Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Host Bulls For MAC East Lead on Friday Night
November 17, 2008 | Football
Nov. 17, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
Game #11
Bowling Green (5-5, 3-3 MAC) vs. Buffalo (6-4, 4-2, MAC)
Nov. 21, 2008 • Bowling Green, Ohio (Doyt Perry Stadium) • 6:05 p.m.
TV:BCSN • Greg Franke (Play-by-Play) and Tom Cole (Analyst)
Radio: BGSU Radio Network (1230AM) • Todd Walker (Play-by-Play) and Cal Bowers (Analyst)
Game Notes Versus Buffalo (37 pages) 
The Bowling Green State University football team (5-5, 3-3 MAC) will play host the Buffalo Bulls (6-4, 4-2 MAC) this Friday inside Doyt L. Perry Stadium. The Falcons, who need to win their final two contests to reach the MAC Championship game in Detroit, Mich. (Dec. 5), will square off with the Bulls at 6:05 p.m.
Scouting the Falcons
The Falcons, who are currently on a two game win streak, come into Friday's action playing their best ball all season. The Falcons are coming off back-to-back first half shutouts of Kent State and Ohio, outscoring the opposition 42-0 in that span.
Offensively they are led by junior signal caller Tyler Sheehan, who has thrown for 2,129 yards and 16 touchdowns. The second year starting quarterback also leads the team with five rushing scores and even has one receiving touchdown this season. In his career the Cincinnati, Ohio native has been responsible for 50 touchdowns (39 passing, 8 rushing, 3 receiving).
Alongside Sheehan is a quartet of tailbacks, led by fifth-year senior Anthony Turner, who has 357 yards on the ground to go along with three rushing touchdowns. Turner is joined by Chris Bullock (329 yds., 2 TD), Willie Geter (131 yds.) and Jason Rice (127 yds, 1 TD). Overall, the Falcons rank 10th in the MAC in rushing, averaging 117.5 yards per game.
Sheehan has more than enough options when deciding who to throw the ball to. Sheehan has completed passes to 13 different players this season, but leading the way is fifth-year senior Corey Partridge, who has 50 catches to go along with 476 yards and five scores. The Loveland, Ohio native has 174 career receptions, which ranks sixth in school history. Joining Partridge as other Falcon targets include Freddie Barnes (27 rec., 218 yds.), Tyrone Pronty (25 rec., 162 yds.), Chris Wright (20 rec., 224 yds, 1 TD) and tight end Jimmy Scheidler (16 rec. 137 yds., 7 TD).
Defensively the Falcons allow 22.8 points per game, after allowing 32.1 last season. That 9.3 points per game improvement is seventh-best in the country. Up front the Falcons are led by MAC Defensive Player of the Year Candidate, Diyral Briggs who is third in the league with seven sacks, and second in the conference with 10.5 tackles for loss.
The linebacker group is second, third and sixth on the team in tackles, but they also have five interceptions this season, just one less than the Falcon secondary. Fifth-year senior Erique Dozier leads the bunch with 73 tackles and 2.5 sacks.
The BGSU secondary is first in the league (conference games only), allowing just 167.6 yards a game through the air. The secondary, which has started 129 games combined have all started together for the last 17 contests. Junior P.J. Mahone leads the team with 75 tackles, while cornerback Kenny Lewis is tops on the team with three interceptions.
Falcons Cage Bobcats, 28-3
The BGSU football team had arguably their best overall game of the season, downing Ohio 28-3 back on Nov. 8. The Falcons owned a 14-0 halftime lead over the Bobcats and put up a pair of second half touchdowns to stretch the margin to a 25 point win. Tyler Sheehan completed 22 of 29 passes for 207 yards and two scores, while fellow quarterback Andrew Beam ran and threw for a score apiece, including a 22-yard score to Sheehan, Beam's first career pass as a Falcon.
On the defensive side of the ball the Falcons allowed no touchdowns for the first time since a 52-0 shutout of Western Michigan back on Nov. 6, 2004. The Orange and Brown also allowed a season-low of 228 yards and had a season-best four sacks. Junior Jahmal Brown led the defensive charge with 13 stops, while linebackers John Haneline and Erique Dozier each intercepted an OU pass.
