25 Questions about Sam

Today's pictures are Sam the Minuteman.
Here, he forgot his toothbrush.

What is their body of work?

UMass is 1-3 out of the gate.  Their win over FIU was their first win over a non-conference FBS opponent, which is really shocking.  They have certainly struggled at the FBS level.  Having said that, they almost beat BG last year and their losses this year are @Colorado, Temple (by 2) and @Notre Dame.  This was supposed to be their best season in FBS and it could still be.

How many seniors and juniors on the two-deep?

29 which is a lot.

Who are their statistical leaders?

Blake Frohnapfel is #7 in completions per game and #14 in passing yards per game.
Tajae Sharpe is #7 in receiving yards, #5 in receiving yards per game and #2 in receptions per game.

What is their turnover ratio?

The are -3, which is normal for a 1-3 team.

Offense:

 How is their QB play?

Sam's thumbs say he likes sustainable food.
His face might say otherwise.

Frohnapfel is a good QB.  He's racked up huge yardage numbers, as noted above.  The QB Rating doesn't like him very much...he's 7th in the MAC in that category.  He completes on 59% of his passes and there are 7 TDs over 3 INT.  The biggest strength he has is yardage.  He's averaging 12.01 per completion, which is really good.

What is their scoring and yards per play?

For their strong QB play, they are 9th in scoring offense, but consider the schedule.  (Like BG, they played no FCS team).  Their yards per play with 4th at 5.7 yards.  An offense that gets yards but doesn't score usually reveals issues on big plays and turnovers (noted already).

Can they run the ball?

They are 11th in overall rush offense and 7th in yards per carry.  Watch out for true FR Marquis Young who leads the team in rushing, averages 9 yards per carry and broke out against ND.

Do they pass the ball?

As mentioned above, they have a high yardage pass offense.  In addition to Frohnapfel, Tajae Sharpe is one of the MAC's best WRs and Marken Michel has had a bunch of big plays.

How was their run/pass balance?

They run on 42% of their plays, which indicates a pass heavy offense.

Do they convert on 3rd Down?

Sam getting buff. Sparty-envy.

They are 11th in the MAC at 32%.

Do they score in the red zone?

They are also poor in the red zone at 4.2 points per trip. This, wrd downs and the turnovers explains the difference between yard production and point production.

Do they protect the quarterback?

They have allowed 9 sacks in 180 attempts, which is 5% of attempts, which is normal/average.

Defense:

Topline: Scoring and yards per play.

Their defense has struggles.  Coach has said that their defense is much improved from last year and there is that schedule, but they are 10th in the MAC at 6.1 yards per play.  (BG is 5.9)

Do they defend the run effectively?

They are 12th in overall run defense and 11th in yards per carry.  Teams have run on them effectively.

Two if by sea

Can they be passed on?

They are 9th in pass defense efficiency.  They allow 61% completions, which is high at about 10.1 yards per completion.  They have given up only 898 passing yards, which could look very funny depending on the numbers BG puts up.

Do they get off the field on 3rd down?

They are 11th in the MAC, allowing 48%...so no, not really.

Do they defend in the red zone?

They are not good.  They have gotten no red zone stops and allow 5.75 points per trip.

Do they pressure the QB?

They have 7 sacks which is 4.9%, which is normal/average.

Little known fact.  Sam loves to read.
More than he likes
sustainable food.

Special Teams:

Punting?

They are 5th in net punting, almost equal to where BG is.  No blocks but they have had a TD return.

Punt Return?

Not really a factor, only 2 for 7 yards.  No blocks.

Placekicking?

They have 3 guys who might do this.  They have attempted only 3 FGs in four games, so much like BG they are focused on getting in the endzone.  They have gone for it on 4th 6 times.

Kickoff?

Opponents start on the 25, which is normal.  However, he has only 5 touchbacks on 17 kick offs.

Kickoff Return?

They start on the 24, which is also normal. That is on only 7 touchbacks.

Miscellaneous: Overall atmospherics and intangibles.

Couple things.

Also he does not like this.

First, BG has to be glad to be getting back home again.  If you are 3-2 with only 1 home game, you have to feel good about it.

This is the kind of game you need to close on home field if you are looking to contend for a title.  UMass is not a bad team and probably better than they look--and there has been no opportunity to see them in MAC play.  They played BG very tough in a big game (first campus game) last year at a time where BG was playing poorly.  It was a high scoring affair as you would expect this one to be.

They key will be that BG will need to cover the really strong UMass wideouts.  It would appear to me that's the key to stopping them.  If BG--thin at DB--can get any kind of victory there, I think things will be looking up.

BG Football by the Numbers

Here are some numbers related to the Falcon Football team.

