Falcons With Nice Win Over Oakland

 Last night was a nice win for the Falcons, who started a little rough but then got the job done in the end in what turned out to be a thrilling finish and a little luck.  Missing Gordon, Curtis and Matheny (for most of the game), BG needed to make use of their depth and it came in handy.  This is a good Oakland team and even though BG could have played better, the win is a worthy one.  Remember, Oakland beat UT by 21 and also beat Oklahoma State and their only losses were to top teams.

OU came out fast with a 14-5 lead.  BG went on a 10-0 to take the lead back.  BG held the lead for about 6 minutes before a little GG run put them back up by 5 and they led for the rest of the half, by as much as 7 and ending at 3.

BG scored the first 5 points of the second and generally held the lead for the remainder of the game.  It was closely contested.  The second half featured 7 lead changes and 7 ties.  With 3 minutes left, BG was up 5.  Jalen Moore hit 3FGs on back-to-back possessions and led by 1 with 2:34 left to play.  BG turned the ball over, got a stop, turned the ball over again, and then eventually got a stop after OU got 3 shots at the basket.  

BG still down 1 with 1:21 to play.  Reece was fouled and split a pair and tied the game.  BG got another stop with :51 to play.  And there, Chandler Turner made the game's defining play, hitting a corner-3 with :36 to play to put the Falcons up 3.

Jalen Moore was fouled and hit both FTs to make it a 1-point lead with :27 left.  OU has to foul and they fouled Elsasser, who missed the front end of his 1-1.  There were :23 left.  OU came down and BG was playing good D and forced a long 3FG from one of their less likely shooters.  It missed, but after a wild frenzy, OU came out with the ball and threw it off a Falcon to retain possession with 1.9 left to play.

It was a BLOB.  Plowden was guarding the throw and tipped the first attempt out of bounds, killing a second off the clock.  With .9 left and maybe a slightly better angle, OU--after timeouts both ways--managed to get the ball inbounds in a great position in the paint and but had to rush the shot up and the ball didn't go down and the Falcons had the W secured.

It was a thriller.  The Plowden tip was huge.  On the other hand, BG can't let them get the ball in that position for the shot.  But, they put OU in a position to where OU had to to make the play and they did not.

Overall, a very close game, 9 ties, 12 lead changes and BG led for 17:08 and OU for 16:08.

BG really gutted out a win on both ends of the court.  OU played every possession in a 1-3-1 zone, which BG doesn't see often and won't see again.  OU came in allowing .93 points per possession and BG had .97.  That includes an EFF% of .48 against a .46 average for OU.  BG made 44% of their 2FGs (not good), but made 38% of their 3FGs (pretty good) and resisted the urge to jack shots up against the zone. BG turned the ball over way too much--29% of their possessions, their most since the VCU game in 2018.  Fortunately, they had their best offensive rebounding game since Buffalo last year and while they didn't get to the line a lot, they did make 75%.

Just as importantly, BG played strong defense, making an average offensive team below average.  They scored .96 points per possession.  They took 46% of their shots from 3FG and only make 28%, which is typical, they shoot the 3FG poorly.  The key was only making 43% from 2FG.  They had a huge edge in turnovers, had a good day on the offensive boards, and also didn't get to the line very much but made 77% of their FTs.

Individually, the night belonged to Chandler Turner.  BG was down 3 guards but Plowden and Reece also had foul trouble.  Turner played 24 minutes, shooting 3 of 4 from 2FG and 4 of 5 from 3FG.  He also made all 5 of his FTs, and grabbed 8 boards.  Given the number of possessions he used, it was probably the best offensive night we have seen this season.  Plowden also scored 16 on 4 of 9 and 2 of 3 shooting, and added 9 rebounds in 32 minutes.  Reece had 9 points and 6 rebounds in 18 minutes--a  technical foul cost him some minutes.  Josiah Fulcher had 8 points in 28 minutes, on 2 of 4 3FG shooting, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 turnover.

The Metheny injury could be worrisome.  Looked like a high ankle.  Hopefully, Curtis and Gordon will be back for the Robert Morris game, which is almost two weeks away. OU forces a lot of turnovers anyway and I think BG was missing their ball handlers.

Jamal Cain hit his average, 21 points and 9 rebounds.  However, he was 7 of 18 shooting and 4 of 13 from 2FG, making it a minor success for the Falcon defense.

So a very nice win for the Falcons.  This is a quality team and BG got the W, gutting it out with some missing personnel.  The Falcons hit finals with two nice wins under their belt and can now move on to Robert Morris.  The trend is pointing up.

