Champions!!

It just doesn't get any better than that.

Talk about sweet victory!

There will be plenty of time for analysis of the victory--and we're going to learn more about Coach Babers and our bowl destination in the next 36 hours, I would suspect--but this is a moment of gratitude.

This was a great season to be a fan of Bowling Green football.  Two Big 10 wins, a one-loss MAC season, and then to cap it off with the program's 2nd championship in 3 seasons.

It is a very, very good time to be a Falcon fan.

When you think back (and now I go all old-guy on you) to the fact that BG went from the early Blackney years, through the Meyer and Brandon years and into the fifth Clawson year without winning a MAC title...and only playing for one...and then you think that BG is wearing two rings from the last three seasons?

I am so proud of that team and my university.  I am so proud of the coaches and the players and everyone who made that happen.  You can't take it lightly.  Winning championships is hard.  Winning two is really hard.

It was a great year to be a fan.  When I watch those highlight compilations, I just see so many great memories from a year that was truly special for BG.

And I want to thank everyone involved.  The players, the coaches, the trainers...what happened last night was born of people getting up at the crack of dawn and pushing tractor tires around and coaches away from their families and late nights in film rooms and grueling practices in the August heat.

Your hard work and sacrifice created something that gave us a lot of pleasure as fans and I thank you.  When that alma mater played last night?  You don't feel like that often.  Even thinking of it now?  Pretty much the same reaction.

Thank you Falcons.  You are champions for life.

25 questions for all the marbles

What is their body of work?

It was hard for it to be a lot better.  The Huskies have won the MAC West for the last 6 seasons.  That's an impressive track record of success.  For one of those years they ended in the Orange Bowl and the next year they were undefeated when they lost to BG.  This year's team is 8-4.  They played OSU very tough, lost to BC and then CMU and OU in the MAC.  They beat Toledo and won the West when the Rockets lost to WMU.

How many seniors and juniors on the two-deep?

23, which means a very young team.  NIU is poised to be better next year.



Who are their statistical leaders?

FBS Ranks

1st - Shawun Lurry, Interceptions
1st - Shawun Lurry, Passes defended/Game
14th- Kenny Golladay, Receiving TDs
20th- Kenny Golladay, Receiving Yards

4th- Joel Bouagnon, Rushing TDs

What is their turnover ratio?

In MAC play, they are +2.  (BG is +10)

Offense:  (Unless noted all stats are MAC games only)

 How is their QB play?

Well, that's an interesting question.  They have had injuries and finished the OU game with the player who was their 4th QB in fall camp.  He is a true FR walk-on...Tommy Fiedler.  He is supposed to start, but Ryan Graham could play.  When he was playing, Graham was the #6 QB in the MAC in passing efficiency.

What is their scoring and yards per play?

They are 4th in the MAC in scoring and 5th in yards per play.

Can they run the ball?

Well, they lead the MAC in yards per game, but that's partly because they run the ball more than anyone else.  They carried the ball 416 times in MAC games, and the next most was Toledo at 355.  On a yards per carry average, they had 4.7 yards per carry, which was 4th in the MAC and behind BG.  Either way, their commitment to the run is one of the reasons I think BG fans should temper their enthusiasm over the QB situation.  This team is used to running and taking pressure off the QB and kept winning after Drew Hare was injured.

Do they pass the ball?

Of course, this is largely QB dependent.  They were 7th in the MAC in passing yards, mostly because they were 10th in passing attempts.  They were 4th in efficiency.  They completed 62% of their passes at 12.6 yards per completion (BG had 12.9), which has been their game for a long time.  Draw the opposition in with the run and go over the top.  They have 15TDs over 4 INT.

How was their run/pass balance?

They run on 64% of their plays.

Do they convert on 3rd Down?

They are good....4th at 44%.  BG converts 56%.

Johnson to Lewis.  Not that complicated

Do they score in the red zone?

They might be the best red zone team I have ever seen. They have 33 trips and have scored on 31 of them. With 24 TDs and 7 FGs, they average more than 6 points per trip.

Do they protect the quarterback?

They have allowed 12 sacks, which is in the middle of the conference, but a little worse given the low number of attempts.

Defense:

Topline: Scoring and yards per play.

They do not have the normal NIU defense.  They are 7th in scoring defense and 4th in yards per play allowed.

Do they defend the run effectively?

They are tied for 4th in the MAC in yards per carry allowed...one of the teams they are tied with is BG.

