Benchmark Report, Redhawk Editon

A few interesting notes on this report...some of the numbers just jump out at you.

First, between the INTs and the six sacks, Miami had negative outcomes on 17% of their pass plays, well more than double the normal percentage.  Almost 1 in 5 times they dropped back to pass something bad happened.

BG's passing offense was very efficient.  When you complete that high a percentage with above average yards per attempt and reception, you are being very effective with the passing game and getting some nice yardage, even if you might not have eye-popping numbers.

Speaking of efficient, BG needed only 13 yards to get a point, which is better than average and indicative of a team making the most of its opportunities--even as BG continued to struggle in the red zone.

With the sack out, BG got 6 yards per rush.

Even better, BG made a first down on almost 2 of every 5 plays it ran.  That's pretty dang good.

BG ran the ball 61% of the time.  That is similar to the percent for the Akron game....look for it to be in this range moving forward.  It is a blinding statement of the obvious to say that BG will be difficult to beat with these numbers in any game.

Jones MAC East Defensive POW, as it should be

Chris "War Daddy" Jones had a big day out there Saturday and he was named the MAC East Defensive POW, as it should be.  See below for the MAC write up.  He also leads the NCAA in sacks with 9, though the official stat is sacks per game and there are a handful of guys ahead of him on that.  Anyway, he's having a huge year, and it is tough to state how difficult it is to do this from the inside of the line and facing the double teams he has to be facing.  He's just a great football player.

Defensive Player of the Week: Bowling Green DT Chris Jones

Senior defensive tackle Chris Jones (Brownsville, Ind.) had five tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks in the Falcons’ 37-12 win over Miami, the Falcons first win over the RedHawks at home since 1997. Miami entered Saturday’s contest averaging 24.8 points and 394.5 yards per game, but were limited to just 12 points (1 TD) and 256 total yards. Jones and the defense also held the RedHawks to just three yards rushing on 20 carries.

How the other side sees it...

A couple interesting points from the Cincinnati Enquirer story about the BG-Miami game...

First, they lead with the fact that Miami was "banged up."  Their starting RB (Jamire Westbrook) and WR (Dawon Scott) did not play because they were injured and not able to go.  Certainly, that could have impacted what they were doing....and I guess I didn't mention it in my review.

On the other hand, the Enquirer fails to mention that Dwayne Woods and Alex Bayer were injured for the game as well.  Anyway, injuries happen and you have to be able to get other guys to fill in the holes.

The second interesting note was that Miami made some switches on their o-line due to competition in practice (sound familiar?).  The result was, in their coach's words, "there were some miscues."

Anyway, always interesting to see how the other side views things....

Blog Poll Draft Ballot...

Hit the comments if you think you can do better...

Falcon Blog Ballot - Week 7

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
2	Florida Gators	2
3	Oregon Ducks	--
4	Kansas St. Wildcats	2
5	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	7
6	LSU Tigers	2
7	Oregon St. Beavers	10
8	Ohio St. Buckeyes	-1
9	South Carolina Gamecocks	-7
10	Georgia Bulldogs	-1
11	Oklahoma Sooners	2
12	Texas Tech Red Raiders	10
13	Florida St. Seminoles	-3
14	Louisville Cardinals	1
15	Cincinnati Bearcats	1
16	West Virginia Mountaineers	-11
17	Clemson Tigers	-3
18	Mississippi St. Bulldogs	1
19	Rutgers Scarlet Knights	5
20	Texas A&M Aggies	--
21	TCU Horned Frogs	--
22	USC Trojans	-1
23	Michigan Wolverines	--
24	Ohio Bobcats	-1
25	Texas Longhorns	-14
Dropouts: Iowa St. Cyclones, Stanford Cardinal, Louisiana Tech Bulldogs

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

Former and Past Opponent Land...

Florida: (6-0) Beat Vanderbilt.  Now a Top 5 team.
Idaho (1-6) Lost 38-7 to Texas State
Toledo (6-1) Beat EMU
Virginia Tech (4-3)  Rallied to beat Duke
Rhode Island (0-6) Lost 41-7 to Georgia State.
Akron (1-6) Lost @OU
UMass (0-6) Idle.
EMU (0-6)  Lost to UT in offensive shootout.
OU (7-0) Beat Akron---another close game.
Kent (5-1) Won @Army
Buffalo (1-5) Destroyed by NIU.

