Gators: A closer look

Having had some time to think following the end of the game, and also to look at the stats sheets, here are some additional thoughts for the game.

Bowling Green made 22 first downs in the game.  That's a relatively impressive number playing against a defense that is as good as the Florida defense, which is probably one of the top 10 in the country.

BG did have 3 4th down conversions.  In fact, on 3 and 4 down conversions, BG was 7 of 17.

Florida only made 14 first downs which is also pretty low for a game you won.  I think that penalties really hurt them.  They were OK on third and fourth down--6 of 18--so that wasn't it.

Consistent with those two numbers above, BG ran a lot more plays than Florida did.  The Falcons ran 79 plays and Florida only ran 63.

Which leads us to a part of the stat sheet that could be misleading.  In terms of total yards, the game was relatively close:  Florida had 365 and BG 327. However, when you factor in yards per play, Florida had a significant advantage:  5.8 to BG's 4.1.

As for rush defense, John Wagner pointed this out:

Saturday, BG allowed Florida to gain 243 yards on 46 attempts, but that number comes with an asterisk. The Gators had 125 yards on 15 rushes in the second quarter. In the other three quarters, they managed just 95 yards on 27 attempts.

BG had some moments where it ran the ball well, but ended up with 3.7 yards per carry.  Samuel had only 3 yards per carry (and a dumb penalty) and Pettigrew averaged 4.8 yards per carry.  Both had a TD.

The Pettigrew TD was the kind of play Coach Clawson has been talking about since last year.  We needed to be able to power the ball into the end zone.  He was stopped, kept his legs moving, kept churning and was still on his feet, which allowed Chris Pohlman to essentially carry him the last yard into the end zone.  Point is...we haven't had someone who could do that in a long time.  Clawson gave him a big hug on the sideline.

We passed 52 times and only ran it 27 times.  I'd expect a different ratio next Saturday.

Speaking of passing, BG had 226 passing yards for the game, which is not a lot to show for 52 attempts.  BG was 25 of 52 for 48%, which is part of it.  The other part was we had to run really short routes to try and negate the Florida pass rush.  The longest pass play was 22 yards, though we did do it twice.

BG averaged 4.3 yards per pass play and that's against last year's MAC average of 6.5.

Coach said that Schilz played a smart game.  To that point, he was not sacked once and threw just the one pick that probably wasn't his fault.

The leading receiver was Ryan Burbrink, who had 8 catches.  He is being compared to a Cole Magner type receiver, and he seemed to play that role.  He is a freshman and a walk on.

We will look at special teams in a day or two, but in general, they were not good.  The punting game was up and down, FG kicking is something we have discussed and we fumbled or muffed a punt late in the game.

In general, the stats are little more one-sided than I thought I would see.

Clawson Post-game Presser: "Knives to the Gut"

Just finished listening to Coach Clawson's presser from last night.

He said he was proud of the team.  He was pleased with the energy level, that we played with energy for the full 60 minutes, we competed physically and he was pleased with how we played.

However, there are no moral victories.  The team fought hard but it has to win and we made too many mistakes in the 4th Quarter for that to happen.

Specifically, the thought on the INT in the 4th that it was a well thrown ball that should have been caught by Joplin.

A little frustration showed through when a Florida reporter asked:  "Is that unusual for Stein to miss those FGs."

"You don't follow our team too closely, do you?" was Clawson's response.

When you go on a long drive, he said, and you get to chip shot FGs, and you don't make them, it is just "knives to the gut."  He notes that with the FG and our TD in the 3rd, we'd have been ahead, and who knows how Florida might have played differently under those circumstances.

Had we gotten another FG attempt, Tyler Tate would have taken it.  "Runners gotta run, lineman gotta block and kickers gotta kick," he said.  I would expect Tate to kick against Idaho.

There was no thought of going for it on that last play of the first half.  He says the strategy is to keep the game going and try to have a chance to win when the 4th starts.

(My note:  Clawson is a FG guy.  Under similar circumstances, I can remember Meyer and Brandon both basically saying, "forget it, we're done with FGs.")

The fake punt was a called play.  We went down there to win, and we wanted to do it aggressively.

He thought Matt Schilz played a "smart" game.  He threw the ball away as necessary and made some nice tight throws.  Florida has a very good defense and he had to take care of the football, which Clawson felt he did.

We tried to move the pocket a lot to free him up from the rush.

He was pleased with the way the receivers performed.  He noted even with the drops, Joplin also made some plays in tight space.  He thinks they are going to improve.

We now have to bring this energy level 11 more times.  He noted:  it is one thing to be jacked up to play in The Swamp.  You have to bring it every week for Bowling Green.

The team had no significant injuries.

Defeat In the Swamp. Initial Thoughts

So, the first game of the season is over.  I'm sure there will be a lot more to say, but here are some initial thoughts.

First, having had an hour or so, I am pleased with our effort on balance.  I thought we played physically with Florida pretty well, didn't get pushed around and did a pretty fair job defending the run.  I thought we ran the ball well in spots.

I thought the o-line played well.

Schilz was good, I thought.  There was a 2nd Q cold streak, but our WRs were just not winning any battles and were typically tightly covered.  He seemed bigger and more in command than he was last year.  He just seemed different.

Samuel, Martin and Pettigrew each ran well, I thought.

So, again, on balance, I think it was a promising performance.

Two things could stand some work.

First, we were worried about the WR play coming in and I'd say that was reasonable.  It was OK in spots (maybe for most of the game).  There was a period in the 2Q when they were unable to get separation and then there was a period where Shaun Joplin made a few drops, one of a play where he was alone in the middle of the field and another that led to a back breaking INT.

Second, special teams were pretty sorrowful.  Fans will focus, rightly, on the two missed FGs, each of which came at a critical time for the team.  They were both short and make-able.  It is incredibly frustrating that this team cannot make FGs and as the problem persists year after year it starts to reflect the program's leadership and not the players.

Beyond that, there was one poor punt, one big punt return that resulted in a poor net, and a fumbled punt.

Most of all, the game came down to BG doing what has been typical for many years with the program. which is to play well on most of the plays and then not get the job done when it matters most.  You look at 4 plays---the two missed FGs, the INT, and a Truss missed tackle on the big Florida TD pass, and you can account for most of the difference in the game.

I contrast that with the Ohio-Penn State game, where the Bobcats made the plays they needed throughout the 4Q to close out the Nittany Lions.  No, Penn State is not Florida, but Ohio U showed last year at the Doyt that they can make the plays to win the game, and I guess I feel like our team has fallen short of that too much.

Now, this was a very tough assignment and it was on the road.  It is just the Florida opened the door by making a lot of mistakes and the Falcons didn't walk through it.

In the end, of course, it doesn't matter.  The MAC games matter.  I think there was plenty to suggest today that BG is going to be ready for that competition, if they can figure out how to make the key plays when they count--as winning teams do.

This should get Falcon hearts beating!!!

Hey Falcon Fans....

When you get here, stop.  You made it.

Remember: We are Falcons!!

Game Day!!!

It has been 110 days since the Falcon's Men's Basketball Team walked off the floor after losing to the Oakland Grizzlies to end their season.  Now, the game begins again

I'm excited.  I'm always excited.  This is something that makes me very happy and I am looking forward to the season.  I am also optimistic about our team and looking forward to a return to the success we grew used to for a few years.

This team still has question marks--WR, the O-line and the kickers, most notably.  But, the team is clearly moving in the correct direction and I have already picked an 8-4 season.

Anyway, that's all speculation and starting to day it turns into actual facts.  Game day is the best....Go Falcons.