What a summer it was for Falcon football.
It's hard to remember. So, February. We have Coach Loeffler, who, in my final opinion, had a good but far from great tenure. The mere fact that his defenders can't discuss him without talking about Mike Jinks says a lot. True, he picked up the program at its lowest rank and got it to where we were one game from the MAC title.
Having said that, I'm not sure the low parts had to be as low as they were, and it usually seemed that we were less than the sum of our parts. This was especially true on offense, at which he is supposedly a guru. Last year, with Harold Fannin, Terion Stewart and Conner Bazelak, we were #6 in the MAC in scoring offense. (MAC Games).
So, it's February. The team lost a lot of players--the normal way--and then there were portal losses on top of it. Loeffler would be back...you can't get rid of him, but you figure a yawner is ahead.
And then, Loeffler leaves for the NFL. There's a chance for a fresh start, but given the timing, not a great one. Most coaches were getting ready for Spring practice. The list of potential hires was not inspiring...a lot of guys who had been on a lot of lists.
It's an incredibly important hire. You get the wrong guy, you might have him for five years.
And then, we landed a big fish. Presumably through Urban Meyer, we found ourselves talking to, and then hiring, Eddie George.
Nothing has been the same since. George has been a jolt of electricity to this program. He's been all over the country raising money. He's on billboards. The Doyt will be jammed on Thursday. It's so different from what was expected on those cold February days.
So here we go. Nothing has been won yet. But there's a true sense of potential.
Previews are a lot harder than they used to be. So many of the players are new. But here we are. Coach says we are relatively healthy.
BG is picked #6 in Phil Steele and by the MAC. On paper, I think that's a reasonable pick. The offense has the potential to be decent. The defense is almost all new, but I think it looks better than I feared it might. If the defense comes around, we have a shot to be better than people think.
So, for this preview, I thought I would look at the two-deep and just do a briefing on who these guys are and where they came from.
OK, starting on offense.
The line is mostly recognizable names. BG returns 117 career starts, which is #15 in the country. The only player new to us is Andrew Kilfoyl, who made 13 starts at USF and over 1,000 snaps. The reserve unit is untested, but if the main unit stays healthy, BG has a competitive line.
QB is Drew Pyne, at his fourth University--Notre Dame, Missouri, and Arizona State. He was certainly highly recruited--#7 drop back passer--but has made just 11 starts in that time. There was one year of injury. This is a shot he's waited a long time for. Let's hope it comes together here. Lucian Anderson is the back up. In his presser, Coach George had really good things to say about Anderson. We've all seen ability, but it hasn't clicked, and maybe it is now. He has stuck it out with us.
WR is going to be an area of question mark. Finn Hogan has made one highlight-reel catch and then battled injuries and has not shown much real production. RJ Garcia came from K-State and sat out all of last year. He was productive with the Wildcats. The other WR is Allen Middleton, who caught 32 passes for Southern Illinois last year. Local favorite Winn Sharp of Anthony Wayne is on the #2 line as is OSU transfer Reis Stockdale.
TE, on the other hand....holy cow. First, it warms my Falcon heart to see Jacob Harris on the top line. The other starter is Jyrin Johnson from Texas Southern, who had 100+ catches and was All-SWAC. And those guys are ahead of FR All-American Arlis Boardingham, a Florida Transfer. And Blane Cleaver has risen--he transferred a couple years ago from Army.
Coach made it clear that the first job for WR and TE is to block. I think that tells you what kind of offense we will run. Which I love.
Which leads us to the RBs, perhaps the biggest mystery of any position group on our team. Coach says all four of these guys are a little different and all will get touches Thursday. They are looking for one or two to break out from the pack.
Chris McMillan--JUCO transfer. Bowling ball, between the tackle guy.
Cameron Pettaway--Recruited here. Highly productive runner and receiver in HS. R-FR. Did not play last year.
Kaderris Roberts--Played at Stetson and then Tennessee State, although he did not play at TN State. 784 yards for the Hatters.
Nakai Amarchee--Also recruited here. Considered high-upside recruit. Was All-State in Michigan. DNP last year. R-FR.
So there you have it. I think that's a competitive offense in our conference, with upside. But time will tell.
Now, for the defense.
Phil Steele ranked each position group #8 in the MAC, FWIW.
Let's start in the back 7.
LBs are Gideon Lampron (Dayton), Dorian Pringle (recruited here, high praise from Coach George) and MJ Cannon (Illinois State). There could be a strong unit. Both Lampron and Cannon were highly productive FCS players. Pringle was recruited here...two-time All-State, co-Division II Defensive players of the year, career leader in defensive stats at Massillon, led Massillon to an undefeated season and state title as a senior.
The corners are new. There's Keyon Washington, who was recruited to WVU, did not play, and is now at BG (so making his first collegiate appearance). The other CB is Jalen McClendon, a high-level player for Coach George at TN State. Was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan award--FCS defensive player of year.
Two returning players are at S. Darius Lorfils has played quite a bit for us, made 6 starts last year. Did seem to improve after a kind of rough start. And Kal-El Pascal, He played in every game last year, but was highly-productive in Miami, especially at tackling.
The DL is probably the project area. Coach says that the guys made progress. Usually, this is the key for our defense. If the line doesn't absorb block and keep the LBs clear and also pressure the passer, you've got no shot.
Remember, also, effective DL position groups normally need 8-10 competitive guys to keep a good rotation going.
At one end, we have Eriq George, highly productive at Tn State, returner Bam Booker (Maryland transfer, played 9 games with little production last year) and UCLA transfer Collins Acheampong, a highly touted if raw player.
Moving inside, returner Dierre Kelly (4 games last year) and Jamion Olverson, a true FR early enrollee are at one tackle and Evan Branch-Haynes (19 tackles in 13 games last year) and Dayln White (recruited here, 3 tackles in 11 games).
On the end, David Afogho (recruited here, played sparingly) and Myles Bradley (played in all games last year, 21 tackles.
To me, the defense is the area that needs to exceed expectations. There's one corner and most of the DL where we have unproven players. Not saying they won't be good. But most of them have yet to really show any production.
On special teams, Coach calls John Henderson, our P, a cyborg. He hopes we won't need him much, but he's a weapon. Jackson Kleather is back at K...he won the job last year, was injured in game 6 and replaced by Zach Long. He was 6-9 before the injury.
Pettaway and Roberts--from the RB room above--will return KOs. Brennan Ridley--transfer from Hampton and a FR All-American in FCS--will return punts.
BG's schedule is difficult as usual. The P4 games are Cincinnati and Louisville--not as difficult as normal, but still tough road tests. A very good Liberty team here for homecoming. And Lafayette to open up.
The conference schedule could be worse...@Ohio, @KS, @EMU and @UMass...with UT, CMU, Buffalo and Akron at home.
If the offense can control the ball and keep the defense off the field and put points up, it will give us the best chance to win. Anyway you slice it though, excitement for Falcon football has not been this high since...maybe Babers I. Or Meyer II.
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