big part because he can really push the basketball and he’s very creative in the open court,” Orr said. “He’s still a freshman, but his instincts to push and make plays in the open court are very good … He could definitely be an asset for us to play up-and-down basketball.”

Looking at the Kent Golden Flashes

If the Miami game dredged up memories of being wet and very cold, then the Kent game dredges us memories of watching us get our ass kicked. Last year's Kent game was the worst lost we ever had at the Doyt, and remains a black mark on our football history. It was simply awful.

So, this year, we were hoping to see some improvement. After last Saturday, we are no longer so sure. Let's look at the Kent State Golden Flashes, beginning with a season review.

Kent is 3-4, sure. But, they have losses to two Top 10 teams (Kentucky and Ohio State), so you gotta discount those. Let's look at each game....

@Iowa State 23 - 14 (W)

Iowa State is a bad team that lost to Toledo. Still, winning on the road in a Big XII Stadium is always something for a MAC team.

@Kentucky 20 - 56 (L)

Didn't seem like a big deal at the time, but Kentucky is in the Top 10 today.

Delaware State 38 - 7 (W)

This is a game they should have won easily and did.

@Akron * 20 - 27 (L)

Tough loss to an arch-rival. It was on the road, but gave them that first MAC East loss that puts you way behind the 8 ball.

@Ohio * 33 - 25 (W)

Nice road win against an OU team that has struggled this yea.r

Miami 20 - 13 (L)

Tough loss at home. Second loss in East virtually ends any hope of winning the East.

@Ohio State 3 - 48 (L)

Ohio State is #1. For now.

When Kent has the Ball....

I'm afraid we don't match up very well with Kent, but maybe I'm wrong.

In fact, Kent seems to play a lot like we did last year. Running QB, strong TB, and a heavily weighted run/pass mix.

Kent is led by Eugene Jarvis, the top running back in the MAC, who nearly has 1,000 yards seven games into the regular season. We have typically struggled with strong backs, and he'll get his yards Saturday. He went 18-70 last year. He is also Kent's leading receiver.

Kent's QB is the player Brandon says he really fears--Julian Edelman. Edelman is an Anthony Turner runspead QB who is averaging about 50 yards per game. Typically, we have had real trouble with QBs who run like that.

In fact, Kent is the leading rushing team in the MAC, but are last in pass efficiency. They run about 67% of the time. But, if our players don't stay in their lanes, these two guys will light us up Saturday.

They don't protect well--only one team in the MAC has given up more sacks. Perhaps worst of all, their turnover ratio is -9....a ratio that has more to do with their MAC losses than anything. Finally, they are second to last in the redzone.

When BG has the ball...

Kent's D appears to be pretty good, and they've played some tough competition. They are allowing only 5.4 per play which is pretty good, and its only 3.7 per rush, which is even better.

In fact, they're 1st in the MAC in run defense, which means we may not gain a yard rushing all day, given our success.

Against the pass its a little more deceiving....Kent is second in the MAC in Pass D, but that's based on yards. In fact, they they are in bottom half on pass D efficiency, which takes completion %, ints and TDs into effect. Opponents are completing 60% of their passes against Kent. So, if we can't run, this might be a game where we can pass, and we are going to need to if we are going to win. They do get good pressure....they are third in the MAC in sacks.

Special teams

Quick hit on special teams. They have really good KO returns, a good kicker, a lousy punter and average punt coverage. Don't count on special teams costing them the game.

Final Analysis:

We don't match up well here, I am afraid. I don't make predictions. If we are going to win we are going to have to over-achieve on Run D and then figure out how to get our passing game going, and then hopefully open up some running lanes. Also, take care of the football and force some turnovers.

After a big loss, nothing ever looks good. Another loss, and we're off the island, so I hope we can rally the troops Saturday.

Media Hoops Today

The MAC Hoops meeting was today at the Q in Cleveland. The media made its usual votes--not surprisingly, Bowling Green got the lowest vote total of any team.

