Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Prepare to Face Kent State
September 19, 2006 | Football
Sept. 19, 2006
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Quoting Bowling Green State University football coach Gregg Brandon and selected Falcon players as BG prepares to take on Kent State University Saturday afternoon (Sept. 23) at 1:00 p.m. at Doyt Perry Stadium ...
It must have been nice to get Corey Partridge back on the field for the Florida International game.
"Yes, it's pretty big. Corey is a proven player. I like him back there as a punt returner as well; I think that is very important for us. It is very encouraging he played well down at Miami and now the key is that he sustains that."
How is Anthony Turner doing?
"He is day to day. We will see how he does tonight and see the things he can do. He separated it when he hit the ground, and I don't know exactly what grade it is, because they have different grades on how bad."
"We are going to evaluate him, and if he can't go, we will go with Freddie like we did with Wisconsin, but open the passing game a little bit more than we did with Wisconsin. Right now we are game-planning with both of them."
Chris Bullock got some carries down at FIU. Was there anything wrong with Dan Macon at that time, or was it just a good chance to get Chris on the field?
"It was a chance to get Chris in the game at an important time. We are going to need both Dan and Chris throughout the season. To put Chris in when the game was still on the line, for him to run the ball and have a couple good carries, I think that was something. We have to continue to work Chris Bullock into the game."
What concerns you about Kent State?
"Their quarterback (Julian Edelman). He is a good little player."
What did the films from the Miami game show you about Kent State? What did they do to win that game?
"Well, they played very well defensively. They put great pressure on Miami's quarterback; they hit him a dozen times and sacked him five or six times. Ultimately, though, their quarterback won that game for them. He had some big throws and he made some scrambles. He is a legitimate play maker. That's always a concern for a defense, to control a running quarterback."
"They are doing some things that we have been doing with some designed runs that they did against Army. Other than the Minnesota game, they have been in both of the other games. They beat Miami and had a chance in overtime against Army. Kent is a much improved football team."
Jerett Sanderson, obviously, seemed to play well on Saturday.
"He did a nice job on the kickoff. Loren Hargrove knocked the ball out and Jerett scooped it up; it was great hustle by those two. And then, Jerett had the two interceptions late in the game, with the last one coming on their Hail Mary, to seal the win. He is in the right place at the right time most of the time.
How big is Saturday's game vs. Kent State?
"We have to win the game. It's a MAC East game, and we only have two more home games after this. The weather is supposed to be nice and you never know what the weather is going to be like late in the year. It should be a great day for the students and the community to come out and support us. It should be a good crowd; I know our students will come out. They do a good job of supporting us."
What improvements need to be made if you want to win the MAC?
"Well, we have to find a way to keep from giving up the big plays in the kicking game. We still let a kickoff (run back for a TD) Saturday night, and that allowed them to stay in the game. One thing that was disappointing was that defensively, we pretty much contained Wisconsin and Buffalo from big plays. Well, we got 'big played' on defense Saturday night with a run that was almost 80 yards -- which is unacceptable -- and then a screen play that went 40 or 50 yards. So, they had 130 yards on two plays. If we are going to be in the hunt in November, we have to fix that. We can't give big plays like that. We need to limit the explosion plays and keep from turning the ball over; if we continue to work on improving those things, then I think we have a shot. I think to continue to run the ball like we are doing will help us, and time of possession which we are doing a nice job in will help us. We have to keep doing those things."
Are you worried about giving Freddie Barnes too much too soon?
"I think he can handle it, but it is something that makes you think. I think, as the season progresses we have to think about putting too much on him. For us to be in the hunt, I think it's going to be execution down the stretch, so if those guys have a lot on their plate you just set yourself up for more mistakes. But, Freddie has demonstrated to us that he can handle all this. And, as long as he keeps doing it, I am going to keep pouring it on him because he is a playmaker."
What have you seen from Kent State defensively?
"I think the Muir kid (Daniel Muir) is one of the premier defensive linemen in the league. He was good last year, and they had a couple good guys there last year that were hard to block. Those guys are gone, but the kids in there now play just as hard. Muir is a force; he is one of the better guys in the league. Their secondary is experienced; I like the way they run back there. Their safeties are very athletic. They have a pretty salty defense. We have to block well and make sure we take care of the ball."
FALCON PLAYER QUOTES
Freddie Barnes
"That was the first (TD reception) of my whole life. It was cool to catch one and get it in there."
"The MAC is not made for anyone, we got a chance just like everyone else. Its definitely on us to do something big in the MAC. All we have to do is take care of our part and not worry about anything else."
"It's a big game for us to stay on top of the MAC. Just a big game, period, for us because it's a home game. We hate to lose at home. We give our fans a show so people keep coming out and supporting us.
"I'm real excited because I am having fun, just playing period, going out there and making plays. Football is getting real fun for me. All the practices over the summer had me wondering if all this work was all going to pay off in the end. It's starting to pay off for me now."
(On winning back-to-back close games)
"It shows that we are fighters and we are going to keep going until the last whistle blows. That's what we talked about all summer, being mentally tough and performing at a high level in adverse situations. We've proven that we can do that early in the season and we have no doubts in those aspects of close games. We have been there before and can make it happen."
Devon Parks
"As a defense, we have had a lot of freshman come in, step up and play well."
"They have a new quarterback, a junior college transfer from Colorado. He is a scrambler, our biggest concern on offense."
(On Kent State's win at Miami last week)
"I've played at Miami a couple times, and I know that it is not a very easy place to win, so I think that's a very impressive win.
Corey Partridge
"Both our quarterbacks are really athletic, both are great players. With me and Freddie (Barnes) both playing inside, playing receiver and running back and with Anthony (Turner) in there at quarterback, it gives us a lot of options that can really hurt defenses."
(On the back-to-back close wins)
"It's really good to see that, especially out of a young team. We have a lot of freshmen, a lot of underclassmen playing. To show that fight through the whole game and come out with a victory against tough teams in tough weather, tough conditions, is really good to see and will help us later in the season."
Jerett Sanderson
(On the young secondary bonding as a unit)
"As a group, we have learned to trust one another. We know we have to work hard for each other to make sure that everyone is on point."
"As a defense, we know that if everyone plays their role and does their job and we continue to work hard to stop the run, everything will fall into place."
