Miami OH vs Bowling Green Recap 10/15/2022

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 more penalties. A Walter Haire sack led to a Miami punt, where BG would then drive 67 yards down the filed thanks to big catches by Odieu Hiliare and Tyrone Broden. On 1st and 10 at the Miami 21, Matt McDonald would throw a pick in the endzone. It was a fine play, not even a bad throw, just a great pick. 

The score was just 3-0 Miami at the end of 1. BG had yet again driven into a teams red area and not scored which was the signs of old BGSU but the defense was already showing strong against the run. It felt like the Falcons outplayed the RedHawks but due to penalties and turnovers were down. 

2nd Quarter

The 2nd quarter saw another 3 and out forced by the defense, and the offense responded with a 10 play, 61 yard touchdown drive. The run game of Jaison Patterson was clicking and Matt even had a big speed option on 4th and 1 at midfield. It was a gutsy call, but this team needed a boost and Scot called it perfectly. The Falcons just had consistent 5-8 yards gains and eventually got down to the 1 yard line where for the 2nd time this season, Scot dialed up the TE sweep with Harold Fannin on 2nd and goal. 7-3 BGSU. The defense forced another punt after a 24 yard drive which Miami downed at the 9 yard line. Matty then got strip sacked, but Kam Stewart recovered at the 1 yard line. A really good punt by Sami Sir was for not as Miami would drive 43 yards in 4 plays to score on a deep ball by Aveon Smith to Miles Marshall. BG would then knee the ball to go into half down 10-7.

The 2nd quarter was similar in the sense that BG outplayed Miami but the score was in favor of the RedHawks. Other than the big throw, the defense still looked great, closing gaps and pressuring the QB while the offense finally put together a great drive. 

3rd Quarter

The Falcon defense would only allow 3 more points the rest of the game. It came after Ta'ron Keith fumbled the opening kick return and the RedHawks would not get a first down and kick the field goal to go up 13-7. At this point, the offense needed to step up while the defense was still dominating but put in a tough spot. BG would punt after getting about 30 yards, then the defense yet again would force a 3 and out. The D line would not let Miami's O line get any push. The Orange and Brown offense finally took advantage of good field position as a big run on another TE sweep by Harold Fannin led to a field goal by Mason Lawler. The Falcons got into 1st and goal at the 3 and thankfully Miami dropped an easy INT. It was a disappointing end to the drive but 3 points were big. Miami was driving which had me worried but yet again the defense came up big with a Demetrius Hardamon strip sack recovered by Dontrez Brown. A big play to Broden would lead to another drive stalled out in the red area. This time BG missed the field goal so the score was still 13-10 Miami. 

The 3rd saw more issues for the offense. Two drives into the red area led to just 3 points, could have been zero had Miami not dropped a pick. The defense picked up the slack, allowing nothing for Miami except a field goal that was only set up by the BG special teams fumble. The defense was relentless, filling gaps, shutting down everything Miami was trying on offense. The Falcons were 0-24 previously when trailing entering the 4th quarter under Loeffler. 

4th Quarter

With BG needing to overcome a 4th quarter deficit, the defense AGAIN forced a 3 and out and put the offense into great field position. Starting around midfield, CJ Lewis got a big first down after a HORRENDOUS call by the officials picking up a PI flag. A big screen pass to Fannin led to a 20 yard TD run by Ta'ron Keith that was almost fumbled at the exchange. There was zone blocking, great downfield blocking by the WRs and Keith found paydirt. Lewis, Broden, and Hilaire all had great blocks downfield, those guys blocking like that is what championship teams do. Now up 17-13 the Falcon defense forced another punt as Miami got to midfield and then was just halted by the Orange and Brown defense. The BG run game looked amazing but a ticky tack bad call on a hold downfield brought back a big run of 50 yards by Patterson, with BG eventually punting to the Miami 25 with 3:23 left. It was almost blocked but a great punt by Sami Sir. The defense then yet again contained Miami's QB run game, Walter Haire and Anthony Hawkins stopping Aveon Smith on a 4th and 7 from their own 28 just inches short of the first down. Luckily the Redhawks also had a dropped pass and a ball deflected off of Darren Anders' helmet the two plays before. Just needing one first down to ice the game, Jaison Patterson continued running well as the O line just mashed Miami's defense to run out the clock and seal the win after converting on 3rd and 5. The right side specifically of Robinson, Warner, and Wollschlaeger did some great blocking when they pulled and BG was then able to knee out the clock.  

