Two New Football Verbals

BG has netted two more verbal commits for football over the past couple of days.

The first has a name that is too perfect.  After four years of rooting for Boo Boo Gates, BG was looking at a name deficit...until NOW.  The first verbal is BoBo Jones....just take two letters out and you are ready to roll.  BoBo is also a safety (I know, right?) from Xenia, OH.

There isn't a huge amount of info about Mr. Jones...here is his stat line from his junior year.  I'm guessing BG saw him play at a camp and decided he had the stuff to be FalconFast.

The other is Brandon Harris of Cleveland Shaw.  BG is really working the Cleveland area hard...something that will be very popular with big parts of the fan base.  Harris is a WR/LB.  He's 6'3" and 205.  This article says he was recruited as an "athlete" to BGSU...which means he could go a number of places.  With that size, he'd be dangerous in any position.

Cleveland.com on his junior year:

Harris caught 39 passes for 468 yards and four touchdowns as a junior for the Cardinals.

Welcome to the Falcons, Brandon and BoBo.

New Football Verbal: Harrison Roberts

The verbals are coming quickly now.  Harrison Roberts of Euclid, OH, is the latest.  He is the 3rd Cleveland-area defender in the group, and BG currently has recruited 4 players to go on the offensive side of the ball.  According to his local paper, he chose BG over UT and Notre Dame College (no, not that Notre Dame).

Roberts is 6'1" and 208 lbs.  He has been incredibly productive, especially for a sophomore and junior in HS.

Heading into his senior year at Euclid, Roberts has 133 tackles the past two season, 11 sacks, 20 1/2 tackles for loss and 15 quarterback hurries.

Two notes.  First, Roberts says he picked BG (over UT and Notre Dame College) because BG put an emphasis on getting a degree and had a high grade point average for the football team.  Second, Coach Clawson came in touting the State of Bowling Green but so far Coach Babers is showing real commitment to recruiting this state.

Stats are hard to translate, but I do like guys who are playmakers.  Again, you have to see the situations--which I assume our coaches did--but I like to see productive players.

Welcome to the Falcons, Harrison.

New Football Verbal, Ferrod Gardner

Hat tip to Hustle Belt on this one, BG has another defensive verbal, this one a LB, Ferrod Gardner from Trotwood-Madison, which is down by Dayton.  According to Hustle Belt, Gardner had some big-time interest--from Missouri and Tennessee, though his only offer to date was from Wofford.  He's Falconfast, running a 4.5 40-yard dash, which is a snappy pace.

He was also productive, netting 79 tackles as a junior.  He is not ranked anywhere I can find (which is unusual for a guy with legit Power 5 interest), but if the numbers are accurate, that's just a matter of time.

Welcome to the Falcons, Ferrod.

Christmas in June

BG lands two football verbals, one major QB....

Recruiting news coming faster now...and one big announcement for the Falcons out of Wisconsin.

BG has a verbal from James Morgan of Ashwaubenon, which is in Wisconsin near Green Bay.  Morgan is a big get.  According to this story in the paper in Green Bay, he is the #1 pocket passer in Wisconsin and the #19 pocket passer in the country, both based on ESPN rankings.  The story clearly cites Coach Babers and the 2nd round choice of Garoppolo as a factor...oh, and RG III gets a mention, too.

Morgan is 6'4" and 205, which is a nice size for a MAC QB.  Here is a report on his junior season:

The FRCC [Fox River Classic Conference] offensive player of the year completed 58.4 percent of his passes for 2,153 yards and 22 touchdowns with seven interceptions in the regular season to lead the Jaguars to the conference title.

This is a huge get for the Falcons.  Morgan has the ability to become the heir apparent to Matt Johnson, provide depth in the meantime and keep the pressure on.  You need the right kind of QB to play this spread style, and if Morgan ends up being that guy, he could have some huge numbers in BG.

The second verbal is Justice Hart.  He is a RB/LB at Glenville.  The recruiting services seem to believe that the 6'0", 200 lb player will end up playing LB for the Falcons.  Here is what his HS Coach had to say about him...

"I think they saw he ran a 4.4 and that he's short and stocky," said Glenville coach Ted Ginn Sr.

Hint:  I think we probably saw that, too.  If accurate, that projects into a player who could be a beast in the MAC.

One note on Hart.  One of the PTSD elements from the last time we played a spread system was that it seemed like all the guys who could go either way ended up on offense...and it took about four years to dig the defense out of that hole.  I like that our first 3 verbals were on defense, two were on the front line and the third was a player who could have played offense.

So, welcome to the Falcons, James and Justice.

Sorry Folks, Blog's Closed for One Week...

Moose out front....oh, you know how it goes.

Anyway, enjoy the week.  Back next weekend for more fun in the Falcon Nation.

BG's Second Football Verbal---Updated

Proud to announce that I will be furthering my football career and education at Bowling Green State University! #Fly pic.twitter.com/8c5gZWeZw8
— Nico Lautanen (@nico_laut54) June 13, 2014

So, BG has a second verbal and they are both on the d-line. This one is Nico Lautanen, a 6'4", 265 DT from Mentor, OH.  According to this story, (which lists him at 270) he had offers from most of the MAC schools.  Here is what his HS Coach (an 85 BG Grad) said...

“He’s one of the top defensive tackles in the state of Ohio,” said Mentor coach Steve Trivisonno of Lautanen. “He’ll be 290 by the time he gets to college, and he’ll be a force. He was impressive as a junior, as good as anybody else on the field.

Update:  Nico's local paper had a story on the commitment.  More info...he had 75 tackles as a junior.  Mentor played in the state title game.  Here's another coachquote:

“He’s so smooth,” Trivisonno said of Lautanen. “He’ll end up being a 3-technique kid, down inside as a tackle. He uses his hand well, plays hard and is very difficult to block.

Finally, when asked about what he would do if bigger schools came calling...

“Coach (Trivisonno) doesn’t like decommitting, and neither do I,” Lautanen said. “I’m set on BG.”

Welcome to the Falcons, Nico.