Battle of I-75 to Take Place Wednesday on ESPN2

Nov. 17, 2010 • 8 p.m. • Toledo, Ohio • Glass Bowl
Bowling Green Falcons (2-8, 1-5 MAC) vs. Toledo Rockets (6-4, 5-1 MAC)
Radio: BGSU Radio Network (99.1 FM) • Todd Walker (Play-by-Play) and John Gibson (Analyst)
Television: ESPN2 • Dave Neal (Play-by-Play) and Andre Ware (Analyst)
Online: www.bgsufalcons.com (audio)

BGSU Game Notes

The Bowling Green State University football team will make a short trip to Toledo, Ohio to take on arch-rival Toledo on Wednesday, Nov. 17. Opening kick is set for 8 p.m. and will be carried live on ESPN2.

Scouting the Falcons
The Falcons are led by second year head coach Dave Clawson, who is 9-14 overall and 7-7 in the Mid-American Conference. Clawson is 67-63 in ten-plus years as a head coach, including five years at Fordham and four at Richmond.

BGSU (2-8, 1-5 MAC) is led by quarterback Matt Schilz who has completed 180-of-299 passes for 1,722 yards and six touchdowns. Schilz led the Falcons on a last minute touchdown drive two weeks ago at Central Michigan, his first fourth quarter comeback of his career.

The Falcons' top offensive target is junior Kamar Jorden. The Darby, Pa. native, who spent two years at Hudson Valley Community College before sitting out last year, has 80 catches for 920 yards and three touchdowns. Jorden's 80 grabs are currently fourth in the nation.

The ground game is led by senior Willie Geter, who has 600 yards and six touchdowns on the season. Geter ranks 10th all-time at BGSU with 2,038 career rushing yards.

Defensively the Falcons are allowing 32.9 points and 420.5 yards per game, ranking 11th and 10th in the conference, but are coming off their four strongest performances of the season versus Temple, Kent State, Central Michigan and Miami. BGSU is first in the conference with 28 takeaways, including 12 interceptions. Middle linebacker Dwayne Woods leads the conference with 111 tackles, which ranks sixth in the country.

Falcons Fall in the Fog to Miami, 24-21
The Bowling Green State University Falcons fell 24-21 to the Miami RedHawks on the final play of a game dominated by weather more than anything else.

The game began with clear skies, but as the evening progressed, fog developed over the field. The weather got progressively worse until it became a thick soup during the fourth quarter, making the field almost impossible to see except on ground level.

Miami (6-4, 5-1 MAC) used a strong rushing attack to build a 21-7 lead over the Falcons (2-8, 1-5 MAC) by the end of the third quarter. Bowling Green capitalized on a turnover and a long Schilz-to-Jorden pass to tie the game in the fourth quarter.

However, a Schilz interception with just over two minutes to play put the ball on the Falcon side of the field for Miami, and the RedHawks drove for a game-winning 33-yard field goal as time expired.

Scouting Toledo
Toledo enters Wednesday's contest with a 6-4 overall and 5-1 MAC record, led by former Falcon assistant coach, Tim Beckman.

Offensively Toledo is led by quarterback Terrance Owens, who is filling in for an injured Austin Dantin. Owens is averaging 116.6 yards per game and is tied for the team lead with seven touchdown passes.

The Rockets average just over 150 yards per game on the ground, led by Adonis Thomas (66.9/game).

Eric Page is the top offensive threat for UT, who has 73 catches for 843 yards and five scores on the season.

Defensively, the Rockets allow 379.5 yards per game and are led by Dan Molls and Archie Donald, who have combined for 210 tackles.

Series With Toledo
Wednesday's contest will be the 75th meeting between the two schools that are separated by 27.5 miles.

The Falcons own a 39-31-4 all-time series advantage and have won the last three contests from 2007-09 by a combined 113-44 score. BGSU last won four straight versus Toledo from 1991-94.

BGSU is 18-17-2 all-time at UT, but have not won back-to-back road contests versus the Rockets since the 1992 and 1994 Falcons beat Toledo 10-9 and 31-16. BGSU won at Toledo in 2008, 38-10.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?
The BGSU vs. Toledo contest will mark the eighth closest contest between two rival schools, with the Falcons and Rockets being just 27.5 miles apart.

Schools/Miles Apart
Rice & Houston = 6.1 miles
Duke & NC State = 8.3 miles
Washington State & Idaho = 8.7 miles
North Carolina & Duke = 10 miles
North Carolina & NC State = 10.1 miles
Akron & Kent State = 11.6 miles
Southern California & UCLA = 14.1 miles
Bowling Green & Toledo = 27.5 miles

Storylines
• Bowling Green has had five of its 10 contests come down to the final play, but BGSU is just 1-4 in those games.

* BG and UT will battle for the annual peace pipe on Wednesday night.