Ligashesky Leaves BG

 BG's special teams coach has taken a job at Syracuse, where former Falcon coach Dino Babers still is employed.  Ligashesky came to BG with a great resume, having coached special teams at the P5 and NFL level.  He was credited with helping Nate Needham develop into a first-team All-MAC kicker.  He was in BG for one year.

Best of luck to him.

Oakland Preview

 Next up is a very interesting game for BG...the Oakland Golden Grizzlies.

Oakland is coached by BG grad Greg Kampe (played football and basketball).  He is in his 38th season there--only the coaches of Duke and Syracuse have been at their school longer.  He has built this program, starting at DII, moving to D1 and then into the Horizon Conference.  And the NCAA tournament, where they have played 3 times, with a play-in win to their credit.  They were last in the 2011 tourney.

This is the 10th meeting between the two teams, with Oakland leading the series 5-4.  BG won the last meeting at the Stroh in the MAC-final year.  Before that, OU had won four straight, in games that were generally not close.

They were not great last year, at 12-18 and lost their 2nd and 3rd leading scorers from that team. They were picked 4th in the Horizon this year.

They are off to a really good start.  They are 7-2.  They started at a kenpom of 193 but they are up to 121.  They won at Oklahoma State in the 6th biggest upset to date this year in D1 MBB.  They then beat UT by 21.  Their losses are to WVU (48) and Alabama (9), and other wins are Vermont (98), Rice (166) Delaware (141), UIC (273) and IUPUI (349).

So, this appears to be a pretty good team.

They are an average team on offense.  They score .99 points per possession, which is actually below average.  They aren't great shooters (#225), mostly because they are one of the 10 worst 3FG shooting teams in the country.  They are, however, VERY good from 2FG, making 55%.  They are average protecting the ball and on the offensive boards, and don't get to the line very much but are very good at the line, making 77%.

They make their bones on defense.  They allow .93 points per possession, #69 in the country.  They are very hard to score against.  They allow an EFG of 46%, which is well below average.  They are #17 in defending the 3FG, not so good against the 2FG.  The force turnovers (94th) and keep opponents off the line (30th).  You can get offensive boards against them.

They have used only one starting lineup this year.  

They are led by an outright stud, Jamal Cain.  He's a 6'7" graduate transfer from Marquette who is scoring 21.2 PPG on 53% shooting, 85% at the line and 10.7 RPG.  He also has 20 steals in 9 games.  He's the #11 scorer in the nation.

He is complemented by Jalen Moore, who led the nation in assists last year.  He is scoring 13.2 PPG on 31% overall FG shooting and 20% 3FG shooting.  He makes 82% of his FTs and is4th in the nation with 6.9 APG.  They also have Trey Townsend, a FR from Oxford, MI, who scored 14 PPG on 41% shooting and 6.4 RPG.

This is a good team and beating them would be a very nice victory for the Falcons, even at home.  Coming off the strong game at Duquesne and heading into finals week, you'd love to get this W but it will be difficult. Kenpom gives BG a 49% chance of winning and BPI is 58% chance for BG to win.

Three Football Transfers Announce Today....

Three transfers announced that they are heading to BG.  Interestingly, there is a WR and 2 DBs--we have offers at other position groups, but these three young men will be coming in right away.  Two of them are FCS players and one was an FBS player.

Chris Bacon, DB, Georgia State

Bacon played safety at Georgia State.  He was a three-year letter-winner who entered the portal in October of this year. He made 96 tackles over the 3 years with one INT.  He won academic awards while at Georgia State and had a number of other MAC offers, based on a quick review of the internet.

Odieu Hilaire, WR, Alabama A&M

He was a very productive WR for A&M, which plays in the SWAC.  He caught 17 passes for 4 TDS in the spring 2021 SWAC season and then led the conference in receptions in 2021.  He had 9 TDs.

FWIW, they have an All-American QB, Aqeel Glass, 

He is listed at 6'0" and 160 pounds.

Jordan Oladokun, DB, Samford

Oladokun was a 3-star recruit with 16 P5 offers reported on 247.  He committed to Iowa, de-committed, re-committed, and then de-committed for good due to concerns over the accusations of race-based intimidation against Ferentz.  He went to Samford, where his brother was the QB.  He played 6 games this year for the Bulldogs, making 7 tackles and having 2 pass breakups.  He was recruited in the class of  2021 so he will have significant eligibility left.

Football State of the Program

Time to review the 2021 football season.