Can they be passed on?

It is tough.  They give up yards, but that's due to a lot of attempts.  They are 2nd in pass defense efficiency.  They allow only 55% completions with 11.4 yards per reception, both of which are very good.  They have allowed 14 TD passes and have 11 picks, which is 2nd to BG.  The Falcons lead the MAC in pass defense efficiency.

Do they get off the field on 3rd down?

They are 10th in the MAC.

Let's make the marbles orange

Do they defend in the red zone?

They are pretty good.  They have allowed scores on 24 out of 28 trips, but only 13 of those were TDs.  This equals 4.4 points per trip, which is really good.

Do they pressure the QB?

They are in the middle of the MAC with 15 sacks.  (BG is second with 18)

Special Teams:

Punting?

This is the weakest part of the team.  They are last in the MAC in net punting.  They have been blocked once (all games).

Punt Return?

They have 14 punts for 65 yards and no TDs, which is typical.

Placekicking?

He's good.  He is 14 out of 18 with 2 missed Xps.  He has a long of 52 and only 1 bad miss.  (all games)

Kickoff?

They are very good, second in the MAC with teams starting around the 22.  Long return allowed was 33 yards.

Kickoff Return?

They are second in the MAC in kickoff returns.  Their KOR, Aregeros Turner, was the MAC Special Teams Player of the year.  This is a point of high danger for BG, given what we have done defending kickoffs as late as last week.

Miscellaneous: Overall atmospherics and intangibles.

And let's do this agin.

So I was getting ready to write this and I saw that BG is a 12 point favorite in this game.  And I put on my shocked face.  The line opened at 8, which means people were betting BG and needed more incentive to bet NIU.

That's a wow.

NIU had 8 players on first team All-MAC, they are proven winners with a very good running game.  Yes, I know they are in a tough position at QB, but BG played in the weaker division.  Yes, BG smoked OU and OU beat NIU in DeKalb, but NIU beat UT and BG lost to UT at the Doyt.

I wouldn't have guessed it at more than 3.

And it is driving me crazy, because Tommy Fiedler would make such a "feel good" story.

On the other hand, the UCF debacle probably brought the team together.  I hope it has created a hyper-focus...certainly appeared to in the Coach.

One key:  a fast start.  If BG can get up a couple scores, they can force NIU to play out of style and typically this year, that has been a deadly place to be against this team.

Falcons Outlast Retrievers

BG had a tougher than expected fight from the University of Maryland Baltimore County Retrievers last night at the Stroh, but the Falcons were eventually able to hold them off and pick up their 4th straight victory.

The first half was certainly not looking very good.  As noted in the preview, UMBC is not known to be a strong shooting team, but they were shooting 44% from 3FG in the first half with a total of 7 bombs in total,  In fact, for the first few minutes it looked like an ABA game...no one was getting any stops at all.  It was 12-10 at the first media timeout.  UMBC led by 7 with about 11 minutes left and BG rallied back into the game, eventually taking the lead with 8 minutes left.  '

BG led 23-22 with 7 minutes left in the first half and then scored only 6 points for the remainder of the half, which ended with UMBC up 4, 33-29.

UMBC started off the second half effectively as well and led for the first 8 minutes of the second half, giving them solid portions of game control over the first 28 minutes.  BG took the lead 44-43 with about 11 minutes left and never trailed again, though there were some dicey moments.

BG led by 12 with 4 minutes left and 9 with 1:41 left.  At that point you'd like to think things were safe.  For a while, it was a flashback to the Orr years when BG could not advance the ball against pressure under any circumstances.  In crunch time, BG turned the ball over on 5 straight possessions.  After an Ali turnover, UMBC had the ball and was only down 4 with about a minute left.  They missed a 3FG that would have made things very interesting, Denny got the board and was immediately surrounded but was smart enough to call timeout.  BG got the ball in, was fouled, Ali made both free throws and BG was up 6.  Ali turned the ball over on the next possession as well, but by then the lead was too large and BG put it away, winning by 8.

BG made 17 turnovers in the game and 6 came in the last 2:30 or so.

In the end, UMBC couldn't keep drilling shots like that and they were 2 of 11 from 3 FG in the second half and while BG was also dreadful on long balls they shot 48% overall from the field.

For the game, BG had 1.01 points per possession, which is below the current average.  UMBC was .9, which is very low.

