Falcons Host Miami on Nov. 10 on ESPN2

Nov. 10, 2010 • 8 p.m. • Bowling Green, Ohio • Doyt L. Perry Stadium
Bowling Green Falcons (2-7, 1-4 MAC) vs. Miami RedHawks (5-4, 4-1 MAC)
Radio: BGSU Radio Network (99.1 FM) • Todd Walker (Play-by-Play) and John Gibson (Analyst)
Television: ESPN2 • Mark Neely (Play-by-Play) and JC Pearson (Analyst)
Online: www.bgsufalcons.com (audio)

Game Notes vs. Miami (35 pages)

Falcons Host Miami on ESPN2
The Bowling Green State University football team will play host to fellow Mid-American Conference foe, Miami, on Wed., Nov. 10, inside Doyt Perry Stadium. 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 9-13 overall and 7-6 in the Mid-American Conference. Clawson is 67-62 in ten-plus years as a head coach, including five years at Fordham and four at Richmond.

BGSU (2-7, 1-4 MAC) is led by quarterback Matt Schilz who has completed 163-of-270 passes for 1,546 yards and five touchdowns. Schilz led the Falcons on a last minute touchdown drive last week 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 76 catches for 825 yards and three touchdowns. Jorden's 76 grabs are currently third in the nation.

The ground game is led by senior Willie Geter, who has 566 yards and four touchdowns on the season. Geter is coming off a 103-yard effort last weekend at CMU. He is joined by redshirt freshman Jordan Hopgood, who leads the team with six rushing scores.

Defensively the Falcons are allowing 33.9 points and 425.3 yards per game, ranking 11th and 10th in the conference, but are coming off their three strongest performances of the season versus Temple, Kent State and Central Michigan. BGSU is second in the conference with 25 takeaways, including 12 interceptions. Middle linebacker Dwayne Woods leads the conference with 98 tackles, which ranks sixth in the country.

Falcons Snap Losing Streak With Late win at CMU
Bowling Green's Jordan Hopgood scored a touchdown with 21 seconds remaining to give the Falcons a 17-14 win in Mount Pleasant, Mich., over the Central Michigan Chippewas on Saturday evening. The Mid-American Conference contest was held inside Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

With the Falcons trailing 14-10 with 5:05 remaining at the CMU 47-yardline Dave Clawson elected to punt the ball back to the Chippewas, putting the pressure on the Falcon defense. After a pair of first downs, sophomore Dwayne Woods forced a fumble at the BGSU 39-yardline to set up Matt Schilz and the BGSU offense.

Schilz took over with 2:26 remaining and led the Orange and Brown down to the Chippewas 35 before finding Kamar Jorden down the middle for a 32-yard reception to set up first-and-goal with just over a minute to go. Hopgood would score two plays later from 1-yard out to snap the Falcons' five-game losing streak.

The story of the night was the Falcon defense.

Bowling Green allowed just 14 points (six coming on a pick-6) and 231 total yards. CMU was held to just 132 yards through the air, an offense that came into the game averaging 282 yards passing per game. The Falcon defense forced three turnovers, held Central Michigan to 4-of-12 on third down and had 12 tackles for loss (six sacks).

Been Nearly a Decade
The 17-14 win was the first time the Falcons won a contest when scoring less than 20 points since the Falcons won 17-0 at Ohio back on Nov.. 10, 2001.

Another November to Remember?
Bowling Green is 10-1 in the month of November since the 2007 season. That year BGSU went 4-0 to finish the season 8-4 an advance to a bowl game. In 2008 BGSU went 2-1 and last season the Falcons rolled off four wins in November to advance to another bowl contest.

Scouting Miami
Miami enters the contest with a 5-4 overall and 4-1 MAC record.

Offensively they are led by quarterback Zac Dysert, who is averaging 242.8 yards per game, while throwing for 12 touchdowns.

His top offensive target is wide receiver Armand Robinson, who is fourth in the conference with 60 recieptions.

Defensively the RedHawks allow 27.2 points and 359.9 yards per game, both ranking in the middle of the MAC. Linebacker Jerrell Wedge leads the team with 62 tackles and has 12 tackles for loss, second-best in the MAC.

Series With Miami
Miami leads the all-time series 41-20-5, which includes a BGSU 35-14 win last season in Oxford, Ohio.

Bowling Green is just 9-19-4 all-time at home versus Miami and has not won a game versus the RedHawks inside Doyt Perry Stadium since a 28-21 win in 1997.

Last Time We Played
As mentioned before, the Falcons came away with a 35-14 last season at Miami. The now graduated duo of Tyler Sheehan and Freddie Barnes hooked up for a pair of scores, while the Falcons added 134 yards on the ground to secure the victory.

Last Time BGSU Played Miami at Home on ESPN...
Back in 2006 the Falcons and RedHawks squared off in a game on national television, in one of the worst weather games in recent memory.

If you remember, back in 2006 the Falcons still featured a natural grass playing surface. The weather did not cooperate either, dumping rain on Northwest Ohio most of the afternoon.

By kickoff, most of the grass was gone and the two teams battled to a 9-7 Miami win on a mud playing surface.

