Football De-Commit

I decommitted no longer going to Bg
— odell spencer (@D1Spencer) November 7, 2013

So, Odell Spencer has been one of BG's highest ranked recruits so far.  As sometimes happens with the higher rated guys, he is still on the radar of bigger schools.  So, this was on Odell's twitter feed last week...he's moving along.  Later he said he liked UC.  Best of luck to him....

Falcon Fodder on Injury Report....

So the big game is tonight....Falcon Fodder has the news on the injury report.

For BG, there were no players in do not hit jerseys.  However, Cohen, Martin, Gallon and Hunter were out for the season.

For OU, there are a couple issues on top-flight players.  Their starting S Thad Ingol is out.  Also, start WR Donte Foster is questionable, as is star CB Devin Bass.  Those are two guys you don't easily replace.  Time will tell, but even if they play, it sounds like they will not be at 100%.

25 Questions that go here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty

What is their body of work?

Pretty good.  They are 7-3.  They lost to Louisville to open the year, then did pretty well.  Lost to CMU in Athens--which they can't be happy about, and then got smoked at Buffalo, which was pretty surprising.  They beat North Texas (7-3) and Marshall (6-3).

How many seniors and juniors on the two-deep?

22. Relatively young team...a lot of FR and SO on the two-deep.

Who are their statistical leaders?

Their PK, Josiah Yazdani, is one of 10 FBS kickers to be perfect on FGs.  (As an aside, when he was born and Mr. Yazdani named him, Josiah, he said to himself, "that boy is going to be a Division I kicker).

CB Devin Bess is 9th in FBS in passes defended.

Travis Carrie is 15th in punt return yardage.

What is their turnover ratio?

+2 which is 7th in the MAC. They have forced 17 and gotten 15.

Offense:

How is their QB Play?

Tettleton is a very good player.  He is 2nd in MAC in passing yards per game and in passing efficiency.   One note is that he is mostly a single-threat QB anymore, with not much rushing and no TDs.

What is their scoring and yards per play?

Sexy.

They are 6th in the MAC in scoring offense and 5th in yards per play at 5.9.  They are behind BG in both categories.

Can they run the ball?

They are average in this area.  8th in the MAC in rushing yards per game and in yards per rush.  Some of that is sacks.  Blankenship is averaging 4.5 yards per rush, which is good but not great.

Do they pass the ball?

They are 4th in the MAC in passing efficiency, slightly behind BG.  7 INT, highest among the top tier of MAC passing teams.  In today's MAC teleconference, Solich said WR Donte Foster is questionable for the BG game.  He's a top-flight WR, so if he doesn't play or plays at less than full strength, that helps BG.

How is their run/pass balance?

They run on 54% of their plays, which is high, especially for an average rushing team.

Do they convert on 3rd Down?

Yes, yes they do.  They are 2nd in the MAC, behind only BG.

Do they score in the red zone?

They are OK.  They have 4.7 points per red zone trip, which is good but not great.  Have 9 non-scoring RZ attempts, most in MAC.  3 RZ turnovers is 2nd worst in MAC.

Do they protect the quarterback?

Yes.  Only 9 sacks, 3% of passing attempts.

Your guess is as good as mine.

Defense:

Topline: Scoring and yards per play.

This is a very good defensive team.  They are 3rd in the MAC in scoring defense, 3rd in total defense and 4th in yard per play allowed.

Do they defend the run effectively?

They are 5th in the MAC in yards per carry allowed.





Can they be passed on?

They are a good team....4th in the MAC in pass defense and 6th in pass defense efficiency.  10 INTs is 3rd in the MAC.

Do they get off the field on 3rd down?

They are average, 8th in the MAC.

Do they defend in the red zone?

So, with their scoring numbers pretty good but their underlying stats not so great, there's usually something you run across.  In this case, it is red zone defense.  They are allowing 4.2 points per red zone trip.  Their opponents have missed 5 red zone FGs, which helps.

Do they pressure the QB?

Here's the other clue.  They are 2nd in the MAC in sacks.  Buffalo is 1st, by the way, so BG does not get to Detroit without doing better protecting Johnson.

Special Teams:

Punting?

They are 10th in the MAC in net punting.  No blocks, good defense on returns and no TDs allowed.

Punt Return?

As mentioned, Carrie is among the best in FBS.  He has a 79 yarder but no TDs.

Placekicking?

Yazdani took over for the original starter--Matt Green--after he was 4 for 9.  Yazdani is 7-7 for FGS, long of 47, 2-2 over 40 and has not missed an XP.

