Quick Recruiting Update

A quick recruiting update.  Two things....BG has a verbal commit named Ryan Hunter who is playing in Buffalo though he is from Ontario.  There has been some things on line that indicated it might be soft...then, his team won the Catholic title and he was interviewed on Buffalo TV wearing this....

If you get a chance to listen, you should. He's an articulate young man and has good things to say about BGSU.  He doesn't close the door completely, which is normal and honest.  If a BCS school came calling, anyone would expect him to listen.

Also, BG has a verbal from Logan Larson, who is from Illinois.  He's a RB there...apparently he projects to a TE in college. Anyway, he played a huge role in a historic win for his school.

Logan Larson carried Pleasant Plains High School to its first playoff win in the 10-year existence of its football program Friday night as the Cardinals beat Auburn 34-21 in the first round of the Class 3A postseason. It was only the second playoff game for Plains, which also qualified in 2008. It was the second time this season Plains has beaten the Trojans. The Cardinals won at home 39-21 in Week One. Larson, a 6-foot-4, 250-pound running back who is headed to Bowling Green State University on scholarship, gained 179 yards on 22 carries. He also scored for two touchdowns, the second a 50-yarder with great downfield blocking that sealed the win with 1 minute 59 seconds left.

Post and Future Opponent Land

Florida: (7-1) Lost to Georgia
Idaho (1-7) Idle
Toledo (8-1) Beat Buffalo
Virginia Tech (4-4)  Idle
Rhode Island (0-8) Lost to NH
Akron (1-8) Lost to CMU
Miami  (4-4)  Beat OU
Umass (0-8)  Lost to Vanderbilt
OU (7-1) Lost to Miami
Kent (7-1) Beat Rutgers
Buffalo (1-7) Lost to Toledo

2012 MAC vs:

All out of conference: 24-26
All FBS: 16-25
All FCS: 10-1
All BCS: 8-20

Just a note...

Teams BG has lost to are 19-6
Teams BG has beaten are 6-35

The Recipe...offense

I remember Coach Clawson's first press conference.

He was asked about whether BG was going to run the spread.  He said he wasn't a "system guy."

I liked that.  I always think it is ridiculous that you can hire a guy to be a head coach and he comes in and says "I can only coach one way, so we're going to have to wreck everything for a few years until we get my guys in" (Rich Rodriguez, I'm looking at you).  It seems to me that a guy who is a good football coach should be able to make the most out of what he has and should be able to win more than one way.

Well, you're seeing it.  BG is now playing an offensive attack that is completely different than what it has used in years and is different from what the other successful teams in the MAC are using.  This is a throwback attack that we just haven't seen.  This would have looked good to Doyt Perry.

Coach made the point in his post-game presser....the idea is to outscore the opponent.  And the offense did that, even without the pick 6.

And, to look at the positives first, BG had great success running the ball, and that was without the starting TB, who did not play.  In fact, after Givens was injured, BG was down to its last two TBs (literally, I think there is just one walk on after those guys) and the depth certainly came in handy.

BG's tailbacks had 35 carries for 226 yards.  That is 6.5 yards per carry, and that's good at any level.

Even down to Pettigrew and Hopgood, BG ran the game out in the 4th quarter with brutal efficiency. BG had the ball for 12 minutes in the fourth quarter, snuffing out any hope of an EMU rally.  Those two drives....7 first downs and 3 pass plays.

While I understand we were playing conservatively, I can't find a word for our passing attack that wouldn't be inept.  If I used two words, it would be completely inept.  And if we can keep winning on the recipe, than great, but you worry about how we might need something else and whether it would be there.

On the scoreboard at the Doyt at halftime, they showed BG's leading passer.  It was Jordan Hopgood. The point was not lost on any of us.  For the game, without the trick play, BG got 78 yards passing out of its QB...and won the game.

I think the book is out...UMass blitzed a lot, and it seemed like EMU did as well, and that just seems to put chaos into the whole system.

The fan's inclination is to look at the QB.  And, I don't think we are getting very good play from our QB.  He seems to be inaccurate.  He didn't throw any interceptions and only took one sack, and I guess that's part of what they want, but I can think of several plays that were well developed and open where he either threw the ball wildly or too hard.

In addition, his unwillingness to run is a liability.  In BG's final drive, a TD was wide open by running 15 feet, but he threw instead.  Teams cover us differently because they know he won't take the open run.

I don't care to focus on individual players, but he is the QB and in other games there were moments where I thought he made plays and others where he didn't, but I don't think the play yesterday really even hits the level of being "inconsistent."  I believe the team has made a decision to figure out another way to win.

Now, he played really well against Miami, and that has been the hope all along...that if the running game took some pressure off, we could take advantage of the full box and hit some easy passes and move the ball.  That happened against the RedHawks, but we haven't seen it anyplace else.

It isn't just him.  I don't think our WRs are doing a consistent job of getting open either, but there are plays where we have gotten a guy into space and the ball doesn't get there.

It is a rule of football that the backup QB is the best guy on the team.  I just don't think there is any chance of seeing a switch.  The coaching staff has doubled down on this QB...a number of guys have left because he had the job locked down.  This has been their guy and (let us not forget) we are 6-3.

Also, the one thing we have to do under this recipe is play turnover free on offense.  There is no way--no way--that they are going to put a new guy in who has taken only garbage snaps and have him learn on the job when we are playing under a no-mistake game management strategy.

We do have some time with the bye.  I think we could improve our protection against the blitz, and if we provided airtight protection, we might get better throws.