The numbers were pretty even.  BG had a slight advantage shooting.  BG is absolutely terrible from long distance, making 3 of 15 from beyond the arc.  Overall, BG was 46%, which is not bad, and from 2FG they were 55% was the difference in the game.  BG dominated the boards and had were 19 of 25 from the line, which netted to +4 for BG.  (UMBC had 2 technical fouls which BG converted into 3 points).

Spencer Parker's game has grown more consistent over the last couple which games which could be very helpful if it can be continued. He had 22 against FGCU, 15 in 19 minutes against Urbana and then 20 against UMBC.  That 20 came on 8 of 13 shooting, which is excellent, 6 boards and only 1 turnover.  Wes Alcegaire had 15 points on 7 of 14 shooting and Rasheed Worrell had 14 points on 4 of 6 shooting and 6-6 from the line to go with 7 rebounds, 4 of them offensive.  Zack Denny added 11 rebounds--4 of them offensive--while continuing to struggle with his shot.  Joseph had 3 assists and 3 turnovers.

BG is now 5-2 with four straight wins since the North Dakota loss.  The 4-3 Drake Bulldogs come to town on Saturday for the 3rd game in BG's homestand.

Johnson Wins Vern Smith and Offensive Player of the Year

Today was MAC Awards day and it was a very good day for the Falcons, who tended in the Clawson era to suffer under the team first concept that didn't seem to develop as many stars.

The big news was that Matt Johnson was named MAC Offensive Player of the Year and the Vern Smith Leadership Award.  There was not a terribly large surprise there--I think he has been the MAC East Offensive Player of the Week a bunch of times--but it is an honor to either of the awards and a big honor to win both.  He is the second Falcon player in four seasons to win a MAC Player of the Year award, the last being Chris Jones.  I believe the last MAC Offensive Player of the Year was Omar Jacobs.

Anyway, Matt came back from injury and had an incredible season this year which I hope will culminate in a second MAC Championship ring.

In all, BG had 11 players make All-MAC.  Five of them were on the first team, which is outstanding.  Obviously, you had Johnson at QB, and Lewis is back for the second straight year, also deserved.  Travis Greene is on the first team for the first time, which makes me really happy.  He deserves it...the other years there were strong running backs and he had missed some games, so this year's award is very much deserved.

On defense, Austin Valdez was all-MAC which is also very cool.  He's been a rock back there all year and it is great to see him rewarded for stepping up into the LB corps after Martin and Lynch graduated.

Finally, Joe Davidson was the All-MAC punter.  He's a total stud.

The second team contained BG's only lineman on the All-MAC team, Huettel and Bennett.  For Alex, it is his third time with all-MAC honors.  Gehrig Dieter appears for the first time, which is also deserved.  And then--and this one you have to love--former walk-on Trent Greene was named to the 2nd team.  He had a really good season and I love to see a walk-on have this kind of success.  Much pride.

Ronnie Moore and Ryan Burbrink made 3rd team--Burbrink for the 3rd time and he was a walk-on, too.

Each Ten of the 11 players was recruited by Dave Clawson, which I say just to give credit to good recruiting and not to minimize the current Coach. (Original post neglected that Roger Lewis was recruited by Babers).

Anyway, congratulations to all 11 of these players.  They have been great Falcons and this is an honor they can carry with them all their lives.  Enjoy.

FIRST TEAM ALL-MAC

Quarterback – Matt Johnson, Bowling Green
Wide Receiver – Roger Lewis, Bowling Green &
Running Back – Travis Greene, Bowling Green @
Inside Linebacker – Austin Valdez, Bowling Green
Punter – Joe Davidson, Bowling Green

2015 SECOND TEAM ALL-MAC

Offensive Lineman – Alex Huettel, Bowling Green +@
Offensive Lineman – Jacob Bennett, Bowling Green
Wide Receiver – Gehrig Dieter, Bowling Green
Outside Linebacker – Trent Greene, Bowling Green

2015 THIRD TEAM ALL-MAC

Wide Receiver – Ronnie Moore, Bowling Green
Punt Return Specialist – Ryan Burbrink, Bowling Green &@

Retriever Preview

So amidst the Babers drama, the men's basketball team chugs merrily along with its second game of a 3-game homestand.  Tomorrow, the University of Maryland Baltimore County comes to town.