Kickoff?

Creative "output" from this year's Halloween party

Teams are starting on the 26.  They have allowed one TD.

Kickoff Return?

OK. They start on their own 26.

Miscellaneous: Overall atmospherics and intangibles.

This is a huge game for both teams, slightly bigger for BG in that OU will have a very difficult time winning the East.  How they react to that--and their butt kicking last week--will be interesting to see.

For BG, the game is very big.  If BG loses and Buffalo beats UT, then Buffalo only needs a win over Miami to win the East and moot the season-ender between the two teams.  BG can win with a loss to OU, but it is a harder road.

It is also game 2 in BG's redemption tour.  The loss to UT stung, and BG showed something in blowing Miami out.  Now, BG needs to beat a team with a winning record and then do it again to win the East and meet the expectations for the team this year.  Anything less and they are sure to be disappointed in the effort.

On paper, BG should be slightly stronger.  BG is a 10 points favorite, which I personally do not buy.  This is a very big test for the team.  BG is going to need to protect the QB and run the ball and then contain Tettleton.

Gates and Tate MAC East Players of the Week

BG had 2 players pick up Player of the Week honors this week for the MAC East...

Boo Boo Gates won on defense.  He recovered 2 fumbles, one of which he turned into a defensive touchdown.  He has now scored 4 different ways...fumble, INT, punt and kickoff...during his BG career.

Tyler Tate won the special teams award.  He made 7 kicks in the Miami game and has stabilized the placekicking by making 10 of 13 FGs this year.

Congrats to Boo Boo and Tyler for the honor.

Past and Future Opponent Land

A look at how our opponents fared this weekend....

Tulsa (2-7)  Lost 58-24 to East Carolina
Kent (2-8)  Idle
Indiana (4-5) Beat Illinois Beckmans
Murray State (5-5)  Lost 37-17 to Eastern Illinois
Akron (3-7) Idle
UMass (1-8)  Idle
Mississippi State (4-5) Lost to Texas A&M
Toledo (6-3) Idle.
Ohio (6-3)  Destroyed by Buffalo
EMU (2-8)  Fire coach.  Beat WMU.  Row the Boat
Buffalo (7-2) Smoked OU

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

Falcons Over Earlham

BG did what you would expect against a badly overmatched Earlham team Saturday in front of a tiny crowd at the Stroh.  BG had its biggest margin of victory since 1999 (Urbana) and set a school record with 22 steals.  It was the first time over 100 since 2003 (Urbana).  Sometimes, we have not scored 100 in two games...

Anyway, BG's 102-49 win is what should have happened.  Having said that, everyone would be screaming bloody murder if BG did not blow Earlham out, and they did.  You're supposed to win easily and BG did.

A couple stray observations:

Without Sealey, Denny or Mayleben, BG is down to 8 scholarship players.  Furthermore, Chauncey Orr did not play in the 2nd half due to a knee injury from practice, leaving BG with 7...which led to BG playing a relatively rich player rotation, which contributed to the margin of victory.  The only newcomers to play for BG were Tisdale and Gomez.  I think Tisdale showed some promise--though he did play like a Freshman.  Gomez had 7 rebounds and 3 blocks under a huge size advantage but was 0-5 shooting.  Jury is still out on him.

So BG is 1-0 but we have learning little to nothing about the team, given the level of the competition.  You can expect that to change Friday, when D1 men's basketball returns to the Stroh.

ICSTR Miami Version

BG has now had 9 straight positive games.  This one was strong, with BG on a +6 net. Once again, there were no catastrophic plays either way...Ronnie Moore had the game's biggest special teams play with the big punt return, though a 51 yd FG is not too bad either. Miami was -3 for the game.  (The whole dumb thing is explained here.)

BG Positive Plays: (+8)
BG KO TB (+1)
MU KO Return to 16 (+1)
MU KO return to 13 (+1)
Punt inside 10 (+2)
46 yard net punt (+1)
49 YD punt return for -6 net (+2)

BG Negative plays (-2)
BG Ko return to own 13 (-1)
MU KO return to own 36 (-1)

MU Positive Plays (+3)
51 yard FG (+1)
MU KO return to own 36 (+1)
MU KO TB (+1)

MU Negative Plays (-6)
Penalty puts KO return inside 20 (-1)
24 yd net punt (-1)
MU KO Return to 13 (-1)
MU KO Return to 16 (-1)
Penalty puts KO return inside 20 (-1)
-6 yard net punt (-1)