When I did my pre-season preview, I thought this team had a ceiling of four wins.  There was no way we were going to be a .500 team with the lack of development on the offensive line and we weren't and I think that is largely why.

After the OU game, I had a commenter note this:

"Last year it was 40-something to 0 at halftime. The people that think there hasn't been progress are nuts."

You can only make a diagnosis in a clinical setting, but I would agree they are 100% wrong.  This team is better than the 2020 team, and I don't think it can be debated.

But, to be fair, 2020 was so bad that you almost had to improve. 

The better question is whether we were improved enough to indicate we are on the path to being competitive on the timetable that Loeffler established, meaning being competitive next season.

This is a question that has divided our fan base.  A coach with a 7-22 record is going to have detractors and Loeffler does, for sure.  You can't be surprised or even blame them.

I don't agree, though.  I wish we would have gotten a stronger signal from 2021--something that would have come from being more competitive in at least a couple of the games, say Akron, EMU and Miami...UT.  But I think there is a path forward for us that you can see.

I guess I always think that the progress is going to be linear.  You're going to get a little bit better each week and then by the end of 2021 you might be pretty good.  But that's not how it's looking.  BG was worse in the second half of the season than the first half.  Commenters have pointed out that BG's young line might have gotten tired and ground down over the season, which led to the problems in the latter part of the season.

Which is entirely possible.  The point is that there were positives to the 2021 season

• 4 wins
• Beat a Big 10 team
• Played Kent and NIU tough

And there were negatives:

• UT game
• Southern Alabama loss
• Akron Loss
• EMU loss
• Miami loss

(Yes, I know there were other losses, but these were all losses to teams that were around .500.)

The official line is that our problem is how young we are.  The problem with that line is that NIU had a younger team than we did and they hoisted the trophy.  What they did have was an experienced and effective transfer QB.

I also have a commenter who likes to track us against the Ball State road to the 2020 title.

In Neu's third year they were 4-8, 3-5.  BG was 4-8, 2-6.  So not far off.

They got one game better overall and in the MAC the next year and won the MAC the year after that.

So, we're on that track, to be sure.  I think there is a path to being competitive.

So what has to happen?

BG has to be better up front, both sides of the ball.  

The offensive line was so exposed that literally, they crashed the offense in a couple of the games.  BG has to be able to run the ball and protect the QB.  The Falcons have good RBs and WRs and the TEs are good and promising.  (More on the QB later).  But when your blocking is blown up on every play, you don't have a chance.

The good news is that we are now open to transfers.  They made a huge difference on defense this year and I think they are going to be part of college football moving forward.  We just have to adjust.

BG's returning players have to get bigger and stronger.  Coach has said this...he also said it after 2020 and it apparently didn't happen.  These guys have some hard knocks learning under their belt but they have to be more physical.  We're not on the path to anything without it.

BG also needs to supplement the lines with some transfers.  Internet traffic indicates that they are recruiting in these areas.  A couple solid, experienced, big O-lineman and even one d-lineman to be in the rotation would make a big difference.

BG has to return contributing players

The portal can give, the portal can take away.  BG needs its contributing players back.  This is still in flux, but retaining the players who contributed--and now have a case to make at another school--is critical.

BG needs a QB who can pressure Matt McDonald

For the second straight year, we found out after the season was over that Matt McDonald was playing with a serious injury, this time a broken hand.  As always, the QB receives a lot of criticism on a losing team.  That's how it goes.  First, the guy is clearly a warrior, playing through injuries over two seasons and being a tackling dummy for many of those games.  You have to admire his grit.

He has shown some promise.  He made some really nice throws against OU, with time to operate.  He also tends to miss some throws, too.

The biggest issue is that I don't think he's a great QB and even with a broken hand we didn't have anyone better.  He was last in the MAC in passing efficiency in 2020 and 2021.  That has to be a concern.  Whether it is a transfer or someone on the roster now, BG needs a QB who can push McDonald and be better than him when he is injured.

Perhaps the bigger worry is that I fear there might be a blind spot here.  I don't see practice, maybe he is better than everyone else we have.  Or maybe there's a blind spot.  If so, that needs to get addressed.  If you fix the line and then the QB is still below average, you aren't on the path to anything.

Special teams need to be upgraded quickly

Almost all the players with no returning eligibility are special teams players.  BG won at least one game on the back of Nate Needham.  There are three kickers on the returning roster--Mason Lawler who has been doing our kickoffs, Jack Sauder, from TN, and Alan Anaya, from Mexico.  Anaya's brother is on the men's soccer team.  If one of these guys is not the guy, we need to get a transfer.

