25 questions that brick

Not in this picture: Montgomery, Haywood, Treadwell.

What is their body of work?

Hard for it to be worse.  They are 0-8.  Coach fired mid-season.  Proud program hitting harder times every day.  This is an awful year for the RedHawks.

How many seniors and juniors on the two-deep?

17.  Very young team.

Who are their statistical leaders?

Their punter, Zac Murphy, leads the nation in punting.

What is their turnover ratio?

They might be the only 0-8 team in the history of football with a +5 TO differential.

Offense:

How is their QB Play?

Well, they had Austin Boucher, the guy who jumped in for Dysert and won the fog game at the Doyt.  He is injured and out for the season.  They were last in offense with him.  They have Gearing, who is a running QB and their leading rusher, in fact.  He has thrown only 10 passes.  And then there is Drew Kummer (steady solider), a r-so who has 6 career passing attempts.

What is their scoring and yards per play?

They are averaging 10.9 PPG which is the worst in the FBS.  Their 3.7 yards per play is worst in the MAC and the next worst is 4.4.

Can they run the ball?

No, not really.  At 90 some yards a game and 2.6 yards per carry, they are at the bottom of the MAC.  Now, as we will see below, they have given up 189 sacks yards, so it is not as bad as that might imply.

Do they pass the ball?

Last in the MAC in passing efficiency.  One of two teams in MAC completing less than 50% of their passes, 7 TD over 8 INT.  Also last in passing yards per game.  (This was with Boucher).

How is their run/pass balance?

They run on 59% of their plays, which is very high.

Do they convert on 3rd Down?

At 23%, only one team in the FBS is worse.

Do they score in the red zone?

With 14 red zone trips on the year, they have scored only 8 times.  All of them are TDs, so 4 points per trip, which is low.

It all started with such optimism.

Do they protect the quarterback?

They have given up 30 sacks so far this year, worst in the MAC.

Look.  This is among the worst teams on offense we have seen in the MAC in a long time.  Even with Martin down, BG's defense has got to lock onto these guys.  This should not take until the 3rd Q to adjust to.  With a hungry team after the UT game, I'd like to think this one is ripe for the picking.

Defense:

Topline: Scoring and yards per play.

Their defense is clearly better than their offense.  They are 9th in the MAC in scoring defense and in yards per play allowed.  They give up a buttload of yards, but that's mostly because the offense can't stay on the field.

Do they defend the run effectively?

They are 7th in the MAC yards per carry allowed, and are actually ahead of BG.

Can they be passed on?

Yes  They are 11th in the MAC in pass efficiency defense.  They give up 64% completions, with 18 TD passes allowed.

Miami has a history in
national politics.  Paul Ryan?
Pshaw.  This dude was
President.

Do they get off the field on 3rd down?

No, they are 11th in the MAC with 48% conversions allowed.

Do they defend in the red zone?

They have given up 44 trips, which means their opponents have made 30 more trips to the red zone than they have.  Stop and think about that for a second.  4.5 points per trip is pretty good.

Do they pressure the QB?

No.  They are 12th in the MAC with 8 sacks.

Special Teams:

Punting?

As mentioned, Murphy is best in the country with 48 yards punting average.  However, there are a conference high 8 touchbacks in there and a conference-worst 6.3 yards per return, which puts net punting at 5th in the MAC.  Blocked once...and an 84 yard punt.

Punt Return?

They are good at this.  Fred McRae averages 13.2 when he gets a shot.

Placekicking?

He's 4 of 7 but he does have a 52 yarder.  He is 19 of 25 for his career and a good kicker.

Kickoff?

Teams are starting on the 25.

Kickoff Return?

OK.  They start on their own 26..

Miscellaneous: Overall atmospherics and intangibles.

Video...about 1/4 second before a Falcon
KILLS a RedHawk.

Look.  For a team that had their pride hurt against UT, this is just an opportunity that can
not be missed.  Miami is really down this year, can't move the ball and doesn't have a very good defense.  If BG is looking to remind itself what it can do, there is no better opportunity than this.

One note to old-timers.  This is as whammyable a game as there ever has been.  Miami seems to have the ability to win this kind of game against BG, in history.

It should not happen this time, though.  The Falcons simply have to deliver against this RedHawk team.