This is a tough place to be a basketball player right now.  They are in the America East Conference, where they were picked to be 7th out of 9 in the pre-season.  For the last 5 seasons, their RPI has been over 300 each year.  Last year, at 346, they were among the 10 worst...there are only 351 D1 teams total.

They were 4-26 last year, and are 21-70 over the past three seasons.

This year they are 1-6 to date.  They actually played Wake really tough, losing by 5 on the road.  They then lost in double-digit margins @St. John's, @Cal Poly, Loyola Marymount, @Navy and Colgate.  Their one win was at Northern Colorado, a team with no D1 wins and a 340 RPI.

So, look, the Retrievers aren't a highly successful basketball program.

Let's hope they stay that way for one more night.

Looking deeper, the Retrievers have the stats of a 1-6 team.  Remembering that the average D1 teams gets 1.04 PPP this year (as the rule changes start to make a difference), you can see that UMBC is a very poor team on both ends of the floor.  BG is nothing to write home about on offense, but to date is playing very efficient defense.  (Note:  I'd say that UMBC has actually played a tougher schedule than BG).

Comparing the BG offense to date with the UMBC defense, we see pretty evenly matched teams.  They allow teams to shoot better than BG has been shooting, which is a good sign (and the primary reason they are scored against so much) while the other categories are about the same.  

Flipping this around, you can see where the Retrievers really struggle.  They are just a very poor team when it comes to putting the basketball inside the basket.  That 44% EFG comes from shooting 38.4% from the field overall and 26% from 3FG.  That's just very difficult to win with.  The first number is 318th in the nation and the second is 331st.  It is a little better on free throws, where they make a very average 69%.  They do take good care of the ball and are decent on the offensive boards, but their shooting woes are their primary contributor to their .94 points per possession.

Their leading scorer is Rodney Elliott.  He's a G who had a big FR year (America East Rookie of the Year) for the Retrievers and then got injured in the first game last year, immediately harshing the buzz of last year.  He is scoring 13 PPG on 37% and 29% shooting, so that's a leaky 13 points. He also leads the team with 3.5 assists per game.

Their second leading scorer is Joe Sherburne, a 6'6" FR from up in Wisconsin who played prep ball last year.  He is scoring 12.6 PPG on 40% and 32% shooting.  He also averages 4.9 RPG.  Their third-leading scorer (10.1) and leading rebounder (5.7) is Cody Joyce, a 6'8" Sr.

This is a very, very young team.  Of the 14 players on their roster, there are 5 SO and 6 FR.

This is the first time the two teams have played.

So this was a game BG scheduled in order to let our team pick up some wins and get some confidence.  Anything less than a win on Wednesday would be a disappointment.

Best Press Conference in Falcon History

You can close nominations right now...yesterday, Dino Babers delivered the greatest press conference in Falcon history.  Honestly, if you aren't ready to go to war with this guy, you gotta question yourself.  Especially...ESPECIALLY now that he has been proven by events to have been telling the absolute truth.

He was honest, he was brash, he was funny, he was pissed, he was no filter...and it was just great.

Dude is a warrior.

He starts off saying he has recently hired some "cool" lawyer and he wishes he knew who filed the report because he wants to see how good the lawyer actually is.  From there, it is a very compelling 12 minutes.

No deal.  None.  No secret deals.  Pissed that he had to spend last night dealing with this.  Talks to schools all the time.  No secret deals.  No under the table things.

The media tried to pin him down, establish the predicate, smoke out the weasel words.  There were none.

Lost and turned down jobs because it would interfere with Friday's game.  Closed practice.  See if that makes a difference.  Wants another shot at NIU after last year.

Boom, boom, boom.

You gotta watch for yourself.

The coup de grace?  Asked if all that might change after Saturday, he said, "Yes.  How's that about honesty?"

I was a skeptic last year and I won't deny it.  This has been an incredible season, especially given the schedule.  Some fantastic memories...and then you have a guy who can get up and deliver 12 minutes like this.

Good times, Falcon fans.  Let's win Friday.  Get your ass there.

Babers not going to UCF...

UCF was stealth during search process. Scott Frost's name never publicly linked until hire. https://t.co/1pWub8QTMv pic.twitter.com/FlZZVYUrnv

— Brandon Helwig (@UCFSports) December 1, 2015

So, no idea if Dino Babers will be back at BG next year, but he won't be going to UCF.  How about them apples?  He denied it from the beginning and was telling the truth.  More later on yesterday's incredible presser...but for now, let's focus on NIU.