Clawson Presser--Defending the Spread

Coach Clawson did his presser Wednesday...not a ton of news was made.  He talked a lot about Akron, which, as we and others have noted, is a different kettle of fish from the one we expected.  That team, even at 1-4, is much, much improved.  They play a spread offense, short passes and if you get out of the box to deal with that, it opens up running lanes in the middle.  We have to tackle and play well in space to stop them.

Akron is also playing at a high energy level.

And...they play an aggressive defense, with a blitzing pass rush along with tight, press man to man coverage.  Which will put a premium on BGs ability to get WRs open against press coverage and make accurate passes.

Yeah, I know what you mean.  I feel the same way.  This one has trouble written all over it.

Coach said the offense had to keep up, do what it had to to win, but that "we haven't scored like that this year."  When asked what Miami did that we could copy, he said we could have "our QB throw for 500 yards and rush for 100 yards."

Heh.

He also, just for irony's sake, went on to describe in perfect detail how difficult the spread is to defend.  He said something like "they spread you out to the numbers and then that opens all kinds of lanes up."  Honestly, he went on extensively about how effective the spread is.

To which I thought, gee, I wonder if we ever played that kind of offense?  Did we have any success?  How often were we shut out?

But that's just the dark side talking.  I guess I still believe our team is better than they have shown.  Akron may be much improved, but four years into this program, this should be a game we can go over and win.  He says the players are focused.  Akron is going to be incredibly hungry Saturday....

These aren't the Zips we were looking for

Quick note....

This has turned into a pretty big game.  At the beginning of the season, we were looking at playing a team that is 6-35 over its last 41 games....and a team that, despite the arrival of a rock star head coach, was still expected to be pretty bad.  When we talked about the early season games and how tough they were, the unspoken promise was this game.

And yeah, I know, they are 1-4.  They lost to FIU, etc.  On other other hand, they played Tennessee very tough on the road and darn near beat Miami (a game played in Akron, BTW).

They hung 629 yards on Miami.  They are 5th in the nation in passing yards per game.  They are 24th in total offense and 25th in scoring.

They are, on the other hand, 114th in scoring defense.  Every D-1 team they have played has scored at least 40 on them.

But it took Zac Dysert having a career day for the Red Hawks to pull the game out on Saturday.

Here's your nightmare scenario.  Akron is moving the ball all over the place and running points up.  At which point, does our offense have the giddy-up to match that, even against a poor Akron defense?

Can our defense stop them?  I'd like to think so, but we have been soft against the pass.

Can our offense score points in bushels?  If we can, we haven't seen it yet.

Or--alternatively--can we take advantage of their 96th ranked rushing defense, move the ball on the ground, keep their offense off the field and win the game that way.  (Who would have thought we would ever write those words?)

Either way, this isn't the game we thought it was.  And, with BG 0-1 in the conference and 2-3 overall, this is a game you pretty much have to win.  Yeah, you're not out of it if you don't win, but you essentially have to run the table for any shot at a division crown and you only have one more loss to give before the best you can do is a 6-6 year and probably no bowl game.

Which isn't what the expectations were.

I'm pretty nervous about this one.  There will be more analysis coming, but it just seems like a bad match up for us.  Maybe we're better than we have looked in our last two FBS games but there is no place to hide in the conference schedule.  These are teams you are supposed to be able to beat.

The Blog Poll is ON THE AIR!!

Results for Week 5

#	School	Points/blog	SD	Delta
1	Alabama Crimson Tide (76)	24.81	0.68	--
2	Oregon Ducks (3)	23.24	1.84	--
3	Florida St. Seminoles (1)	22.01	2.82	--
4	LSU Tigers	20.62	2.84	--
5	Georgia Bulldogs (1)	20.55	2.22	--
6	Kansas St. Wildcats (2)	19.21	2.68	--
7	South Carolina Gamecocks	18.79	2.14	--
8	West Virginia Mountaineers	17.79	3.23	2
9	Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1)	16.79	3.00	--
10	Texas Longhorns	15.71	2.79	2
11	Florida Gators	15.55	3.28	--
12	Ohio St. Buckeyes	12.75	4.12	2
13	Oregon St. Beavers (1)	10.72	4.68	6
14	USC Trojans	9.99	5.30	-1
15	TCU Horned Frogs	9.89	4.45	--
16	Clemson Tigers	9.68	4.62	--
17	Oklahoma Sooners	8.13	4.77	--
18	Stanford Cardinal	7.55	4.29	-10
19	Louisville Cardinals	7.46	3.56	-1
20	Northwestern Wildcats	5.07	4.25	2
21	Mississippi St. Bulldogs	4.74	3.76	--
22	Nebraska Cornhuskers	4.24	3.11	2
23	Rutgers Scarlet Knights	3.01	2.93	--
24	UCLA Bruins	2.60	3.63	4
25	Ohio Bobcats	2.11	3.47	--
Others Receiving Votes: Cincinnati Bearcats | Texas Tech Red Raiders | Washington Huskies | Louisiana Tech Bulldogs | Texas A&M Aggies | Michigan Wolverines | Boise St. Broncos | Baylor Bears | Arizona St. Sun Devils | Michigan St. Spartans | Miami Hurricanes | Oklahoma St. Cowboys | Iowa St. Cyclones | Virginia Tech Hokies | Western Kentucky Hilltoppers | Tennessee Volunteers | Middle Tenn. St. Blue Raiders | Utah State Aggies | Purdue Boilermakers | Troy Trojans | Washington St. Cougars | Ball St. Cardinals | Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners | Tulsa Golden Hurricane | Nevada Wolf Pack | Duke Blue Devils
Updated: Oct 2, 2012 9:01 AM EDT