Past and Future Opponent Land

A look at how our opponents fared this weekend....remember when it seemed like our opening games were so tough.  Neither team has turned out to be too good.  Remember when Kent was ready to be a BCS Buster??

Tulsa (2-6)  Lost 34-15 to Texas San Antonio
Kent (2-8)  Lost 16-7 to Akron.  With Archer.
Indiana (3-5) Lost to Red Hot Golden Gophers
Murray State (5-4)  Lost to Tennessee-Martin
Akron (3-7) Beat rival Kent
UMass (1-8)  Loses to Jordan Lynch, NIU
Mississippi State (4-4) Lost to South Carolina
Toledo (6-3) Bludgeoned EMU.
Miami (0-8) Idle
Ohio (6-2)  Idle
EMU (1-8)  Killed by Toledo.  Have given up 50+ points the last 4 weeks. 115-36 score last 2 weeks.
Buffalo (6-2) Idle

2013 Totals:
MAC vs. FBS: 10-28
MAC vs BCS: 4-22
MAC vs FCS: 10-2

Falcons Defeat Malone

It is very difficult to tell much from exhibition games like this one.  So, we'll pick through and try and see what kind of clues we might have gotten.

First, MAC teams have lost a game like this in recent memory, and BG did not, so that's something.  CMU went into OT to beat Lake Superior, and BG won by 27, so that didn't happen either.  BG should have won this game easily and they did.

Look, lots of things happened that we would like to see.  Clarke had 10 assists over 1 turnover, Anthony Henderson shot 50%, Holmes was 6 of 7 shooting, Black was 6 of 10, BG had 5 players in double figures.

As far as these things go, we will get a good idea of where we stand when BG plays South Florida at the Stroh.  The Bulls are picked to finish 2nd to last in the AAC and the game is at home.  It will be a good chance to see whether the Falcons have more to bring to the table.

BG seemed to play a relatively normal rotation.  Clarke played 31 minutes, Henderson and Orr 29, Black 26 and Holmes 23.  Spencer Parker--a player I didn't really mention in my preview but who has shown some ability and length--played 21 minutes.

Zach Denny and Craig Sealey were both injured and DNP.

Among the new comers, all the rest played.   Tisdale went 14 minutes and had 5 rebounds and 3 turnovers.  Mayleben played 10 minutes with 3 fouls and Josh Gomez fouled out in six minutes of play.

Speaking of fouls.  The big thing for college basketball is the priority on calling the hand check.  I'm for it....I think it will do more to open up the offensive style of the game than anything else.  For example, I don't think it makes sense to lower the shot clock until you get rid of hand checking,..in fact, it might make the problem worse.

So, there were 43 fouls called in a game where no one was fouling at the end to try and get back into the game.  We'll be tracking this as things move forward.  Last year, the average MAC game had 36 fouls called.

I will say this...BG had 24 fouls called on them which seems like an awful lot against a team you are a lot better than.  In fact, it is a lot against anyone.  NIU was the worst fouling team in the MAC last year and averaging 21 fouls a game.  BG committed the lowest number of fouls in the conference last year.

I would expect us to see more or less the same thing against Earlham next Saturday, or even with a sharper difference.  Earlham is DIII, not DII and was 4-21 last season.  We will know more once we get a little farther into the schedule.

Men's Basketball, game by game

I can't pick the second tournament game since I don't know who we are playing, but I have us going 11-19 and 6-12 in the MAC.  I'd love to have something different happen but, as I noted Saturday, it is going to take some surprises to happen before BG is ready to compete at that level.  If it should happen that BG loses 20, it would be their first 20 loss season since 05-06 and the third since 85-86.  The 6-12 MAC record would be the worst since Dakich's final season at 3-13.

Comments are listed where needed.


EARLHAM    WIN

Earlham is a DIII team that was 4-21 last year.

SOUTH FLORIDA  LOSE

BG threw away this game last year in Tampa.  This year, the Bulls are not very good again but brought in a huge FR C and should beat BG.

AT WISCONSIN  LOSE

AT SAINT LOUIS  LOSE

VS PRESBYTERIAN  WIN

"Blue Hose" are picked to be last in the Big South.  They are likely to be BG's first DI win this year.

WESTERN KENTUCKY  LOSE

The Hilltoppers were 20-16 last year and bring four guys back.  They were in the tournament last year.  On our court, this one has a shot but this is an unlikely win.

