Falcons Begin MAC Play; Host Ohio on Saturday

Bowling Green (1-3, 0-0 MAC) vs. Ohio (2-2, 0-0 MAC)
Bowling Green, Ohio • Doyt Perry Stadium (24,000)
Oct. 3, 2009 • 4 p.m.

TV
BCSN • Greg Franke (Play-by-Play) and Tom Cole (Analyst)
Also available on B2 Network

Radio
Falcon Radio Network (99.1 FM) • Todd Walker (Play-by-Play) and John Gibson (Analyst)
WBGGU (88.1 FM) • Pat Dougherty and Anthony Belino
Listen on Online

Series
BGSU Leads 37-21-2

BGSU Game Notes
Ohio Game Notes

The Bowling Green State University football team opens its portion of the Mid-American Conference schedule on Saturday afternoon with a 4 p.m. contest with the Bobcats of Ohio. Saturday's contest will begin a stretch of eight consecutive MAC games.

Scouting the Falcons
The Falcons are led by first year head coach Dave Clawson, who comes to BGSU after a successful career at Fordham and Richmond. Clawson, who is 1-3 in his brief Falcon career, is 59-52 overall in 10 seasons as a head coach.

The Falcon offense is led by third-year signal caller, Tyler Sheehan, who will be making his 30th consecutive start on Saturday. Through his first 29 games as a Falcon he has thrown for 7,131 yards and 48 touchdowns. Through four games in 2009 the senior ranks second in the MAC and 11th nationally with 309.3 yards per game through the air.

Sheehan's main offensive weapon is fellow classmate Freddie Barnes, who after four games this season, has already amassed 46 receptions, including a school-record 15 versus Troy and a new school record 17 versus Marshall. Barnes' 46 reception are tops in the nation.

In the backfield, Willie Geter has emerged as an every down back, having rushed for 221 yards on 46 carries (4.8 avg.) through the first four games of 2009.

Minus the contest with Boise State the Falcon defense has been a strong point in 2009. On the year the Falcons are allowing 26.8 points and 383.0 yards per game.

Middle linebacker Cody Basler leads the team with 31 tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks. He has also forced one fumble and has one quarterback hurry in his first-year as an every day starter.

Scouting Ohio
Ohio brings a 2-2 record to Doyt Perry Stadium with wins over North Texas and Cal Poly and losses to Connecticut and Tennessee.

Offensively, the Bobcats are led by senior quarterback Theo Scott, who has thrown for 716 yards and seven
touchdowns. Scott's main receiving target is Taylor Price, who leads the team in receptions (21), yards (337) and touchdowns (3).

The OU running attack is averaging just 82.8 yards a game on the ground and has yet to record a rushing
touchdown through four games. Their top ball carrier, Chris Garrett, has 183 yards on 47 carries.

The Bobcats due bring one of the best defenses in the MAC with them on Saturday night. OU is allowing just 24.2 points and 334.2 yards per game. Noah Keller leads the team with 48 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss.

Nationally Ranked Broncos Down Falcons
Boise State University exploded for 29 second-quarter points to break open a scoreless game, en route to a 49-14 win over the Bowling Green State University football team.

After a scoreless first quarter, Boise got on the board on the first play of the second period, on an 18-yard run by Titus Young. Then, the Broncos scored two touchdowns within an 18-second span to take a 22-0 lead with 12:27 left before halftime.

Boise led by a 29-0 score at the intermission, and built the lead to 43-0 before the Falcons scored back-to-back touchdowns in the third quarter.

Falcon quarterback Tyler Sheehan found Adrian Hodges for a seven-yard score to get BG on the board midway through the period, and Sheehan scrambled for a six-yard TD of his own late in the quarter.

For the Falcons, Sheehan was 16-of-29 for 137 yards, and Aaron Pankratz had 52 yards on five completions in 13 attempts.

Hodges led the Falcon receivers with six catches for 58 yards and the TD. BGSU possessed the ball for 34:11 to Boise's 24:51, but six of the Broncos' seven scoring drives took less than two minutes.

Falcons Open MAC Play
Saturday's contest versus Ohio will begin a streak of eight consecutive games with teams from the Mid-American Conference. BGSU, who is 31-17 in MAC play since 2003, is tops in the conference over the past six years. The Falcons have had just one losing season in the MAC since that span and have at least five MAC wins four times in that six year span.

Last Year Versus The Bobcats
The Falcons downed OU last year 28-3 in Athens, Ohio. Tyler Sheehan was 22-of-29 passing for 207 yards and two touchdowns and added a 22-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter. BGSU put up just 322 yards of offense, but held Ohio to 228 total yards, including just 40 yards on the ground.

Believe it or Not
Conventional wisdom says that a strong running game is the way to control the clock, but believe it or not BGSU ranks tops in the MAC and seventh nationally in time of possession. The Falcons, who throw it more than any other team in the league, are controlling the ball for 33:27 a game.