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Rankings 2011

ICSTR Rhode Island Style

As we wrap up the Rhode Island game, we have the one area of the game where Rhode Island actually beat Bowling Green, and that was special teams.  BG managed to end up in non-positive territory (0 or below) for the 4th time in five games this year.  That was made even more difficult by the fact that BG had a TD on special teams, which would normally all but guarantee a good score.  After that Gates run, the drumbeat was pretty negative after that--there were only 3 more positive plays for the remainder of the game.  The Falcons finished at 0.

It isn't some great secret.  BG is really struggling on specials teams.  Placekicking is a well-known issue and the punting has been inconsistent as well.

BG Positive plays (+11)

Gates PR TD (+6)
BG KO return to 35
BG KO Touchback
BG Stops fake FG (+3)

BG Negative plays (-11)

Missed XP (-2)
Fumbled punt (-3)
BG 15 yard punt
BG gives up 2xp (-2)
BG 20 yard net punt
RI KO return to own 46
BG KO return to 10

Rhode Island, for their part ended up +3.

RI Positive Plays (+14)

Punt to BG 19
Recover fumble on PR (+3)
Punt to BG 10
51 yard punt to BG 17 (+2)
Made 2xp (+2)
Punt to BG 8 (+2)
PR to force BG 20 yard net
KO Return to own 46
BG KO return to 10

RI Negative Plays (-11)

BG PR for TD (-6)
BG KO return to 35
Missed fake FG (-3)
22 yard net punt on penalty

Non-AQ Blog Poll

We participated in a blogpoll of the top non-AQ teams in college football published on College Football Outpost.  This was the first week...anyway, here are the overall results.

1. Louisiana Tech (9) 117 votes
2. Ohio (1) 83 votes
3. Boise State (1) 82 votes
4. Nevada 71 votes
5. Utah State 56 votes
6. Western Kentucky 44 votes
7. Toledo 42 votes
8. Brigham Young (1) 33 votes
9. Tulsa 28 votes
10. Louisiana-Monroe 27 vote

And here, for whatever it is worth, is how I voted.  I didn't think about Brigham Young being non AQ though I guess they are.

1. Ohio
2. LA Tech
3. Utah St
4. Boise
5. Toledo
6. San Jose
7. Nevada
8. Tulsa
9. Middle TN
10. UTSA

Benchmark Report, Rhode Island

Mostly doing this out of devotion.....it is what it is...you win 48-8, you get these kind of numbers on both sides.  BG got a first down on 41% of its plays, that's pretty good.  Anyway, other than that, you get this kind of thing in a game like that.

Men's Basketball Verbal! JD Tisdale to BG

Big news for the Falcon faithful, JD Tisdale of Swartz Creek, MI has committed to BG (during a visit on Saturday).

Tisdale has been the subject of a strong recruiting battle, particularly by WMU among 5 other offers.  He was set to announce his decision a few weeks ago but postponed it, reportedly due to Big 10 interest.  He's been a swingman, but is reportedly looking to play PG for his senior year in HS.  I don't have any idea where he might play at BG, but an athletic 6'5" guy is the kind of length we are looking to get.

This is from the mlive.com story on his commitment.

He averaged 13 points, nine rebounds, and five assists per game while making The Flint Journal’s All-Area Second Team in the 2011-12 season. This year the 6-foot-5 swingman would like to transition to the point guard spot under Dragons new head coach Scottie Wright.

Welcome to the Falcons, JD.  I know people are anxious about our men's basketball program, but winning a recruiting battle like this does help to give us a little confidence.  Nothing is sure until they play, but it looks to me like this guy will be a good MAC player.