First, using the ESPN efficiency measures, we get the following ratings:

Offense #8
Defense  #109
Special Teams #119

So, based on that measure, BG continues to be a pretty one-dimensional team but with one-dimension performing at a very high level.

Individually, looking at all of FBS...

Matt Johnson is:

#2 in completions per game
#1 in passing yards and per game
#6 in passing TDs
#5 in points responsible for
#1 in total offense

Roger Lewis is:

 #5 in receiving TDs
#1 in receiving yards and yards per game
#10 in receptions per game

Austin Valdez is #5 in tackles

Special Teams Report: Buffalo

BG had another positive game on special teams.  It was another quiet week--which is good--meaning that there were no big plays either way.  BG switched the kickoff return team around, running two new guys out there, but that didn't end up helping that much.  BG got one good return, negated by penalty and had a couple outright bad returns.  BG also had a kickoff OB.  On the positive side, BG's kick and punt coverage certainly looks better against Buffalo than it did against Tennessee.  Joe Davidson continued to be very successful.

UB finished in minus territory.  They had a couple kick coverage issues and missed an XP.  They had some big punts as well and benefitted from covering the kickoffs to BG.

Anyway.  BG was +2 and UB -1.  Don't know what BG will try on kickoff returns, but I suspect they will stay with those two guys and give them another shot.

BG Positive (+5)

BG punt to 19 (+1)
UB KOR to 13 (+1)
UB KOR to 16 (+1)
BG punt to 14 (+1)
UB KOR to 14 (+1)

BG Negative (-3)

BG KOR to 15 (-1)
BG KO OB (-1)
BG KOR to 6 (-1)

UB Positive (+4)

BG KOR to 15 (+1)
UB 46 yard net punt (+1)
UB 50 yard net punt (+1)
BG KOR to 6 (+1)

UB Negative (-5)

UB KOR to 13 (-1)
UB KOR to 16 (-1)
UB KOR to 8 after penalty (-1)
Penalty puts BG KOR on 41 (-1)
Missed XP (-1)

Babers and Trainer Rescue Accident Victim

As you have almost for certain heard by now, one of the BG team football buses was in the vicinity of a car accident on its way home from Buffalo on Saturday.  Coach Babers and Chelsea Lowe, a BGSU Athletic Trainer pulled Amber Nettles from a burning car around midnight.  Check out the Blade for the rest of what is a very compelling story that is getting national coverage.

Make sure you read down far enough to see the part about why Coach Babers is especially motivated to provide roadside assistance.

Great story, and proud of Coach and Chelsea.

Babers Presser

Coach did his presser Monday.  Nothing very newsworthy, but a couple things worth thinking about.

First, he says that his team is banged up. I was a little surprised to hear that because the team is definitely healthier than last year.  Anyway, he says goal #1 is getting the team healthier.

Second, he had good things to say about UMass, who easily could have beaten BG last year.  Frohnapfel is definitely a good QB and Sharpe is an outstanding WR.  He says they are much improved on defense and this is a veteran team.

Third, he talked a lot about losing at home, which he does not like to do.  At all.  It is interesting (me talking now) because usually the home thing is a bigger deal in basketball than it is in football.  Anyway, he says the home losses will bug him for a long time.  The team is only allowed to think about it for 24 hours, but Coach says he holds onto them for a lot longer.  He then said it was ok because "he wouldn't be here much longer" by which he meant alive, not at BG.

Adjei-Barimah Makes NFL Debut

Exciting new for one of our Falcon alumni...Jude Adjei-Barimah was promoted from the practice squad and made his NFL debut yesterday for Tampa Bay.  He didn't rack up any stats but he did play.

Congrats, Jude.  The Falcon Nation is behind you.

BG continues to run the table on East Offensive POW

Roger Lewis became the 5th BG player in five weeks to win the MAC East Offensive Player of the Week.  It is his second time getting the award.

He's putting up ridiculous numbers.  Here is the write up from the MAC:

Bowling Green sophomore wide receiver Roger Lewis (Pickerington, Ohio) caught 10 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown in a 28-22 win at Buffalo. It was Bowling Green's fifth straight win over Buffalo and 13th consecutive against MAC East foes. Lewis, who leads the country in receiving yards with 760, it was his third 200-yard performance in the last four games. He is the first player in school history with three 200-yard receiving games in his career, which he has accomplished in a four-game stretch. He is one of two players in the country with more than 600 receiving yards and is now tied for fifth in receiving touchdowns.

I mean, I know we haven't played a stat-friendly offense like this, but at the same time I'm not sure BG has ever had a weapon like Lewis at WR.  I mean, you think...Charles Sharon, Ronnie Redd...Cole Magner was a possession receiver.

Congrats to Roger!