• The Falcons are first in the MAC and fourth nationally with 28 takeaways. Toledo is tied for sixth in the nation with 26 takeaways.

• Kamar Jorden is fourth in the nation with 80 receptions.

• Willie Geter is 10th all-time in rushing yards at BGSU with 2,038.

• UT head coach Tim Beckman coached at Bowling Green from 1998-2004, serving as the defensive coordinator from 1999-2004. Toledo assistant coaches Matt Campbell (2003-04, 2007-08) and Mike Ward (1992-2008) both spent time at Bowling Green.

Peace Pipe
The Peace Pipe is a traveling award that goes to the winner of the annual gridiron battle between Bowling Green and Toledo. The Peace Pipe tradition actually began on the basketball court during the 1947-48 season. At that time, the teams exchanged a six-foot long wooden peace pipe. The original basketball Peace Pipe disappeared, so, in 1980, the Peace Pipe was reinstated for football with former UT football player Frank Kralik creating the present trophy. Today's Peace Pipe is a smaller version of the original pipe, resting atop a trophy.

Rivalry Week
Wednesday's rivalry game between BGSU and Toledo is the first time since the 1999 season that the two schools did not face each other in the regular season finale. In 1999 the two schools played on Oct. 2. From 2000-09 it was the final regular season game for both schools.

The Clock is Ticking
The BGSU football season has come down to the final few seconds in five games this season. In the season opener, Troy nailed a field goal with four seconds remaining to win 30-27, BGSU missed a 40-yard kick at the buzzer to lose versus Buffalo, 28-26 and the Falcons failed to convert a two-point conversion with no time on the clock versus Temple to fall 28-27 and the previous week Miami made a 33-yard field goal as time expired to win 24-21.

The Falcons' lone last second win came at Central Michigan when Jordan Hopgood scored from 1-yard out with 16 seconds remaining.

QB University
From 2000-03 Josh Harris threw for 7,503 yards and was followed by Omar Jacobs and his 6,938 yards from 2004-05 and Tyler Sheehan was next, throwing for 10,117 yards from 2006-09. What is in store for the newest Falcon quarterback, Matt Schilz?

Schilz is just the fifth quarterback to open a season as the Falcons' starting quarterback since the 2001 season. The redshirt freshman has thrown for 1,722 yards and six touchdowns, while completing 60.2 percent of his passes.

Schilz Red Hot in Red Zone
When you need your quarterback to play his best, BGSU's Matt Schilz has been his best when the Falcons get into the red zone. On the year, the redshirt freshman is 19-of-25 with five touchdowns and zero interceptions when inside the opponents' 20-yardline.

Even better is how good he has been on third down in the red zone. The Arcadia, Calif., native is 7-of-9 with three touchdowns on third down in the red zone this season.

One of the Best
BGSU junior Kamar Jorden currently is fourth in the nation with 80 receptions through 10 games. Jorden, who made his first career start versus Troy, had nine grabs for 111 yards versus the Trojans, which was impressive, but nothing compared to his 14 catches for 168 yards at Tulsa. While the yardage was not there Jorden added 11 grabs for 64 yards and his first career touchdown versus Marshall and added six grabs for 70 yards versus No. 21 Michigan. He had his first multiple touchdown game of his career, finishing with eight catches for 129 yards and two touchdowns at Ohio.

Nation's Reception Leaders
1.    Ryan Broyles (Oklahoma)    94
2.    Justin Blackman (Oklahoma St.)    84
3.    Greg Salas (Hawaii)    83
4.     Kamar Jorden (BGSU)     80
5.    Jordan White (W. Michigan)    79

I'll Take That
Since the start of the 2009 season, a member of the BGSU football team has seen its name atop the national leader in receptions in 18 of 24 weeks.

Freddie Barnes posted 15 receptions in the 2009 home opener and never relinquished the NCAA lead, finishing the year with 155 receptions. Current Falcon Kamar Jorden was the nation's leader after weeks two, three, six and seven.

In Perspective
After what Freddie Barnes did in 2009 it would be nearly impossible to have another Falcon wideout even come close to those numbers, so let's put what Kamar Jorden is doing into a bit of perspective.

Through 10 games Jorden has 80 catches for 920 yards and three touchdowns. Pro-rate that to a complete season and Jorden would finish with 96 catches for 1,104 yards and four touchdowns.

Prior to Barnes, Cole Magner was the single season record holder for catches (99) and yards (1,138) in a season, numbers Jorden could pass in 2010.

A 1,827 Day Investment
Wide receiver Calvin Wiley invested a lot of time at BGSU before gathering in his first career catch. You see, Wiley is a sixth-year senior for the Orange and Brown. After redshirting in 2005, the Detroit, Mich., native suffered injury after injury from 2006-09. Wiley was granted a sixth-year of eligibility this past spring and took full advantage of the opportunity.

Prior to Troy the last time Wiley saw game action was on Nov. 21, 2006, but did not record a catch all season.

