Great day to be a Falcon. Yes, there was plenty that could have been better. We certainly played better than they did....and we sent the big crowd home happy, a chance we have missed before. The noise of the crowd, our alumni, the band, and a victory over what was expected to be a pretty good football team...great weather. Take it any day.
While we might remember winning comfortably, it was a one-score game late in the 3rd.
The game started with Kal-el Pascal knocking the ball free on the 3rd play of the game, and BG got the ball on their own 41.
Coach George said after the game that BG has to get better at finishing drives. I think everyone would agree.
BG picked up 2 first downs and then a false start on 3rd down. Starting on 1st and 15, they failed to convert (losing one yard net) and then settled for a Kleather 48 yarder.
The teams traded punts, and then LU had the ball on their own 38. They drove into BG territory and threw an apparent TD pass that was called back on a holding. (In fact, they ended up with 2TDs and a long pas called back. Coach George seemed surprised when asked about them. I went back and watched the replay, and each of them was 100% a foul. On the TD pass and the run, our guys were clearly wrestled at the impact points of the play. The third one was an absolute holding penalty, but dumb...the Liberty OL kept wrestling him when he was nowhere near anything.)
Anyway, LU tried a 38-yard FG and missed.
BG converted 2 3rd downs before stalling at the LU 1 and punting the Flames to the 1. They drove to the BG 38 before the Falcons got sacks on 2nd down and 3rd down.
There were two more exchanges of punts, and then LU started at their own 11. BG got a sack, and then on the next play, LU ripped off a long run, and Dorian Pringle punched the ball out, and Pringle recovered. BG got the ball with :29 left, drove to the LU 7, and then took another false start. This time, they recovered, as Pyne hit Harris in the end zone to make it 10-0 at the half.
The last exchange was huge. Three sacks and a turnover, and a two-score lead heading into the locker room.
BG got the ball and punted. LU took the ball on the 22 and scored on a 44-yard pass to make it 10-7. How big is the Harris touchdown now?
BG went on their most sustained drive of the game. A key play--like one of those plays you don't notice but made a difference--was Finn Hogan winning a 50/50 pass that might have been a 25/75 pass on 3rd and 10. After getting to the Liberty 6, a holding call set them back. As did an appalling no-call on DPI in the end zone. Kleather nailed a short one to make it 13-7. Drive killed 5:44.
The BG defense got a 3-and-out. The offense started at about midfield and hit Johnson for a 21-yard catch, but again the drive stalled and Kleather nailed a 50-yarder.
16-7 with 13:43 left.
It's 3rd and 2 for LU on their 33. BG stuffs them and 3rd and 4th down, and recovered a fumble on 4th. That's one of the plays where BG is closing out a game.
BG capitalized, as McMillan dodged two tackles to get to the edge and was pushed out of bounds at the 15. LU's DB proceeded to throw a punch at McMillan in front of the BG students. A melee broke out, the ball moved to the 7, and McMillan scored on the next play. 23-7 with 11:38 left.
Things are looking pretty good. LU drove to the BG 36, when Collins Acheampong deflected a pass and Pringle intercepted. 8:15 left. BG took it very conservatively, killing 3:15 from the clock and punting.
LU took the ball with 5:02 and marched down the field, scoring with 2:46 left. But, they missed the conversion and committed a penalty on the conversion, 23-13 is the score.
BG recovered the onside kick and ran the game out.
It was a sloppy game. BG had 13 penalties for 106 yards and LU had 6 for 48...about half of them at terrible times. LU turned the ball over 4 times, gave up 4 sacks, etc.
Even as BG has room to improve, they played better than LU did and deserved the victory.
BG had only 5 yards per play on offense if you take away the sack and the kneel-downs. That's still just average. We only broke one 20+ run, and it was Pyne on a scramble.
The passing game was also just OK. Pyne was 16 of 31 for 146. He does seem to have accuracy issues....especially on throws out to the flat on the LOS. The rest of the time there seemed to be rhythm issues, balls delivered slightly behind or late. The 9.1 yards per completion and 4.9 per attempt reflect a safe play call and low productivity.
No Falcon had more than 3 receptions. RJ Garcia had a couple tough runs after catching the ball. He led the team with 38 receiving yards.
10 points off turnovers--and none on their end--was the difference.
Now, for the defense, which had a much bigger game. In addition to forcing those 4 turnovers, BG held a team that went wild last week to 5.4 yards per play. Sack adjusted, they also ran for 4.9 yards per run. They completed only 13 out of 25, for 194 yards. They did have some success downfield on the pass game, as BG was up playing the run.
Perhaps most importantly, BG made an adjustment. No really. LU was moving the ball effectively with the option in the first half, but BG tightened up in the second half. We made effective adjustments with Clawson, not so much since.
Pascal had 7 tackles, forced a fumble, and had a pick. Washington had 8 tackles. Pringle with 7 tackles, 1 fumble forced and recovered, and a pick. Lampron with 6 tackles.
On special teams? Kleather, OMG. A 48 yarder and a 50-yarder. Henderson had 39 yards per punt, 2 inside 20 and 1 TB. Ridley (a name to watch) had a 25-yard punt return.
Sometimes winning hides faults. I don't think that will happen. We know we need to get better. Having said that, as Urban Meyer said, "we will never apologize for winning."
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