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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Weekly Football Press Conference
November 18, 2005 | Football
Nov. 18, 2005
The Bowling Green State University football team is preparing for a Tuesday (Nov. 22) matchup with the arch-rival University of Toledo, with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. at Perry Stadium. On Friday afternoon (Nov. 18), head coach Gregg Brandon and several Falcon players sat down with members of the media to discuss the game ...
Q: You got through the period without Omar (Jacobs), and you're where you need to be.
Gregg Brandon: Yes, and I think that's a testament to this team and the seniors. We hung through some adversity, we got two big road wins at Kent and Miami, and now we're still in control of our destiny. That's nice; there are only two teams -- us and Northern (Illinois) -- that can say that.
Q: Did you have any rooting interest in Wednesday's Toledo-Northern Illinois game?
GB: Well, if Toledo wins that game, they clinch (the West Division title). And, I'm sure they come in here ready to play, but there might have been a little bit of looking ahead on their part. But, now that they lost that game, they're like we are, in a must-win situation to get to the (MAC) Championship. It becomes a more meaningful game, I think. In my first year here with Urban (Meyer), we blew them out here. Their best player, Tavares Bolden, didn't even play. Chester Taylor played, but not much. They had already clinched. Were we that much better than them that year? Probably not. I think (the loss to NIU) puts them in a position where we've been the last few weeks, in that every game is a must game now. And, they've been there too. To be in this position at this time of year is what you want, no question.
Q: Are they any different from Toledo teams of the past?
GB: No. Their quarterback runs the show. (Bruce) Gradkowski is a great player. I think he's very determined, and I've seen him will teams to victory, like (against) us in the second half last year. He's just a tough guy, and a good player. Defensively, they're very active, and they've been that way since I've been here. They seem to have some of the better talent, on that side of the ball, that we'll face; very active linebackers, good cover guys, good pass rushers, and we've got to play a good game to beat them.
Q: Has their defense changed much under (first-year defensive coordinator Tim) Rose?
GB: No, they're still very aggressive, very attacking, multiple looks, they mix things up well.
Q: How much of a motivator is the second half of last year's game?
GB: We hammered that (into the players) pretty well in the offseason. Now, it's a new time, it's a new game. The kids all remember that game, I don't need to remind them -- we did that at 6:00 a.m. in January and February. This is a new opportunity.
Q: Toledo has had success with their running game.
GB: They run the ball very well. Their line is big and physical, and (Trinity) Dawson's a good back. They want to be a physical running football team, and I would think that they will come in here and attempt to establish that.
Q: How much improvement has your defense made during the course of the season, and are you surprised at that?
GB: No, I'm not surprised. The fact that we've stepped up at the crucial time the last two weeks ... it's nice that the kids have stepped up when we've needed them in crunch time. I challenged our defense before the Akron game that, 'Anthony Turner's getting his first start, I'm not going to put pressure on Anthony to go win the game like maybe we did with Omar, you guys need to go win the game.' And, we almost got that done. We turned the ball over, that's what hurt us. And, our kicking game was atrocious; the defense did not play all that badly against Akron. Now, we didn't shut down (Brett) Biggs, but since then, Biggs has been pretty good. We had a chance to win that game, but since that game, we have had big defensive efforts, particularly against the run, which has been a huge boost for us.
Q: Did you see the team brighten when they knew Omar was going to play at Miami?
GB: Oh, yeah, it was a big lift. Any time you lose a guy, an impact player such as Omar, it's going to be a downer. For us, the big downer obviously was in the second quarter against Western Michigan, and we never recovered in the second half. Fortunately, we have a group of seniors, a group of veterans that overcame the loss of Omar. And then, having him trot out there Tuesday night, I think a lot of guys said, 'All right, nice to see you, let's go.' I know I did.
Q: The tight end seems to have emerged.
GB: Yeah, it was nice to see (Sean) O'Drobinak (emerge). We needed him to step up, we've challenged him as well, and he came on at a crucial time. He's not only good for our running game, but he's improving week-in and week-out as a receiver. We can leave him in and throw him the football, and that's huge. I like playing with a tight end, we just haven't been able to do that here for one reason or another. As time goes on here, I'll continue to recruit big, athletic kids who can run. If you look at Toledo, they've got four or five tight ends they play all the time, and I really like that style of offense. Toledo does a great job of play action. They get you up there smacking the pile, and then they throw it over your head.
Q: You'll have 19 seniors playing their last game here, and the majority of these guys have been here for four or five years. You've been with them the whole time. Will Tuesday be emotional for you?
GB: It'll be a sad time and a happy time. It's sad that their careers will be over, but they'll always be Falcons. They'll get to move on in their lives, and go out and establish themselves in the world. I just hope that some of the things that they have learned in our program will help them later on in their lives.
Q: When you had to take (Terrill) Mayberry out of the Miami game, it looked like Mike Crumpler did a pretty good job.
GB: Yes, Mike stepped in. Mike's a fifth-year kid, he's been in the program a long time, and he knows what's expected. He stepped in, got an interception, made a couple tackles. Crump's been a good special-teams player for us this season. He knows his role; I think it's been tough for Mike that he's not been able to start, but we've talked, and I told him that everyone has a role, and the sooner you accept your role, the better everyone will be. He's bought in, and here he is.
Player Quotes
Jelani Jordan, Defensive Back
Q: What has been the difference in the defense these last two games?
"We have just been enjoying playing with each other. The seniors know they do not have that many games left and we just enjoy playing and having fun out there."
Q: Can it be scripted any better?
"This is what we look forward to going in to the season. We have to play our rival to get into the MAC Championship; you can't ask for anything else."
Omar Jacobs, Quarterback
Q: How big is the revenge factor for this game?
"It's not even a revenge factor, you play these guys once every year at the end of the year and most times its for the MAC Championship or some type of spot in the MAC. It's not a big revenge thing, it is just a big rivalry game. When you are playing a rival team the stakes are up a little bit more."
Q: Did you watch UT/NIU this week? What did you think?
I thought it was a well fought battle between those guys; they played hard.
Q: Would you say BGSU is peaking at the perfect time?
"When you get that type of performance from every aspect of the game [like Tuesday's] you feel good about everything and you kind of can say we are peaking or we are almost at the top where we need to be at this point of the season."
Q: How glad are you this game is taking place at home?
"Home field advantage has been a big deal for this game. Last year they won at home and the year before we won at home. Even with it being an ESPN game, its nice to come back home and let the crowd play a factor."
Mike Thaler, Defensive Line
Q: How fired up are you for this rivalry game which will be your last at home?
"It's going to be awesome. After playing in this stadium for five years, it's my second home. We have a great group of seniors and a great group of friends and it's going to be an emotional time but I think it is going to be an exciting time to go out on a positive note."
Q: Was the Miami game your best of the year?
"As a defense I think so. I think after the first half they had -10 net yards of offense. If you look statistically I think it was one of our best. We went in at halftime up 29-0 and we didn't have a huge letdown. It shows that we persevered and kept things going like we needed to."
Q: How will the intensity carry over against UT?
"Against Toledo I think intensity, passion and pride are not even a factor. You are playing a school that is 20 minutes up the road and while you respect each other, you don't like each other. It does not matter if Toledo is ranked 10th in the nation and we are the bottom of the barrel or vice versa. No statistics matter for this game, both teams are going to go out there and will play hard and play tough. It will come down to the wire."
Q: Do you like the weather cold?
"It's always cold for the Toledo game. It's traditionally been like that and I would have it no other way."
