Bowling Green State University Athletics
Spring Football Update
April 01, 2005 | Football
April 1, 2005
BGSU Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator Tim Beckman has the longest tenure of any coordinator in the Mid-American Conference as he enters his seventh year in his current position. As those in the coaching profession so often experience, the high's can be extremely gratifying, while the low's can keep you up at night. He experienced both in a 30 day stretch last season.
Under his direction, the Falcon defense limited one of the top offensive teams in the country, Memphis, to just seven second-half points and 98 yards of total offense as BGSU went on to notch a 52-35 win in the 2004 GMAC Bowl.
"It certainly was a great way to end the season," said Beckman. "It gave our kids a lot of confidence as we headed into the winter."
It was a confidence the group needed after experiencing what Beckman calls "the worst feeling I have ever had as a coach" after losing to Toledo in the final game of the regular season.
SOME STATS YOU MAY NOT KNOW
The Falcons gave up just 34 points in the first quarter last year, while BGSU scored 184... BGSU is 33-1 since the 2001 season when holding a lead in the fourth quarter... their only blemish came in 2001 at Marshall.
DEPTH ALWAYS A KEY
The Falcons generally have rotated eight of nine defensive linemen, six linebackers and six defensive backs over the past few years.
"We are a team that likes to blitz and put a lot of zone pressure on the opposition," said Beckman. "I think the term "Always Active" best describes our staff and our kids."
Depth also is important because football games at BGSU are lasting 40 minutes longer than they were in 1998 (2:41 in 1998 to 3:21 last season) and with the leads that BGSU has been able to establish, (the Falcons had leads of 21 points or more in nine of 12 games) the defense ends up facing an opposing offense that ditches its traditional game plan and forces the Falcons to adjust on the fly.
"Everything you game plan for all week goes out the window", said Beckman. "I was really distraught with the number of big plays we gave up last year especially when we were able to get a lead. This winter Coach (Gregg) Brandon and I visited Virginia and Al Groh, who is considered to be one of the best defensive minds in the country, and I told him that I'm concerned about the number of big plays we gave up once we had big leads and asked him what he had done under similar circumstances and his answer was, "I wouldn't know, but it's a nice situation to be in."
Brandon knows that the only stat that matters to him is the one on that shows the number of points on the scoreboard. During the first six games of BGSU's seven game winning streak, the Falcons allowed just 13.1 points per game, a fact that always was cited during the head coach's post-game press conferences.
"I think the thing that we try to look at most is our points allowed ,our red zone defense, and takeaways, which both finished among the top three in the MAC," added Beckman. "The measuring stick that I use is our 2001 team which led the league in total defense, scoring defense, rushing defense, and turnovers forced. That was an impressive group and our goal every year is to come as close as we can to exceeding their accomplishments.
THE VETERANS
The Falcons return three starters up front in senior nose guard Mike Thaler , defensive end Devon Parks and junior Brad Williams who has moved to defensive end from his defensive tackle position. Senior Monte Cooley has the inside track on a starting position at tackle.
At linebacker, senior Teddy Piepkow is the lone starter returning. Senior Jamien Johnson and junior Terrel White could emerge as the starters, and junior Lavelle Sharpe is having an outstanding spring according to Beckman. Aaron Burkart and Jon Jakubowksi also are players who have played key roles on special teams.
In the secondary, senior corners Jelani Jordan and Terrill Mayberry both are back and veteran senior backups Tim Arnold and Mike Crumpler will get the first chance to earn a starting spot at safety. Senior corner John Nicholson has enjoyed a good spring and should contribute in the team's nickel and dime packages.
NEW FACES IN NEW PLACES
With its largest class of redshirt freshmen in recent history, the Falcon defense and their success could rest on the shoulders of the 2004 recruiting class.
"They are a group that is athletic and talented, but they need game experience," said Beckman. "The biggest chore they have is to eliminate mental mistakes and know their assignments."
Defensive tackle Nick Davis and defensive end Joe Schaefer are two players that will be needed to supply depth up front. John Haneline also should have an immediate impact at linebacker and although he is a sophomore, Pete Winovich, has settled in at linebacker after playing quarterback and tight end during his stay at BGSU. Erique Dozier also is a player who has been impressive this spring at safety.
STRIP, SCOOP AND SCORE
Last year, the Falcons forced 25 turnovers and averaged more than 11 points a game off of those takeaways. BGSU also scored two touchdowns off interceptions, had one fumble recovery for a score and had two safeties.
