2023 Season Recap

    BGSU Secures First Winning Record Since 2015!!!!

    I am going to say something that should be obvious, 2023 was an awesome year for BG football (again). Let me throw out some numbers that should drive this home, some of which include 2022. Coach Loeffler said back in 2018 that he needed 3 years of a complete rebuild before success was going to come and he has proved it now back to back years. 

  • 24% the combined MAC win percentage of the MAC teams BG has beaten from 2016-2021. In 2022, BG's MAC wins (Akron, Miami OH, CMU, WMU, Toledo) had a conference win percentage of 43%!!! 
  • 17 number of years BGSU went without a win over a P5 team that went bowling. Coach Loeffler beat 8 win Minnesota in 2021 and 7 win Georgia Tech this season. BG's last BCS win over a team that went bowling was in 2003 against Northwestern. 
  • 11-34 was Bowling Green's MAC record from 2016-2021. In the past two years BG has gone 10-6 in MAC play. 24% to 63% win record in conference play
  • 8 the number of years since BG's last winning season
  • 7 the number of years since BG's last 4 game win streak 
  • 6 is the number of games in Coach Loeffler's first 4 years that BG score 30 or more points. The Falcons did that 5 times just this past year! Four of those previous 6 came in 2022, so clearly the offense has taken huge leaps forwards the past two seasons
  • 5-0 is BG's record against non-bowl teams this year. This is a huge stat, the MAC has A LOT of parity and to be able to never falter against a team we deem lesser than is no small achievement. BG went from the dumpster of FBS football to at least securing a spot in the mid to upper tier of the MAC and FBS football. 
  • 4.5 the win total set by Vegas for the Falcons. The 3rd straight year Coach Loeffler and the boys outplayed expectations 
  • 2 the number of wins against the MAC West BGSU has had from 2016-2021. BG got 5 in just the last two seasons
  • 1 the number of teams BG has beaten from 2016-2021 that went bowling. BG beat 4 bowl teams the last two years



        photo via: Toledo Blade


    Coach Loeffler said it way back in 2018. Give me three years to rebuild, then this team will be competing for championships. After going 7-22 in the first three seasons, BGSU has gone 13-11 since. That is a stark improvement and more importantly the Falcons are 10-6 in MAC play vs 5-17 from 2019-2021. This team finished 3rd in the MAC East both of the last two seasons. Bowling Green is now a team that every MAC school cannot look past on their schedule and a team that is pretty much sure to be better than half the conference. Now hopefully BG is officially at a point similar to Miami OH where we can expect to go to bowl games most years and every few years when the stars align and a veteran team clicks, compete for a MAC Championship. 

    Everyone thought the season was over when BG got bullied by Ohio and went down 14-0 two minutes into the Georgia Tech game. The Falcons rallied to beat an ACC team that went 7-6 this year, then after another stumble against Miami OH, BG ripped off a 4 game win streak. Buffalo destroyed us last year and Coach Loeffler and the boys beat them by 10. The Falcons decimated Akron and Kent State, finally beat Kent for the first time since 2017. The Orange and Brown beat a veteran Ball State team in a close game sandwiched in between Akron and Kent. That is an impressive stretch considering every MAC schools recruits and spends similar money. Obviously the Toledo game was heartbreaking in every sense of the word but the Falcons responded by absolutely crushing Western Michigan. Despite the bowl loss to a Big10 team, this was another awesome year of Falcons football. No one thought this team would reach a bowl at 2-4 let alone go 7-5. Another bowl game, another year soaring past the Vegas win total, and finally a winning season. Lot of hopes for 2024. 




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