If we can keep winning with the recipe, that's great.  But, you'd like to have a plan B.

Falcons Complete Middle Phase of Schedule Successfully

With the 24-3 victory yesterday over EMU, BG completed the middle part of their schedule doing exactly what they had to do, and that's a good thing.  After a brutal September, October was looking decidedly doable, and the Falcons did.  That meant beating up on Akron, UMass and EMU (teams with a collective 1 FBS win) and then picking up a win over a Miami team that showed yesterday that they are pretty good too.

That was all completed.  BG had to win all 4 and they did.  It has been a while since we've had a team that could even drive its way through easy competition, and if you want to look for our program making progress, there it is.  BG has won 5 in a row, which they have not done since 2004, when the team won 7 straight.

The key has been defense.  BG has emerged as a stifling defense...and while we have been beating teams that have struggled to win, Akron, Miami and (to an extent) EMU had not been struggling to score.  Every week, this defense is establishing itself as a dominant force.

Yesterday was ridiculous.

• EMU was held to 11 first downs, 3.5 yards per play and they ran only 51 plays in the game.
• EMU had 3 turnovers.
• The defense scored a touchdown.
• The defense produced 5 sacks and 3 hurries.
• EMU was 3 of 12 on 3rd down.
• EMU threw an INT with 14:24 left in the 2Q in BG territory.  For the remainder of the game, they ran two plays in BG territory, and that was on the last drive.
• In other words, EMU never even threatened after the beginning of the second quarter.

On an individual level....

Chris Jones is making a very strong play to be the MAC Defensive MVP.  Yesterday, playing D-tackle, he produced 2.5 sacks and a touchdown.

Gabe Martin led the team in tackles, had 2.5 sacks, forced a fumble and had an interception.

That's pretty good.  Honestly, I have been going to BG games for a hell of a long time, and I don't remember us having a period of defensive dominance like this.

It is giving some BG fans the bends...we just aren't used to winning games the way we are.  And part of that is to have the offense play very safe, figuring that we can score what we need if we don't make it easy on the other team by giving them a turnover.  (Not to draw an undue performance, but this was the model the Ravens used to win the Super Bowl).

Todd Walker called it the "recipe" after the game.  BG is now facing the tough part of the schedule.  OU finally lost, but the game will be down there, and then BG plays Kent, who is in the MAC East driver's seat.

The question is...will the recipe work against those teams?  I think it is our identity.  We'll talk in a later post about the offense, but it becomes increasingly apparent that if the recipe were to fail that our offense is just not going to ramp it up enough to win a shoot out.  The one little beacon of hope in there is the Miami game, where the offense probably had its best game of the season.

Coach continues to say that he is calling plays conservatively...which I am sure is true.  For much of the game, the BG attack was inept even at that.

So, one of two things.  Either we find what we had against Miami or we win the way we have been.  OU has been far from unbeatable (and we have a bye leading up to the game) and the game Kent game is on our field and then we finish on a neutral field against Buffalo.  Each of those games is winnable or loseable.

I will say this.

It is great to be playing meaningful games in November.
It is great to see our team win five in a row.
It is great to see us develop an identity.
It is great to go out and feel like your team has a shot at winning every time.
I'm looking really forward to watching us line up for the next two games.

Victory #6

BG won their 6th game tonight 24-3, with a consistent and solid drubbing of EMU.  No, it wasn't a blow out, but on the other hand, the outcome of the game was never in doubt.  The next two games present real tests...but for now, the Falcons put together a very solid victory.

If I had told you BG would win a game with less than 100 yards passing from the starting QB, what would you have said?  Just asking....

Falcon Fodder Injury Addendum: Anthon Samuel

Falcon Fodder has this....Anthon Samuel injured his neck at UMass, and while he did return, did not practice Wednesday, is hoped to practice today and is "questionable" for the game Saturday.  Pettigrew, Hopgood and Givens are all healthy and practicing.

As we will see in tomorrow's 25 question preview, the Eagles have really struggled defending the run, so there is opportunity there if BG's backs and line are able to move the ball on the ground.  We have depth at the position, though it is less than what it was when we started.  Pettigrew has been effective, as has Hopgood (although longer ago) and Givens has a couple big runs.  Anyway, for now, Samuel is "questionable."

Clawson Presser--Eagle Edition

Coach Clawson held his presser yesterday....there were really three things of note.

First, he was obliged to go through the usual "this team isn't a 1-6 team."  EMU has played better the last two weeks, including a win (albeit Army) and this has coincided with making a change at QB.  Like our team, he thinks they might have found their identity, which is to be a run-based team.

Which leads to our second point.  In BG's four game winning streak, in which the defense has shined, the team has been mostly facing spread/pass type offenses.  This is the first time the Falcons are facing a run-based team in this stretch.  Coach says the mark of a good defense is to be able to stop all kind of attacks and that will be a test for our team Saturday.

Finally, he was asked about the team's offensive struggles in Amherst.  While conceding that we need to be more consistent on offense, he said that once BG went up 21-0, he switched to very conservative playcalling because he didn't think that UMass could score 21 if they had to drive the field.  He said we "took the air out."  The inference is that the poor offensive numbers can at least partly be explained by that strategic decision.  Well, OK, I mean, partly.

The question he asked (and the question we would all ask) is that we know that the offense can turn it down when they need to, but if we needed to turn it up, could.  Coach says "the jury is out," which is certainly true.

I think it will be a very interesting game Saturday.  Can BG's defense buckle up on the run?  And can we recapture the offense we had against Miami and make that a consistent feature?