"We work on it every day," said Beckman. "It is a mindset and we know that if we can give our offense a short field or score ourselves it makes us that much better."
2004 Defensive Stats |--------Tackles--------| |-Sacks-| |---Pass Def---| |-Fumbles-| Blkd DEFENSIVE LEADERS GP Solo Ast Total TFL/Yds No-Yds Int-Yds BrUp QBH Rcv-Yds FF Kick Saf ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Burkes, Jovon 12 30 61 91 8.0-25 1.0-2 1-5 2 2 . 1 . . 5 Piepkow, Ted 12 21 60 81 3.0-8 . 2-64 1 2 . . . . 17 Newson, Keon 12 38 34 72 5.0-16 . 6-107 8 . 2-0 2 2 . 53 Sayles, Daniel 12 34 33 67 7.0-18 2.0-10 . 2 . 2-0 . . . 2 Jordan, Jelani 11 38 26 64 3.0-10 1.0-7 2-42 15 . . . . . 9 Carswell, T.J. 12 24 35 59 0.5-0 . . 2 . 1-0 1 . . 20 MAYBERRY, T. 12 33 18 51 2.0-8 1.0-7 1-0 6 1 . . . . 90 CROSSLEY, Mitch 12 17 25 42 6.5-21 2.5-8 . 1 2 1-30 1 1 . 48 White, Terrel 12 18 23 41 3.0-10 . . . . . 1 . . 31 Crumpler, Mike 12 17 21 38 . . 1-0 1 . 1-0 1 . . 92 Williams, Brad 12 11 26 37 3.5-8 1.0-4 . 2 1 . 1 . . 24 Perry, Deaudre 12 18 19 37 3.5-9 1.0-6 . 4 . . . . . 57 Parks, Devon 12 16 18 34 6.0-43 4.0-35 . 1 2 1-0 . . . 91 Cooley, Monty 12 9 25 34 6.0-24 2.0-18 . 2 1 . . . 1 77 Thaler, Mike 12 12 18 30 3.0-12 2.5-11 . . . 1-0 . . . 56 Johnson, Jamien 10 10 11 21 0.5-1 . . 2 . . . . . 94 Leininger, Matt 8 10 7 17 8.5-36 4.0-29 . 1 . . . . . 36 Hargrove, Loren 6 5 7 12 . . . . . . . . . 98 Newble, Ryan 12 4 8 12 . . . 2 . . 1 . . 25 Arnold, Tim 8 6 5 11 . . . . . . . . . 23 Nicholson, John 9 8 2 10 . . . . . . . . . 26 Sharpe, Lavelle 8 8 2 10 1.0-2 . . 1 . . 1 . . 8 MCGRADY, C. 11 6 3 9 . . . . . 1-0 1 . . 11 Winovich, Peter 12 3 6 9 . . . . . . . . . 40 JACKSON, Bryan 8 5 3 8 . . 1-0 1 . . . . . 95 Jakubowski, Jon 7 6 1 7 . . . . . . . . . 63 Mack, Brandon 7 3 2 5 . . . . 1 1-0 . . . 41 Burkart, Aaron 6 1 4 5 . . . . . . . . . 37 Reese, Jenkins 4 2 2 4 . . . . . . . . . 39 SIMONTON, Steve 9 3 1 4 . . . . . . . . . 14 Myles, Will 5 1 3 4 . . . . . . . . . 38 Suisham, Shaun 12 2 1 3 . . . . . . . . . 93 WALSTON, Ricky 3 1 2 3 . . . . 1 . . . . 96 SMITH, Thomas 4 1 1 2 . . . . . . . . . 54 Cutler, Kyle 2 2 . 2 1.0-5 1.0-5 . . . . . . . 13 Cole, Melvin 2 1 1 2 . . . . . . . . . 1 Sharon, Charles 12 2 . 2 . . . . . . . . . 27 Macon, Dan 6 . 1 1 . . . . . . . . . 52 HOLLINGSWORTH 2 . 1 1 . . . . . . . . . 4 Jacobs, Omar 12 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . . 87 TIMCHENKO, J. 3 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . . 46 Fry, Nate 12 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . . 45 Curran, Patrick 2 1 . 1 . . . 1 . . 1 . . TM TEAM 5 . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Total.......... 12 430 516 946 71-256 23-142 14-218 55 13 11-30 12 3 2 Opponents...... 12 - - - - 13-97 4-40 44 24 6-0 7 2 .