The following season BGSU added field turf, the same turf these two teams will be playing on Nov. 10.

Storylines
• Bowling Green snapped a five game losing streak with a 17-14 win over CMU last Saturday.

• The Falcons are second in the MAC and fourth nationally with 25 takeaways.

• Kamar Jorden is third in the nation with 76 receptions.

• Willie Geter is 11th all-time in rushing yards at BGSU with 2,004. He is seven yards away from moving into the top-10 all-time.

Chris Jones Wins Three Awards
Chris Jones, a member of the BGSU football team, was honored on three different occasions following the CMU contests.

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.

To cap it all off, Jones recovered a fumble on the game's final play with CMU nearing midfield.

Mr. Jones and 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.

Tick, Tick, Tick
The BGSU football season has come down to the final few seconds in four 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.

BGSU finally got a win late, scoring a touchdown with 21 seconds remaining in the contest with Central Michigan.

Just Keeps Getting Better
As expected, there were going be some growing pains at the quarterback position this season with a first-year starter, but it hasn't take Schilz long to get comfortable behind center.

He opened his career by completing 51.1 percent of his passes for 221 yards and one score at Troy. The following week he improved to 72.5 percent for 262 yards versus Tulsa and added 181 yards on 19-of-25 (76.0 percent) versus Marshall before leaving the game late in the third quarter.

Schilz returned to action versus Ohio, throwing for 277 yards and two touchdowns, while completing 23-of-37 passes (62.2 percent). Versus Temple he threw for a career-high 287 yards, completing 30 of 51 passes, and throwing no interceptions.

While the numbers were not there versus Central Michigan, the redshirt freshman did drive the Falcons 59 yards in 2:05 for the winning touchdown against CMU with just 21 seconds remaining.

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 17-of-23 with four 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, Cailf., native is 7-of-9 with three touchdowns on third down in the red zone this season.

Little Giant
While Willie Geter may be one of the smallest guys on the team (5-7, 176), he continues his march up the record books. Geter, who ran for a career-high 705 yards last season has already totaled 566 yards in 2010.

Top 15 BGSU Rushers
1.   Dave Preston (73-76) - 3,423
2.   Paul Miles (71-73) - 3,239
3.   P.J. Pope (02-05) - 3,238
4.   Fred Durig (50-52) - 2,564
5.   Josh Harris (00-03) - 2,473
6.   Bryant Jones (80-82) - 2,357
7.   LeRoy Smith (89-92) - 2,313
8.   Joe Alls (99-02) - 2,137
9.   Zeb Jackson (90-93) - 2,044
10.   Courtney Davis (93-96) - 2,011
11.   Willie Geter (2007-PR) - 2,004
12.   Bernard White (84-85) - 1,985
13.   Dan Saleet (74-77) - 1,965
14.   Keylan Cates (94-96) - 1,827
15.   Chris Bullock (2006-09) - 1,756

Take me to Your Leader (Almost)
BGSU junior Kamar Jorden currently is third in the nation with 76 receptions through nine 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.   Greg Salas (Hawaii) - 81
2.   Ryan Broyles (Oklahoma) - 78
3.    Kamar Jorden (BGSU) - 76
4.   Eric Page (Toledo) - 66
5.   Jordan White (W. Michigan) - 64

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 23 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 nine games Jorden has 76 catches for 825 yards and three touchdowns. Pro-rate that to a complete season and Jorden would finish with 101 catches for 1,100 yards and five 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.

Dynamic Duo
Two new starters in the Falcon defense, Dwayne Woods and Jovan Leacock, currently rank first and eighth in the MAC in tackles. Woods leads the conference with 98 stops and Leacock is eighth with 74. The duo's combined 172 tackles are the most among any duo in the conference.

Laying The Wood
Sophomore Dwayne Woods is sixth in the country with 98 tackles through nine games. His top performance was a 20-tackle highlight versus Buffalo.

Nation's Top Tacklers
1.   Luke Kuechly (BC) - 111
2.   Corey Paredes (Hawaii) - 107
3.   James Hughes (Memphis) - 101
4.   Manti Te'o (ND) - 100
       Mason Foster (Washington) - 100
6.    Dwayne Woods (BGSU) - 98

May The Force Be With You
The Bowling Green defense has forced 25 turnovers in the first nine 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. The 25 forced turnovers are second in the MAC and fourth in the country

Forced Turnovers
1.    Oregon - 28
2.   Toledo - 26
        Hawaii - 26
4.    BGSU - 25
5.   Ohio State - 24

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 and Central Michigan. Three weeks ago Temple was held to just 307 yards of offense, while Kent State could only manage 351 yards of offense and Central Michigan had just 231 total yards.

While the Falcon defense is still just 10th in the MAC in total defense, allowing 425.3 yards of offense, a few key categories are helping those numbers come down.

First Six Games         Last Three Games
38.8             Points/Game           24.0
251.5          Rushing/Game        120.0
238.3          Passing/Game        176.3
489.8         Total Yards/Game   296.3
52% (43-83)   Third Downs        21% (7-33)

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