2012 MAC vs:

All out of conference: 22-24
All FBS: 12-23
All FCS: 10-1
All BCS: 6-19

Un-Whammy: The Offense

So, while I think that the defense is the driving factor in our success, our offense has, over the last six quarters, begun to find a rhythm and move the chains.  And in terms of improvement, there is no question that the offense has showed the sharpest difference from the earlier and darker days of the season.

And who would have ever thought that BG's offensive identity would be to establish the run.  In my 25 questions post, I wondered if BG could get the run going and then use play action to make the whole thing easier for Schilz--to get him in positions where he can excel because he was struggling when he had to carry the offense all on his own.  And, perhaps a little success will improve confidence and get a little flywheel going that way.

Establish the run they did.  BG ran the ball on 44 plays and passed on only 27 plays, and that's a ratio we haven't seen for a while.

It worked.  BG had 251 yards to show for its 44 carries, a very healthy 5.7 yards per carry.  Samuel had a huge, huge game with 171 yards on 22 carries and Pettigrew had 55 yards on 10 carries.  Martin contributed 27 yards as well and Givens had 3 carries.

Meanwhile, Schilz was 20 of 27 for 235 yards, placing him ahead of Dysert in completions and yards.   He threw one pic put also had 2 TDs and was only sacked once.

In other words, it really seems like by getting the run going, the passing lanes did open up for Schilz and he was very effective in that role on Saturday.

Credit, as well, to the offensive line.  To the extent there were nerves about the line in some earlier games, this is the second week in a row that they have just pushed around an opponent and that's great to see.  We were lost without something that works, and thanks to the line and our backs, we seemed to find something we can win with.

The ball was spread around a little bit among the WRs...Burbrink has a streak of catches in the second half and Chris Gallon had a huge catch for a TD that forced Miami to stay in a throwing attack.  Joplin had 3 grabs and even Stokes made a big catch late.

In total, 27 first downs and 6.8 yards per play, both outstanding efforts for our team.  As futile as the offense seemed to be early on, this is something that is working.

One last note on the offense.  From the Blade's columns, Jermal Hosley, the true FR WR who had started to get some time is out for the year with a knee injury.  He can get a medical redshirt.  And, perhaps more concerning is that Alex Bayer left the game in the first half and did not return.  There is no word on his injury--he was just starting to get integrated into the offense, and while we have some depth at TE, he would be missed.

Un-Whammy: The Defense

As mentioned, I was not at the game yesterday, so I'll be just looking at it from the box score and the comments I have heard and what Coach said on the post-game.

I think it is clear that the defense keyed the victory.  That's a great sign.  It has been a long, long time since this team had a defensive identity...but the defense has shut down very good offenses two weeks in a row (note Akron scored 28 @OU) and is near the top of the MAC in a number of defensive categories.

Further, in addition to the injuries on the d-line, the Falcons played without their best linebacker, Dwayne Woods, who has a back injury.  BG was able to adjust by depth, move Paul Swan into the middle and put DJ Lynch on the outside...Lynch has been getting a lot of snaps, so he was ready to go and Swan tied for the team lead with 8 tackles.

Anyway, Miami was controlled for the game.  A few notes:

The Redhawks have been averaging 394 yards per game and 22 first downs.  BG held them to 256 an 14.

Dysert came in pretty much unstoppable.  He completed only 53% of his passes (10% below his average) and only 198 yards on 17 of 31. 

BG's defense had the big plays they needed, getting six sacks, four of Dysert.  There were also 5 hurries.

Chris Jones had 2.5 sacks and 3.5 TFL...I'd like to think that is a Player of the Week performance.

BG kept Dysert in the pocket, perhaps their biggest accomplishment of the game.  Dysert had zero positive rushing yards--I don't mean net, I mean he didn't gain positive yards even once.

Also, BG made 2 INTs, one by Jude Adeji-Barimah and one by Boo Boo---and that one was a back breaking pick six.

Without sacks, Miami tried only 14 running plays in the game.  Their leader rusher had 5 carries.

Miami was 4 of 14 on 3rd down.

Just, in general, a complete shut down of what appeared to be  really good offensive unit, and without their second best player.  If this type of defensive performance can continue, our team gets very difficult to beat.  It is starting with strong play up front, but I do believe that the entire unit is producing at a high level.

More on the offense later.