AT XAVIER   LOSE

NORTH DAKOTA  WIN

The No Nicknames beat BG last year on their home floor.  They are picked to be 2nd in the Big Sky and have uber star Troy Huff.  He dropped 14 and 12 on BG last year.  I'm going to take a shot and say BG wins this one on home floor.

AT MOREHEAD STATE  LOSE

Bunch of new faces for Morehead.  I'd say that this is a road game BG could steal but I see us struggling to win on the road.

DETROIT   WIN

Detroit has a bunch of new players, has to replace Ray McCallum and also had Jason Calliste transfer at the last minute.

AT WRIGHT STATE  LOSE

BG won this one at the Stroh least year.  Wright State went on to win 20 games and could win the Horizon this year.  Tough game for BG on the road.

IPFW   WIN

Mastodons beat BG in bracket buster in Ft Wayne last year.  Frank Gaines, who popped 26 on the Falcons last year is gone and BG should win this one at home.

EASTERN MICHIGAN  WIN

This one could be close, but I will take BG on home court.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS  WIN

NIU is expected to not be very good.

CENTRAL MICHIGAN  WIN

I would think BG also wins this on home floor.

Quick note here.  The opening part of the schedule for BG is crazy easy.  Three of the worst teams in the MAC, all at BG...and Miami in game 6, also at home.  BG's last 12 games are all losable.  BG could compete with Ball State and Miami--but both those games are on the road.  Buffalo and Kent at home are not unwinnable.  But, BG could easily be an underdog for every one of there last 12 games and a 12 game losing streak to end the season is not outside the realm of possibility.

AT WESTERN MICHIGAN  LOSE

Paul and Hutcherson are both gone, but the Broncos good enough to win this in K-Zoo.

AT OHIO  LOSE

Ohio may take a step back but the Bobcats will be tough to beat at home.

MIAMI (OHIO)  WIN

Miami still in a rebuilding mode.

AT EASTERN MICHIGAN  LOSE

Eagles even the score at home.

BUFFALO  WIN

I don't know.  The media doesn't seem that high on the Bulls but they have a lot of guys back and are Witherspoon-free.  Take BG but its close.

AT TOLEDO  LOSE

The Rockets bottomed out and now are among the conference elite.

AKRON  LOSE

Akron still too strong for Falcons.

AT KENT STATE  LOSE

No chance at the MAC.

AT BALL STATE  LOSE

This one is winnable.  However, on the road, Ball State will be favorite.

TOLEDO  LOSE

See above.

AT MIAMI (OHIO)  WIN

Can BG win on the road this year?  This might be the best shot.

KENT STATE  LOSE
AT AKRON LOSE

No chance at the JAR.

OHIO LOSE
AT BUFFALO LOSE

Men's Basketball Preview

Expectations could not be lower for the BGSU men’s basketball team. I do not recall any season where there was less optimism about this program. I could go into the reasons with a long post, but I don’t think that’s necessary. You know all this. BG lost its two leading scorers on a team that struggled to score anyway. BG lost its main ball handler and the next guy up is someone who has shown a propensity for making big plays but not for consistent and efficient game management. The team lacks a proven outside scoring threat. Finally, the team is under a malaise in which most people assume that the Coach is a lame duck in his final season.

That’s ground we have been over.

So, this post is going to talk about what it would take for this team to be competitive...say, a .500 team. None of the things I list are impossible, whether they can all happen, that’s another matter.

Two things. When you evaluate someone solely on limited game minutes, you might not be seeing what you think you. You might be, but you might not. We don’t see these guys practice.

Second, these are young men. They don’t develop at the same rate. Someone can leave last season as a player of one ability and show up the next year significantly improved. I don’t think it is that common, but it can happen.

So, here is what BG needs to be able to compete this year...in my view, in order of importance.

1. BG has to replace Calhoun’s paint scoring.

BG had enough struggles scoring from the outside against defenses packed in on Calhoun. If they don’t have to pack in, things are going to be tough. For that to happen, two people need to produce. The first, obviously, is Richaun Holmes. He was a good player in a supporting role last year and shows good ability to score around the rim. The question is when defenses are focusing on him like they did on Calhoun, will he be able to get shots off. He is not as physically imposing as Calhoun--at least the last time we saw him--so this will become the key challenge. In a related challenge...Calhoun shot 78% from the line last year and Holmes shot 62%. Richaun will either need to improve that or find himself spending a lot of days at the line.