Our all-MAC punter is also leaving.  He was 8th this year in punting in the MAC and will need to be replaced.  Both Lawler and Anaya are also listed as punters on the roster.  There is also Jarrad Kerekes, an all-state player from the Cleveland area.  Again, if one of these is not the guy, this is a chance to get a transfer.

Lastly, BG's return defense games need to be improved.  BG was 9th in net kickoffs and 11th in net punting.  

So, BG was better than 2020.  You'd hope so.  That's only useful if it is a step on the path, it doesn't stand on its own.

BG delivers road win

 The BG MBB team put together its best performance to date, with a solid road win over Duquesne.  Duquesne is not a great team--right now they would be 9th in the MAC--but they are a MAC quality team that BG beat on the road.  The Falcons played well, battled from behind and most importantly closed out strong to defeat the Dukes.

Duquesne led most of the first half and controlled the play.  They led by as much as 11 and 10 with 6 minutes left.  BG went on an 11-0 run to take the lead with 3 minutes left but the Dukes scored the next 7 to lead by 6 at the half.

The game stayed in the 4-6 point range until about 6 minutes left, when a 10-0 run gave BG the lead.  With 2:47 left, the Dukes were leading by 4, 70-66.  That would be the last time they would score.  

Joe Reece split a pair of FTs to cut the lead to 3.  BG got a stop on the other end and then Reece put an offensive board back to cut the lead to 1 with 1:49 left.  The teams traded stops and then Duquesne was called for a charge, leading to the big play of the game.  Samari Curtis created space for himself and nailed a tough 3 to give BG the 2 point lead.

In the last minute, BG made 6 straight FTs--four by Reece, 2 by Curtis--and that was the end of that.

The model for BG is much as we have seen in recent years.  BG shot the ball OK--47% on EFG is a little below average.  That includes 37% on 2FG--well below average--and 53% on 3FGs with only 25% of total shots coming from 3.  That got matched--as it usually does--with low turnovers which helps.  BG had a great game on the offensive boards and made 13 of 18 at the line.  All that added up to 1.11 points per possession, which is a really solid offensive game.

The defense was even better.  They held the Dukes to .99 points per possession.  That included worst shooting than BG, at 39% on 2FG and 35$ on 3FG, with 42% 3FG attempts.  They also took good care of the ball, but a key part of their offense is crashing the defensive boards and BG held them way below their average at that.  Finally, they did get to the line and they have good FT shooters but only made 63% last night.

The player of the game was clearly Samari Curtis.  He has brought a new dimension to the team.  He can create shots but most importantly he has great vision and makes great passes.  He scored 14 points on 5 of 7 shooting and 2 of 3 from 3FG...he made 2 last minute FTs, had 5 rebounds, and 7 assists over 1 turnover.  That's a night.

In fact, the team seemed to function really well with him on the point and Metheny at off-guard.  Kaden also had a good game at 15 points on 6 of 14 and 3 of 5 shooting.  Joe Reece had a double-double, 15 points and 12 rebounds, shooting 5 of 13 and making 5 of 7 at the line, all of them in crunch time.  Plowden had 13 on 5 of 13 shooting and 9 rebounds. Josiah Fulcher had 7 on 3 of 6 shooting in 19 minutes paired with stifling defense.  Chadler Turner and Matiss both had 6 on 50% shooting in 12 minutes.

BG's had 9 players with more than 10 minutes and no player with 30.  Still, it felt like a little tighter rotation than other games.  Both O'Neal and Young were below their normal minutes and Myron Gordon DNP.

BG gets a nice break now before a game agaisnt a decent Oakland team.  The next four games are at home.

Seven Falcon footballers make All-MAC

 And congrats to them all.  This is a good showing for a team that struggled as much as this one did.  Five other teams had 7 or fewer, so it was in a reasonable range.

Three of them were on the first team...

• Christian Sims
• Darren Anders
• Nate Needham

I had thought Needham had a good shot at special teams player of the year.  They gave it to Kalil Pimpleton, who is a PR at CMU.  He scored twice on PRs, one of only four in the country to do it and one was 97 yards.  Still, none were in conference play.  For my money, this should have been Needham.

Second Team...

• Jordan Anderson

Third Team...

• Karl Brooks
• Devin Taylor
• Matt Naranjo

Again, congrats to all of these young men.  At least 3 of them will not be back, but four of them can be back if they wsh....