The 4th quarter saw the defense dominate, and the run game shine in a winning recipe for MAC football. 

Offense

Passing

The pass game had the type of day where it is not bad, but not good. It was a stat line that fits right in with a 17-13 win. Matt McDonald was 16/29 for 149 yards no touchdowns and a pick. Should have had a second pick in the endzone but it was dropped luckily. There were probably 5-6 drops that hit the receivers right in the bread basket. Broden had 3 catches for 42 yards and had the best pass catching day of the bunch. Everyone from Sims, Broden, Lewis, Croom, OJ all had drops. It was frustrating but also it means the plays are there and can be executed for big gains. Matt made some mistakes like the pick in the endzone, the almost pick, and a couple missed throws but overall the pass protection was not nearly as good as the run blocking. Matt was pressured a lot but overall managed the game, got some first downs, and did enough to lead this team to a win. 

Rushing

The run game was so creative and really just imposed their will on Miami's defense in the 2nd half. Credit this O line and the TEs for doing the blocking, and Jaison Patterson rebounded from last week for 94 yards on 18 carries. Levi Gazarek has been quiet all year but made some good blocks especially in the 4th quarter. Jamal Johnson also had 31 yards on 6 carries, Ta'ron Keith had the 20 yard touchdown run. The O line was doing a lot of pulling, the WRs had a big day blocking and the outside run as working all day for the Orange and Brown. TE Harold Fannin had 25 yards on just 2 carries, one going for 24 yards on a TE sweep and another scoring on the one yard line. Credit Stewart/Fatukasi, Grant, Robinson, Warner, and Wollschlaeger (and the other linemen rotating in) for what in my mind was their best day as a run blocking unit. 

Defense

The defense was dominant. This was the defense we saw shutdown Minnesota last year. After a pounding against Buffalo and allowing 290 rush yards, this unit responds by allowing just 98 rush yards against a Miami team that ran for 250 last week in a win against Kent State. The D line was getting home often, forcing the inexperienced Miami QB Aveon Smith to be un settled and churn out only 9 completions. 30 of Miami's pass yards came on one play, and Smith had only 91 the entire game. The coverage was great, the rush was great, most importantly, the trenches were dominated by BG. Miami averaged only 2.9 yards per carry. Tackling was way better, gap filling was great, this defense played nasty and it showed. Demetrius Hardamon had 3 tackles for lost and a clutch strip sack. The D line was stout, Captains Karl Brooks and Walter Haire were a force all day. BGSU had 10 tackles for loss, and Darren Anders and DJ Taylor each had 7 tackles. The Falcons defense finally had their coming out party, just need it to show up every week and not revert back to the EKU game. The defense control the field position with so many 3 and outs and really won the game. 

Special teams

The punting by Sami Sir was much better this week, especially the last one when BG needed it the most. However overall not a great day for special teams as Mason Lawler was 1/2 for field goals and the kick return game was bad with a fumble. Jake Rogers did have an 11 yard punt return which was a nice sign for the return man getting his old job back from 2019. 

Takeaways

I was staying positive all week. This is the MAC, the most parity of any conference. If this team got off the mat, it was never gonna be impossible to win after the butt whooping they took last week. The defense we have been waiting for all year showed up and dominated this entire game. The drops and penalties still need cleaned up, as well as special teams. We know this offense has fire power, they just need to show it but good teams pull the slack for each other. The offense was disappointing so the defense stepped up, next week it may be the other way around. The kids showed heart, the leadership council clearly got the boys fired up. Most noticeable, Coach Loeffler's play calling was fantastic all game and everything was creative and calculated. He dialed up zone runs at the perfect time and schemed guys open all game. Just need to execute better going forward. BG still had more penalties and turnovers but found a way to win, and can really pull away if the offense clicks next game. There was energy, and it was just such a statement rebounding from last week. 

BG now sits 2-1 in MAC play with all its goals still ahead. These next two games will be even more critical than the final 3 in terms of bowl eligibility. The Falcons need to go 3-2 to make a bowl. This game was so crucial as if it was lost, 4-1 to go bowling would be near impossible. CMU barley beat Akron, WMU got ran over by Ohio. Both of those Michigan schools are 2-5 and are flawed, so going 2-0 would be clutch as the Falcons would just need 1 win from the hardest part of the schedule in Kent State, Toledo, and Ohio.