The other thing is Cam Black. Cam Black reminds me of Josh Almanson in a way...has ability just doesn’t seem to be able to produce on a consistent basis. Black is a well-established good defender and has shown a soft touch around the rim. This is his senior year. For BG to compete, he will need to be as productive as the hints we have seen...which Almanson certainly did in his senior year.

2. BG needs reliable point guard play

Regardless of where you were on Crawford, he took and made shots when no one else seemed to be willing to. BG relied on him a lot. The question is, can Jehvon Clarke fill that role? You’d have to guess he wasn’t that close last year, given the 12 minutes a game he averaged. He has made some show-stopping moves to the basket, that cannot be denied. However, adjusted to playing time, his turnovers per minutes played is higher than Crawford’s and his assists per minutes are lower and he shot 32% last year. Now, those are sparse minutes and maybe he has improved. My only point is that we haven’t seen it yet and he’s going to need to develop in order to provide BG the PG play it needs. He has the potential to create his own shots and his size isn’t a liability, so there are upsides.

3. BG needs someone who can make shots from the outside.

As mentioned, even with defenses gang tackling Calhoun, BG’s perimeter shooting was poor. With BG’s offensive mix (294th in D1 in 3FGM and 303rd in percentage of points scored on threes), BG needs just brilliant inside shooting to succeed. Noting question marks above, BG is going to have to get some outside shooting. Chauncey Orr shot reliably at times, but the two most likely returning players--Clarke and Anthony Henderson--shot 30% and 27% respectively from beyond the arc. If BG is going to exceed expectations, someone will need to emerge as an outside threat, and it could be one of the freshman, too.

4. BG needs to at least play defense at least year’s level

Last year in MAC games, BG was 2nd in points per possession allowed and 4th in points allowed overall. With the loss of Calhoun, Crawford and Kraus, BG is going to need to play as solid defense as it did last year. Anything less and the bar just gets higher.

A few other things. I haven’t mentioned Craig Sealey and Spencer Parker, both of whom showed flashes of ability but have not gotten the opportunity to make a significant contribution. And, for being where we are, I think we have good freshman coming in. It can be tough for freshmen to make a big impact, but it does happen.

That’s how I see it. BG’s last single digit win season was Dakich’s 2nd to last year and before that you have to go back to Weinert’s last year. It is not out of the realm of possibility for this season. To get to where the team was last year, at least some of those things have to happen. BG is further hampered by playing the East division and playing Toledo twice. The East is not as good as it has been but most of the good teams are still in the East.

Nothing would make me happier than to have this all be overly pessimistic, so let’s move forward in that spirit.

MAC Blogger Roundtable Compiled

The MAC Blogger Roundtable has been compiled....this week it is at Let's Go Rockets.  You can head over the check out the collected wisdom of the MAC Blogosphere.

Clawson Presser

So Coach Clawson has his presser this week.  We watched it so you don't have to.  Piling through the stuff that was mostly about the team's emotional state and (this is the best part) yet another recitation of how the team makes Monday's into Fridays, etc, for weekday games...piling through that, now we have

He talked about Miami a little.  The point is, we need every game now to get where we want to go.  Miami may be winless, but we have to be focused on winning the game.  Boucher is injured and out for the year, and they have 2 QBs...one is a passer and one is a rusher--their leading rusher.  That creates some uncertainty.

Their attack under their interim coach has become more traditional, though they are running some options still.

Coach was asked if they considered moving Boo Boo back to Rover, with Martin injured.  Coach said that BG is already thin at S, so it doesn't really work.  Also, high safety is a hard position to learn, whereas Rover is relatively simple.

He talked about a couple of our young guys...

He says that Brian Sutton has "quietly become a very good player for us."  He is backing up at Rover and has also been a very good special teams player.  He's a good one.

Boo at Rover?  No....too thin at Safety

Rover one of the easiest positions to learn in BG's defense

He also said that true FR Isaiah Gourdine has been getting rover reps.  He's one of the few freshmen BG has not red-shirted.  He is a very solid player.  Coach can't see where he will eventually play...if he gets up to 230, for example, he might be able to play LB.