The Sports Xchange
NCAAF Team Report – Bowling Green – INSIDE SLANT
There’s plenty to get cleaned up after Bowling Green’s 27-14 season-opening loss to Florida on Sept. 1. Next up is the Falcons’ home opener Sept. 8 against Idaho.
Offensively Bowling Green has problems with consistency against Florida’s defense. The Falcons will need to be better on third down after converting only 4-of-17 opportunities. Also there were too many dropped passes by BG’s receivers.
Defensively BG needs to work on its tackling. The Falcons were there to make the stop several times, but failed to finish the tackles.
There were also problems on the special teams, with two missed field goals and a shanked punt.
Still the Falcons were respectable for most of the game against an SEC team and while working on the mistakes, BG head coach Dave Clawson will also be stressing the positives this week.
Clawson was especially pleased with the Falcons’ defensive effort on short yardage situation.
“That hasn’t been a strength of ours,” Clawson said about the short-yardage defense.
“There are a lot of positives to take, but there are also some things that we can’t do against anybody and win football games,” he added. “I don’t think our kids backed down at all … We battled hard and we were physical, we played really hard.”
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NCAAF Team Report – Bowling Green – NOTES, QUOTES
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WHAT’S AHEAD: It’s going to be up to the veterans to make sure Bowling Green is ready for its home matchup with Idaho. The Falcons need to fix what went wrong at Florida and not look ahead to the first conference game against arch-rival Toledo on Sept. 15. A victory over the Vandals will get the Falcons on the right track to fulfill their 2012 team goals.
–The Falcons showed off new uniforms, white helmets, jerseys and pants all with orange trim, against Florida. BG’s primary colors are orange and brown.
–OT Fahn Cooper, WR Je’Ron Stokes, C David Kekuewa, OG Alex Huettel, WR Ryan Burbrink, WR Shaun Joplin, WR Chris Gallon, DE Zach Colvin, and LB Gabe Martin all made their first career starts against Florida. For Cooper, Stokes, Kekuewa, Huettel, Burbrink and Gallon it was their first appearance for the Falcons.
In addition, WR Herve Coby, QB Matt Johnson, WR Travis Greene, CB Will Watson, S Josh Pettus, DB Victor Osborne, LB Trenton Greene, K Anthony Farinella and DE Bryan Baird saw their first collegiate action against Florida.
–BG has 12 players from Florida on the roster and nine of them played against the Gators — CB Darrell Hunter, RB Anthon Samuel, WR Herve Coby, WR Travis Greene, CB Will Watson, DB Victor Osborne, LB Trenton Greene, WR Chris Gallon and TE Kendall Montgomery.
–Of the 73 players who traveled with the Falcons, there were only nine seniors — including just three fifth-year seniors. And one of those fifth-year seniors was Bart Tanski, who did not dress for the game because of injury. There were also 20 juniors, 21 sophomores, and 23 freshmen, including eight true freshmen, on the travel roster.
KEEP AN EYE ON: WR Ryan Burbrink. A redshirt freshman, who was a walk-on to the program, Burbrink showed the ability to catch the ball in tight spaces against Florida. The 5-foot-8, 181 pound, Burbrink led all receivers with eight receptions for 45 yards. He did fumble a punt, but he could become the go-to guy on third down.
LOOKING GOOD: The wide receiver play was one of the biggest question marks facing Bowling Green coming into this season.
While the question has still not been answered fully, due to some dropped passes, the Falcons had four different wide receivers and six players in all make receptions in the 27-14 loss to Florida.
“We have been waiting for that all camp,” BG quarterback Matt Schilz said about the 22 total receptions by the wide receivers. “Chris Gallon and Ryan Burbrink really got in there and did some great things. They were focused the whole game. They didn’t let the crowd get to them and the (fact) they were on TV.”
Burbrink finished with a game-high eight receptions for 45 yards and Gallon had six catches for 69 yards. Both are redshirt freshmen.
Je’Ron Stokes added four catches for 32 yards and Shaun Joplin had four receptions for 30 yards. Tight end Alex Bayer chipped in with two catches for 44 yards.
“They made some good plays … We’re going to have a good receiver corps,” BG head coach Dave Clawson said. “Those guys will just keep getting better and my hope is that they get some confidence from today. They know they can make plays against this defense; there are a lot of plays they will make down the line.”
STILL NEEDS WORK: Fifth-year senior Stephen Stein missed field goals of 31 and 29 yards against Florida and redshirt freshman Tyler Tate was warming up if the Falcons decided to attempt a field goal in the fourth quarter.
“We’ve struggled with field goals for three years,” BG head coach Clawson said. “You miss two short ones like that, we’re going to give the other kid a shot. You’ve got to come out of those drives with points.”
Clawson said Stein just pulled both field goals, that were basically chip shots.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “We certainly felt like we let one get away. I don’t think there is a kid in that locker room that is happy or feels good about what we did. Our kids came down here to win, they didn’t come down here to play it close or play it tight.” — BG head coach Dave Clawson.
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NCAAF Team Report – Bowling Green – STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
PLAYER NOTES:
–RB Anthon Samuel, from Opa Locka, Fla., returned to his home state and rushed for 39 yards on 13 carries, including a 12-yard TD run against Florida. Samuel then did a ‘Gator Chomp’ after the score and was hit with a 15-yard penalty, which cost the Falcons big-time on the ensuing kickoff.
–RB John Pettigrew, a senior, rushed eight times for 38 yards, including a 1-yard TD, caught a pass for 9 yards and returned a kickoff 12 yards against Florida.
–DE Bryan Baird, playing in his first college game, led the Falcons with five solo tackles against the Gators.
ROSTER REPORT:
–WR Heath Jackson (toe) did not play against Florida.
–DE Ronnie Goble (ankle) did not play against Florida.
–WR Bart Tanski (broken collarbone) remains out.
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