When it is all said and done Wiley first took the field on Sept. 2, 2006 and did not record his first reception until Sept. 4, 2010, a span of 1,827 days.

New Side of the Trench
Senior Nick Torresso spent 2007-09 as a defensive tackle for the Orange and Brown and Jordon Roussos spent the 2009 season (and some of 2010) as a defensive tackle but both have made position changes. Torresso and Roussos have each started games for the Orange and Brown this season on the offensive line.

Chris Jones Makes National News
Chris Jones, a member of the BGSU football team, was honored on three different occasions following the CMU contests two weeks ago.

Jones was named the College Football Performance Award Defensive Lineman of the Week and the Rivals.com MAC Player of the Week and topped it all off by being named the Mid-American Conference MAC East Defensive Player of the Week.

Jones, a native of Brownsburg, Ind., had six tackles, five tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and recovered a fumble in a 17-14 win over Central Michigan on Saturday night (Oct. 30) in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

The Chippewas, who entered Saturday's contest averaging 23.1 points and 399.1 total yards per game, were held to 14 points (six points coming from a pick-6) and 231 total yards in 59 plays. The Falcons forced three Central Michigan turnovers and held the defending MAC Champions to 4-of-12 on third downs.

Mr. Jones and The D
While Jones did come away with several awards with his excellent play versus Central Michigan, the entire defense played its best game of the season.

The Falcons had just seven sacks on the year and posted six sacks in the win over CMU. BGSU's defense held the Chippewas to 231 total yards, clearly the Falcons' best effort of the season.

The defense added 12 tackles for loss, also a season-best.

Dynamic Duo
Two new starters in the Falcon defense, Dwayne Woods and Jovan Leacock, currently rank first and ninth in the MAC in tackles. Woods leads the conference with 111 stops and Leacock is ninth with 83. The duo's combined 194 tackles are the second most among any duo in the conference.

May The Force Be With You
The Bowling Green defense has forced 28 turnovers in the first 10 games of this season. They picked off two passes versus Troy, added two more turnovers against Tulsa (1 INT, 1 Fumble), five takeaways versus Marshall, forced two turnovers at Michigan, had six versus Buffalo (4 INT, 2 Fumble), one forced fumble at Ohio, two takeaways at Temple (1 INT, 1 Fumble), forced two fumbles versus Kent State and had three takeaways (1 INT, 2 Fumble) at CMU. Last week versus Miami, the RedHawks fumbled the ball three times, twice with the Falcons never laying a hand on an MU player. The 28 forced turnovers are first in the MAC and fourth in the country

Forced Turnovers
1. Oregon - 29
    Hawaii - 29
3. BGSU - 28
3. Boston College - 28
5. Ohio State - 26
    Toledo - 26

Take it to the House
And when the Falcons do force a turnover they know exactly what to do. Four times this season the Falcon defense has returned an interception for a touchdown, all from long distances away.

Dwayne Woods (78 yards) and Boo Boo Gates (29 yards) each did it versus Marshall. Versus Temple, Jovan Leacock ran one back from 49 yards and Robert Lorenzi (who has been removed from the team) ran one back 82 yards for a score. The Falcons also have a 19-yard return down to the Tulsa 1-yardline from Woods, Lorenzi returned an INT 32 yards down to the Buffalo 5-yardline and Woods picked up a fumble at Ohio and returned it 28 yards down to the OU 3-yardline.

The four defensive scores are a school record. The previous best was three defensive scores from the 1985 Falcons.

Defense Playing Its Best
The Bowling Green defense is playing its best ball of the season right now, shutting down Temple, Kent State, Central Michigan and Miami. Four weeks ago Temple was held to just 307 yards of offense, while Kent State could only manage 351 yards of offense. Central Michigan had just 231 total yards and Miami posted 377 total yards.

While the Falcon defense is still just 10th in the MAC in total defense, allowing 419.4 yards of offense, a few key categories are helping those numbers come down.

First Six Games        Last Four Games
38.8                   Points/Game          24.0
251.5               Rushing/Game      129.0
238.3               Passing/Game         187.5
489.8              Total Yards/Game      316.5
52% (43-83)        Third Downs      30% (14-47)

MAC Defensive Stats Are Even Better
Sure, 32.9 points and 420.5 yards per game on the season allowed is not very impressive, but what the Falcons are doing through six MAC games is a very solid effort.

In MAC play BGSU is allowing 28.8 points and 347.8 total yards per game, nearly a touchdown and 80 yards better a game.

What's the Cause?
Why such a huge difference in stats from the begining of the year until now. A few points: The Falcons began the season with eight new starters on defense, but they also played some of the best offenses in the country to start the season. Below is the non-conference opponent and its national rank offensively in total yards.

Team (National Off. Rank and Numbers)
Michigan (5th, 535.9)
Tulsa (7th, 494.7)
Troy (18th, 455.5)

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