Top Time of Possession Teams
1. Kansas State        35:58
2. Fresno State         35:47
3. SMU                     34:55
4. Army                     33:58
5. Air Force               33:50
6. Notre Dame          33:50
7. Bowling Green    33:27

Get Off The Field
Helping with that strong time of possession is the defense's ability to get stops on third down. BGSU ranks third in the MAC and 32nd in the country in third down stops (32.1). In fact, when you look at the numbers even closer the Falcon defense has been extremely effective on third downs longer than three yards.

Down and Distance    Conversion Rate
Third and 1-3                   9-15 (.600)
Third and 4-6                   1-14 (.071)
Third and 7-9                    2-9 (.222)
Third and 10+                  4-13 (.308)

Take Me to Your Leader
The Falcon air attack has always had its pilot in Tyler Sheehan, but there is no question who the co-pilot is in 2009. Wide receiver Freddie Barnes, who has 46 catches through four games in 2009, currently has a stranglehold atop the nation's leaderboard in catches, and in fact it's not even close right now.

Player (School)     Catches
Freddie Barnes (BGSU), 46
Jordan Shipley (Texas), 36
Emmanuel Sanders (SMU), 35
Eric Decker (Minn.), 35
Vincent Brown (San Diego St.), 35

Helps When You Set New School Records, Twice
Obviously, when a player has 46 catches in four games he is posting some serious numbers. Well, when it comes to Freddie Barnes, he is doing just that. After posting just 40 receptions in 2008 due to injuries, most expected Barnes to return to his 82 reception performance from 2007, but no one could have predicted this.

In 2002 Robert Redd had 14 catches versus Northern Illinois, a mark that most felt would be tough to beat (Corey Partridge matched the 14 catches in 2006 versus Toledo). To open 2009 Barnes caught a school record 15 catches in a win over Troy, had 10 receptions versus No. 25 Missouri the week after and then once again, broke the school record for catches in a game, posting 17 versus Marshall.

Moving On Up
When marching up a record book like Freddie Barnes is doing, 46 catches in four games will help out in a hurry. The senior, who began 2009 with 142 career receptions climbed from 11th all-time all the way to fourth with his 188 career catches.
1.     Charles Sharon (2002-05), 232
2.     Cole Magner (2001-04), 215
3.     Robert Redd (1998-02), 211
4.     Freddie Barnes (2005-PR), 188
5.     Mark Szlachcic (1989-92), 182
6.     Corey Partridge (2005-08), 182

Percentage Leader
Senior quarterback Tyler Sheehan, the career leader in BGSU history in completion percentage at 64.8 percent, is currently edging out Omar Jacobs (64.4 percent). Sheehan leads by 0.4 percent. Sheehan completed 66.8 percent of his passes last season, which is second all-time for completion percentage for a season, trailing just Jacobs, who completed 66.9 percent of his passes in 2004. Through four games in 2009 Sheehan has completed 66.3 percent of his passes.

Streak Snapped
Tyler Sheehan, who leads the MAC and is second in the nation with 181 pass attempts, had a streak of 153 passes without throwing an interception snapped last weekend versus Boise State. Overall, he had 33 attempts versus Troy, his 46 attempts at Missouri, 62 attempts at Marshall and his first 12 passes versus Boise State before snapping his streak.

Sheehan Career Tidbits
• Has completed 64.8 percent of his passes in his career (713 of 1,100), while throwing for 7,131 yards and 48 touchdowns, while rushing for 11 more. His completion percentage is first all-time in school history.
• Has three career receiving touchdowns.
• Has been responsible for 62 touchdowns in his last 29 games (48 passing, 11 rushing, 3 receiving)
• Has been named MAC East Offensive Player of the Week six times.
• His 1,100 career passes are third all-time in BGSU history.
• His 713 career completions rank second all-time.
• Averages a touchdown pass every 22.9 passes and an interception every 40.7 passes.

Sheehan on Manning Watch List
The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, announced its 2009 preseason Watch List, with Bowling Green's Tyler Sheehan finding his way onto that list, which included 38 of the top quarterbacks in the nation heading into the 2009 season. The winner will be announced after the bowls in January and will be honored at a February banquet in New Orleans.

The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that takes into consideration the candidates' bowl performances.

Sheehan By The Down - Completion % - 2009
On First Down - 40-69 (57%)
On Second Down - 47-53 (88%)
On Third Down - 30-54 (55%)
On Fourth Down - 3-5 (60%)

Sheehan by the Quarter - 2009
In First Quarter - 29 of 50 (58%), 234 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
In Second Quarter - 25 of 39 (64%) 265 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
In Third Quarter - 34 of 45 (76%) 279 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT
In Fourth Quarter - 33 of 51 (67%) 286 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT

He May Catch More Than Just TDs in 2009
Senior tight end Jimmy Scheidler had just 17 receptions in 2008, but led the team with seven touchdown receptions, including two versus Pittsburgh to begin 2008. Despite not catching a pass versus Missouri, Scheidler looks to be a major force in 2009 on the playing field. In the win versus Troy, Scheidler had four receptions for 72 yards, matching his career-high in catches and blowing away his previous best for yards in the game.

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