Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Host Buffalo Saturday
September 08, 2006 | Football
Sept. 8, 2006
By JACK CARLE, Sentinel Sports Editor - Coaches always say the biggest improvement is between the first and second games of the season.
Gregg Brandon hopes that's the case with his Bowling Green Falcons. BG, a 35-14 loser to Wisconsin last Saturday, hosts Buffalo this Saturday. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. in Perry Stadium. It's the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams. Buffalo comes into the game at 1-0 after a 9-3 overtime win over Temple.
Here's a breakdown on the Falcons heading into Saturday's game:
OFFENSE
Freddie Barnes played well in his first start at quarterback for the Falcons, but Anthony Turner takes over after being suspended for the Wisconsin game.
Brandon has plans to keep Barnes involved, using him in a variety of roles, including running back and as a slot receiver.
Barnes finished with 158 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 29 carries while Dan Macon added 37 yards on 13 carries. And while Barnes completed 12-of-19 passes, BG had 82 passing yards with only three completed passes for 12 yards or longer.
"We had limited passes in the offense. We're going to open it up more this week with more downfield throws with Anthony," Brandon said.
"(We'll) let him cut loose a little bit that way and that will help the running game."
BG's passing game will be helped if Corey Partridge, the team's leading returning receiver, is able to play.
DEFENSE
Brandon said the Falcons need to tackle better, but was pleased with BG's pursuit against the Badgers.
"It was hard to get our arms around those backs; it was hard for one guy to bring them down," he said. "The thing that was encouraging that I didn't seen enough of last year ... was that if we did miss a tackle, there were four or five guys getting there.
"We didn't give up the explosion play on defense which to me is really encouraging ... I didn't see a tentative defense."
Terrel White, the team's leading tackler with 100 last season, is expected to be back in the lineup at linebacker against Buffalo. He was suspended for the Wisconsin game.
With White in the middle, John Haneline moves back to the weak side with Loren Hargrove as his backup. Erique Dozier, who Brandon said was BG's best defensive player against UW, is the strong-side linebacker. Cody Basler is White's backup, but Brandon is concerned about Dozier's backup.
In the secondary, Antonio Smith, who has started all 12 games of his career at cornerback, is questionable for Buffalo after suffering a sprained ankle against Wisconsin.
Without Smith, BG is expected to start three true freshmen in the secondary.
"Our secondary gave up some throws (against Wisconsin)," Brandon said. "We're just going to have to fight through that because they are so young."
SPECIAL TEAMS
BG's most noticeable mistakes against Wisconsin were in the kicking game. A blocked punt and a shanked punt led to two Badgers touchdowns in the second quarter and the Falcons were never able to recover. BG is using both a freshman punter in Alonso Rojas and a freshman place-kicker in Sean Ellis.
"Alonso, he was rattled after that (block), because he took a shot and landed hard," Brandon said. "We can't have that happening to our freshman punter ... That's my deal. I've got to fix that. We've got to do a better job of managing that, knowing where their people are who are potential war daddies, so to speak, guys who can wreck havoc whether it's offense, defense or kicking.
"You block a punt and you effectively psych a punter out. An older guy will fight through that and perform. Alonso, he was shell-shocked after that.
"We've got to help him through that and we've got to protect him. That's the bottom line, we've got to protect the punter."
Ellis made both of his extra points, but had problems with his kickoffs.
"The reason we recruited him is because he can kick the ball high and deep. Well that didn't show up on Saturday," Brandon said.
"It's not high school anymore. We were counting on them to go in and perform like veterans and they didn't perform like veterans, they performed like freshmen.
"We've got to fight through that and live with that because they are both very talented kids."
BG did run a fake punt with Pete Winovich gaining 16 yards and a first down early in the second half.
