Bowling Green Football Talk

2022 Saturday MACtion Recap I like to break down the season just like Coach Loeffler does. There is the 4 game non-conference season, the 4 Saturday MAC games, and the 4 weeknight MAC games. So lets break down the Saturday portion of MAC play.  photo: Toledo Blade  The Good 1. Winning       The Falcons were able to do exactly what they needed to, and that was to rattle off 3 wins in the first 4 MAC games. Akron is still in a rebuild under a first year head coach, Miami OH and Central Michigan seem to be having a down year. Buffalo seems poised to win the conference so understanding that the 4 midweek games will be tough, one portion of the season needed to only have 1 loss to make a bowl game. While the wins over Akron and Miami were close, it does not matter. They were gritty, tough, conference wins in a league with equal talent. BG itself still is not a world beater so close wins are not the same than if a team like Ohio State only beat Indiana by 3 points. CMU was a bigger win that

Bowling Green Dominates CMU as Road Underdogs!      Bowling Green ended the Saturday portion of MAC play with a beat down of the Central Michigan Chippewas. This was Coach Loeffler's first win against a rotating MAC West opponent. The Falcons finally started hot on offense, Matt McDonald looked awesome, and for the second week in a row the defense dominated. Penalties were still an issue but BGSU won the turnover battle 0-4! Bowling Green now enters the Midweek MACtion stretch needing to go 2-2 to end a 6 year bowl drought.  photo: BGSU Athletics 1st Quarter       The Falcon offense got a touchdown on the opening drive for the first time since the road win over Buffalo last year. Honestly I knew this team would win because of this drive. Ta'ron Keith and the O line gashed CMU for 9 yards, then a screen to Odieu Hilaire went for 46 yards and the Falcons were flying. Some more good plays eventually led to a 4th and goal at the 1 yard line where Coach Loeffler dialed up the Harold

It has been over a month since the devastating loss to FCS Eastern Kentucky in 7 overtimes. I was left angered, confused, and questioning everything that I had built up in my head this offseason. However, the narrative of this team, this program, this culture has changed drastically since that game. Bowling Green is 3-2 since that game, 2-1 in MAC play. BG is 2-1 at the Doyt, home wins coming in thrilling fashion especially the game right after the EKU loss, as BG upset Marshall who at the time just trounced #8 Notre Dame. The coaching staff, Coach Loeffler specifically, has blown me away in the 5 games since I sounded the alarm bells. Let us break down the state of the Falcon program at the moment.  photo: BGSU Athletics The Good Meemaw always said give me the good news first, so here we go.  1. The Defensive Rebounds     Last Saturday was a masterclass in blue collar football as the Falcon defense dominated Miami OH in a resounding statement for this team. However before the Miami ga

Bowling Green Upsets Miami OH! Bowling Green was 1-5 against Miami OH since 2016 with the last win coming in 2017. Bowling Green has only beaten the RedHawks ONCE in the last 9 meetings at The Doyt. Bowling Green needed a response to the pounding by Buffalo last week, and boy did they. The defense was rock solid for the first time all year, and the offense did just enough to win. This game was hard, it was ugly, but it is just as sweet as the pretty wins. A statement game for these kids, this staff, and the culture of the team.  photo: BGSU Athletics 1st Quarter  The 1st quarter started out pretty scary. It looked like the same old BG when 30 penalty yards on one play, on 3rd and 9, led Miami down towards the red zone. However the defense showed flashes of what they would be today when Demetrius Hardamon sacked Aveon SMith on 2nd down and the RedHawks would settle for a field goal. The BG offense has not started well in any game, and the first drive was 8 yards and a punt after some mo

BG gets embarrassed! Well, this game left me puzzled, frustrated, and everything in between. The first relevant MAC game in years, and the boys come out flat, lost, and just got their asses spanked. There is really no way to sugar coat this one. I am staying positive because it is just one game, but wow was it bad. Last year BG topped the Bulls in a shootout, and Buffalo came to The Doyt looking for revenge.  photo: BGSU Athletics 1st Quarter  It started out bad, and it never got better. Buffalo drove down the field on the opening possession with ease. BG's defense was butter, Buffalo's offense was the knife. Good running, a big throw, and it was a wrap. The offense then came out and responded by throwing a pick. The Buffalo offense then drove 30 yards to settle for a field goal. Now it was already getting out of hand, but a 3 and out for the offense led to a 2 play, 48 yard touchdown. Finally the defense gets a stop, gets a fumble. How does the offense respond? Getting stuff a

Bowling Green starts MAC play 1-0! Well, this game leaves me feeling exactly how a 31-28 game should. With that score, and specifically the way things went down, feeling good about each phase of the game, and also seeing there are things to clean up from each phase. First things first, a great team win. All three phases of the game played well in spots and all three phases have to thank their teammates in other moments. Coach Loeffler said it all week, this game is huge for us. Akron beat down on the Falcons in 2020, and then last year after a hot 13-0 lead, Akron came back to win in dominate fashion. BGSU got off the Akron schneid by picking up the win, and starting MAC play 1-0 for the first time since 2015. Matt McDonald highlighted the offense with 3 TDs but it was the run game that shocked me as the Orange and Brown averaged 4.8 yards per carry.  photo: BGSU Athletics 1st Quarter  The 1st quarter is actually where I had some concern for how the game might unfold. After a great kic