Simply The Best
The BGSU defense had their best effort of 2008, allowing just 228 total yards in the 28-3 win over Ohio. They also smashed their previous-best effort on the ground, allowing just 40 yards on 28 carries (1.4 avg.). The Falcons' previous low was 278 total yards allowed at Northern Illinois and 129 yards rushing in a win at Pittsburgh.
First Half Dominance
In the past two contests the Falcons have roared out to 28-0 and 14-0 halftime leads over Kent State and Ohio for a combined 42-0 advantage in the opening 30 minutes of the past two contests. Other first half stats the past two games include:
BGSU Opponents 42.............Points...............0 536..........Total Yards...........210 171.........Rushing Yards..........104 365.........Passing Yards..........106 29...........First Downs............7 38:19.....Time of Possession.......21:41 2..........Turnovers Forced.........0 12 of 17.....Third Downs..........1 of 10
It Just Keeps Getting Better
Speaking of that 42-0 halftime lead in the past two games, while the offense has received much of the credit, the BGSU defense has been just as impressive, and the improvements from a year ago rank among the nation's best.
2007 Stats Category 2008 Stats 32.1...........points/game.........22.8 207.8.........rushing/game.........174.8 424.4......total defense/game......355.4
Most Improved Scoring Defenses (From 2007 to 2008)It's One Game at a Time, But...
Team Improvement 2007 and 2008 Scoring Defense 1. Florida............14.2...........(25.5 in 2007, 11.3 in 2008) 2. N. Illinois........12.1...........(30.8 in 2007, 17.7 in 2008) 3. Fla. Inter.........11.9...........(39.1 in 2007, 27.2 in 2008) 4. Boise State........11.3...........(21.6 in 2007, 10.3 in 2008) 5. Northwestern.......10.8...........(31.0 in 2007, 20.2 in 2008) 6. Navy...............10.7...........(36.4 in 2007, 25.7 in 2008) 7. Bowling Green.......9.3...........(32.1 in 2007, 22.8 in 2008)
In Coach Speak 101, everyone preaches "one game at a time," but looking forward, the Falcons have a legit opportunity to capture the MAC East crown, despite currently sitting at 3-3 in the conference. In fact, the Falcons control their own destiny, meaning if the Orange and Brown capture their final two contests versus Buffalo and Toledo, the Falcons will be playing for the MAC Championship on Dec. 5.
Another November to Remember?
Entering MAC play with four games remaining last season the Falcons sat in third-place with a 2-2 (4-4 overall) record in the MAC East, trailing Buffalo (3-0) and Miami (2-1). The Falcons eventually went on to win their final four games over Akron (44-20), Eastern Michigan (39-32), Buffalo (31-17) and Toledo (37-10) to finish in a tie for the MAC East crown. This season the Falcons find themselves in the same situation, trailing Buffalo (4-2), while they are tied with Akron (3-3) in the MAC East race. The Falcons, who downed Kent State (Nov. 1) and Ohio (Nov. 8), have now won six straight games in the month of November.
Lucky #13
Tyler Sheehan, who wears number 13 on his uniform, got off to a bit of a rocky start in 2008, after throwing for 3,264 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2007. He opened 2008 with just two touchdowns in his first three games, but has thrown for 14 scores in his last seven contests.
Sheehan By The Down - Completion % - 2008
On First Down - 87 of 124 (70%)
On Second Down - 74 of 116 (63%)
On Third Down - 56 of 89 (62%)
On Fourth Down - 6 of 6 (100%)
Sheehan by the Quarter - 2008
In First Quarter - 65 of 99 (656%) 563 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
In Second Quarter - 69 of 103 (67%) 639 yards, 7 TD, 0 INT
In Third Quarter - 53 of 80 (67%) 526 yards, 6 TD, 2 INT
In Fourth Quarter - 36 of 53 (68%) 401 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT
Sheehan Career Tidbits
• Has completed 64.3% of his passes in his career (549 of 854), while throwing for 5,585 yards and 39 touchdowns, while rushing for eight more. His completion percentage is second all-time in school history.
• He has three career receiving touchdowns.
• Has been responsible for 50 touchdowns in his last 23 games (39 passing, 8 rushing, 3 receiving)
• Has been named MAC East Offensive Player of the Week five times.
• His 854 career passes are fifth all-time in BGSU history.
• His 549 career completions rank fourth all-time.
• Averages a touchdown pass every 21.8 passes and an interception every 38.8 passes.