We will certainly exceed those expectations, though we have to temper what we would expect.

East Division Points

1. Kent State (10) 147

2. Miami (9) 146

3. Ohio (8) 131

4. Akron (5) 128

5. Buffalo 52

6. Bowling Green 47

West Division Points

1. Western Michigan (23) 173

2. Toledo (6) 144

3. Central Michigan (3) 131

4. Eastern Michigan 92

5. Northern Illinois 58

6. Ball State 53

Falcon-Hilltopper Feud Emerging?????

Apparently, we have a little feud emerging between Coach Brandon and Coach Elson, of Western Kentucky. Check this story out from the Kentucky paper...

Elson said Western’s so-called reputation dates back to the Hilltoppers’ 41-21 loss at Bowling Green on Sept. 29. According to Elson, he received a pair of e-mails after the game from Bowling Green coach Gregg Brandon, who questioned a play in which Bowling Green defensive tackle Nick Davis tore his anterior cruciate ligament on a cut block by an unnamed Western player.

Elson said no flag was thrown on the play.

“I went to review the play, watched it with our entire staff and said, ‘What do you guys think?’ ” Elson said. “The guy was in front of him. It was a cut block. It was toward the end of the play.

“You could look at it and say maybe it was unnecessary, but when you coach your players to play to the whistle and the play is still going on and that defender still has a chance to run the play.

“I e-mailed (Brandon) back and said, ‘I prefer you not discuss this over e-mail. Let’s talk on the phone.’ He did call and we discussed it and said, ‘I didn’t think you would agree with me, but I just wanted to get a response.’

“I explained to him exactly how I saw it and that we don’t coach dirty play.”

Elson said he thought Brandon was “completely OK” with the explanation, but Brandon informed Ball State - a fellow Mid-American Conference member with Bowling Green - to be wary of the Hilltoppers.

“Apparently there’s some ill will, but when I speak with Gregg Brandon on the phone there isn’t any.”

Elson goes on to then accuse Brandon of warning Ball State Coach Brady Hoke about the Hilltopper's dirty play.

No biggie. But, I thought it was interesting to see our Coach involved in something like this.

On Coach Brandon...just sayin'

The BG News blog points us to an article in the Sporting News that says the following:

A source told me that Bowling Green coach Gregg Brandon approached athletic director Greg Christopher in the offseason about getting a contract extension. Brandon was denied. Bowling Green is 3-3 this year in Brandon's fifth season.

I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised that he asked and I'm not surprised he got turned down. With how the program looked last year, there was no reason to grant an extension. Brandon wasn't going anywhere, and there was serious doubt if we were on the right track.

I don't think, however, that it means that Brandon's days are numbered. 2008 is the last year on his contract. Based on everything in the history of the BGSU program, he is going to coach until the end of the 2008 season for our team.

My best case scenario? That we win the MAC title, and he gets a well-deserved extension prior to his "lame duck season." If not, he will go into his last season trying to earn an extension....really tough to do and hard on recruiting. It could happen--we don't lose anybody, really.

This really is a key year for the program. Let's hope we turn it around Saturday, because I thought we were back on track.

This Week's Blog

Arrrggghhhh, it pains me so. OSU #1.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	2
2	South Florida	2
3	Boston College	4
4	Oklahoma	1
5	Kentucky	10
6	LSU	5
7	South Carolina	1
8	California	6
9	Oregon	--
10	West Virginia	--
11	Southern Cal	1
12	Virginia Tech	2
13	Florida	--
14	Arizona State	2
15	Cincinnati	7
16	Missouri	5
17	Kansas	5
18	Georgia	--
19	Clemson	--
20	Penn State	6
21	Texas	5
22	Tennessee	4
23	Auburn	3
24	Texas Tech	2
25	Hawaii	1

Dropped Out: Texas A&M (#17), Florida State (#20), Illinois (#21), Wisconsin (#23), Connecticut (#25).