Bowling Green Football Talk

2023 QB Position Preview QBs battling (photo via Toledo Blade) Looking back at 2022 Matt McDonald is a BG legend. He came here to help rebuild a dead program and he succeeded. Took some bad losses in 2020, upset Minnesota in 2021, and beat Toledo and made a bowl game in 2022. Matty was a freaking gamer, making plays happen when there was pressure and seeming no open window. It is going to be HARD to replace Matty Ice but someone has got to do it and do it well. QB is the most position for a reason. Matt threw for over 2500 yards, over 20 touchdowns and had big throws in big wins.  Departures The portal is the most volatile for QBs. Only one can play so everyone tries to find a team to start on and 2nd string is not the same in the QB room as any other position. Matt McDonald graduates, Owen Bainbridge transfers to D2 Notre Dame College, and Daelen Menard transferred in from BC just to head to New Hampshire FCS after spring.  Incoming Coach Loeffler brings in Connor Bazelak from Indiana

2023 RB/WR/TE Position Preview  WR OJ Hilaire (photo via BG Athletics) Looking back at 2022 The pass game was the real bright spot in 2022. OJ had a breakout year while Taron Keith displayed a lot out of the backfield. Jaison Patterson was the workhorse back but we could not run in the redzone as he had just ONE touchdown despite almost 600 yards. That has to be the biggest ratio in CFB this past year. Harold Fannin had 4 rush TDs while the running backs had just TWO. The pass game will hopefully stay strong while the run game improves.  Departures We see Tyrone Broden go to Arkansas, CJ Lewis and Cavon Croom graduate, while Christian Sims is trying to make the NFL. A few guys like Jalen Holly, Braxton Todd, Jaylen Jennings, and Jaedyn McKinsrty hit the portal with only McKinstry staying FBS and none of these guys seeing much of the field the last season.  Incoming Say it with me folks, Scot Loeffler crushed the portal again! Finn Hogan comes in from another MAC school (CMU), Jaylon Je

Bowling Green Football Schedule Preview 2023 HC Scot Loeffler (photo via BG Athletics) Last year was a really fun 6-7 season. After the FCS loss, this team upset Marshall in an OT thriller on homecoming and then had a solid 5-3 MAC record to go bowling. Hopefully 2023 sees similar or better results. I think predicting MAC teams is near IMPOSSIBLE because of the constant parity year to year and now the transfer portal basically makes the group of 5 teams brand new from year to year. With that being said, here is my schedule prediction.  Win Range Prediction: 5-7 wins Liberty: Win Eastern Illinois: Win Michigan: Loss Ohio: Loss GTech: Loss Miami OH: Win Buffalo: Loss Akron: Win Ball State: Win Kent State: Win Toledo: Loss Western Michigan: Win Non Con 2-2 The non-con is ROUGH this year. Liberty pays there head coach 8 times more than we do at 4.5 million they spend like a P5 team. However it is there first game as a staff, so give me the Falcons in an upset! I think BG will then beat Eas

BG Football Names 5 Captains  Just a few days away from kickoff, BG Coach Scot Loeffler announced the 5 captains for 2023. This is a massive year for BGSU football and these 5 will need to provide the leadership through a rough schedule. They replace some great captains from 2022 in Matt McDonald, Karl Brooks, and Walter Haire.  Darren Anders LB Senior  Anders is literally a day one Scot Loeffler guy. Getting solid playing time since his freshman year in 2019, Anders led the MAC in tackles in 2021 and was an anchor in the 2022 defense. Anders did test out the portal in the off season but came back home to BGSU. It is crazy seeing this guy help lead the culture shift from the disaster BGSU was to a bowl team, look for Anders to finish off his BG career with a bunch more tackles.  OJ Hilaire WR Senior  OJ transferred in from Alabama AM in 2022 and was an absolute beast for the Falcons. Over 200 yards and 2 touchdowns against Toledo, 2 touchdowns against Marshall, OJ proved he can excel a

2023 O Line Position Preview  OT Alex Wollschlaeger (photo via BGSU Athletics) Looking Back at 2022  The O line last year was better than any of the Falcon lines in Coach Loeffler's previous years. The run game was non existent in the red zone but we were able to get some chunk runs in MAC play. The pass protection had some really good moments but I do think Matt McDonald's mobility played a huge part in the reduction of sacks. Just 4 rushing touchdowns for running backs was dead last in all of FBS last year so hopefully the red zone ground game improves for 2023.  Departures Jakari Robinson was a standout at center last year and he graduates while RG Jalen Grant transfers to Purdue. Leris Manzi and Jeremiah Banks-Wall also leave via the portal. Both guys contributed to the awesome Marshall win but could not see much playing time this year or last. Overall despite losing some key starters, I think the BG line will have more depth.  Incoming The transfer portal is providing some

  2023 Front 7 Preview LB Darren Anders (photo via Toledo Blade) Looking back at 2022 2022 was a very up and down year for this defense as a whole. Some games were lights out like WMU, CMU, Miami OH. Other games were TERRIBLE like Buffalo, Kent, Ohio.  Two incoming transfers last year in Chris Bacon (Georgia State) and DJ Taylor (Wake Forest) along with BG stalwarts Darren Anders had over 70 tackles. Karl Brooks is obviously the biggest name, reaching 50 tackles, 10 sacks and being drafted in the 6th round to the Green Bay Packers. Losing a guy like Karl who has been a Falcon since the Mike Jinks days is a huge loss but as a collective defense we could see an even better year.  When looking at the front 7, losing DJ Taylor, JB Brown, Walter Haire, and of course Karl Brooks are HUGE losses. Walter and Karl were not only great players, but captains as well. Taylor came in for one year from Wake Forest and was dominant in the middle.  Departures  DJ Taylor graduates as does Walter Haire a

2023 Secondary Position Preview  DB Davon Ferguson (photo via BG Athletics) Looking back at 2022  2022 was a very up and down year for this defense as a whole. Some games were lights out like WMU, CMU, Miami OH. Other games were TERRIBLE like Buffalo, Kent, Ohio.  Two incoming transfers last year in Chris Bacon (Georgia State) and DJ Taylor (Wake Forest) along with BG stalwarts Darren Anders had over 70 tackles. Karl Brooks is obviously the biggest name, reaching 50 tackles, 10 sacks and being drafted in the 6th round to the Green Bay Packers. Losing a guy like Karl who has been a Falcon since the Mike Jinks days is a huge loss but as a collective defense we could see an even better year.  In terms of the secondary, Chris has a great year along with Trent Simms, Jordan Anderson, Deshawn Jones, Jalen Burton, and Jordan Oladokun who saw the majority of starts last year. Pat Day also had a great year in terms of rotating in and special teams in which he had a punt block TD against Toledo.

2023 Specialist Position Preview The season is almost near, just 3 Saturdays away from going to face Liberty. With this preview let us take a look at the Specialists going into 2023. P Sami Sir (photo via BG Athletics) Looking back at 2022 2022 was the best BG season since 2015 and the specialists had a solid year.  Mason Lawler handled the kicking duties, Sami Sir the punting and Jack Sauder was the holder while George Carlson was the snapper. Carlson did a really good job snapping, same to be said for Sauder's holding. Sami Sir had some good punts and some bad punts. The true freshman from Australia really started to round into form in the back half of the season especially against CMU and WMU late in the year. I felt Lawler had a really solid season kicking up until the bowl game in which a few missed kicks ultimately proved to be the potential difference in the loss.  Who will start in 2023?  My guess would be Sir, Carlson, and Sauder all resume their roles for 2023. Mason Lawl