Bowling Green State University Athletics
BG Goes Back to the Run
August 14, 2006 | Football
Aug. 5, 2006
By JACK CARLE, Sentinel Sports Editor - Some sections of Bowling Green's playbook are being dusted off this fall.
Many of the plays that were called when Josh Harris was using both his running and passing skills to become the Falcons' career leader in touchdowns scored (47) are back in the forefront. Harris played four years for the Falcons, helping the team win the 2003 Mid-American Conference West championship and finish 11-3 with a victory in the Motor City Bowl. He was later drafted by the Baltimore Ravens.
With Omar Jacobs as BG's starting quarterback each of the last two seasons, the Falcons called a lot more passing plays. Jacobs finished his career as Bowling Green's career leader in touchdown passes (71) while throwing for almost 7,000 yards. He was a draft choice last spring of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Now with Anthony Turner and Freddie Barnes at quarterback, the plan is for more running plays to be used.
"The quarterbacks we have now, we want to use our system to exploit their abilities," BG head coach Gregg Brandon said Friday during the Falcons' media day. "We kind of got away from that with Omar."
However, that doesn't mean the Falcons have made major changes in their offense.
"We've just got the ability to use those guys the way we used Josh," said BG assistant coach Mick McCall, who works with the quarterbacks. "We can take our personnel and do the things we need to do with them that they do best. These guys run the ball very, very well. We need to do some things with these guys in mind."
Turner, a 6-feet-2, 226 pound, redshirt sophomore, earned the starting spot during spring drills to replace Jacobs.
However, Turner has been suspended for Bowling Green's season-opener against Wisconsin on Sept. 2 in Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Turner was cited last March for possession of less than 100 grams of marijuana by Bowling Green State University's campus police. The possession charge was dropped to disorderly conduct and Turner pleaded no contest to that charge and was fined $150 plus $70 court costs in Bowling Green Municipal Court.
The one-game suspension is the policy in the team's player handbook, Brandon said at the time.
"That's our rule ... We're not trying to hide anything," Brandon said. "It says it's the next game and that just happens to be the game against Wisconsin. If it had happened during the season it would have been the next game."
Turner played in eight games last season making two starts when Jacobs was sidelined with a separated shoulder. Turner was 52-of-85 passing for 492 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. He also carried the ball 53 times for 170 yards and three scores.
Barnes, 6-2, 185, is a redshirt freshman and he's expected to start against Wisconsin.
"They'll probably split reps (repetitions) with the first group, that's the plan right now," Brandon said earlier this week about practice time for Turner and Barnes. "That's a great one-two punch. We've got to figure out a way to get them both on the field; that's a nice problem."
Brandon said Barnes is a dynamic runner, but only an "adequate passer. That needs to continue to improve.
"He reminds me, skill-wise, of Josh Cribbs (former Kent State quarterback now with the Cleveland Browns as a kick returner)," Brandon added.
During the February signing period, BG added quarterbacks Anthony Glaud and Tyler Sheehan and they will be competing for the No. 3 spot on the depth chart.
"The big question is, who the third guy is going to be," Brandon said. "We'll see how that shakes out."
QUICK HITTERS: Brandon said the current edition of the Falcons is the fastest team in his tenure and also has the biggest number of players doing the bench press the way Coach (Aaron) Hillmann wants ... Buckeye Cable Sports Network (BSCN) is producing three BG games -- Buffalo, Kent State and Eastern Michigan -- for airing as delayed broadcasts ... Because of more strict NCAA rules, there are only three two-a-day practices this month -- Aug. 10, Aug. 12 and Aug. 14.
