Falcons Take on Michigan in the Big House

Game #4
Sept. 25, 2010 • Noon • Ann Arbor, Mich. • Michigan Stadium
Bowling Green Falcons (1-2, 0-0 MAC) vs. Michigan Wolverines (3-0, 0-0 Big 10)
Radio: BGSU Radio Network (99.1 FM) • Todd Walker (Play-by-Play) and John Gibson (Analyst)
Television: ESPN2 • Bob Wischusen (Play-by-Play) and Brian Griese (Analyst)
Online: www.espn3.com (video)/www.bgsufalcons.com (audio)

Game Notes Versus Michigan (28 pages)

The Bowling Green State University football team will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., for a Saturday afternoon tilt with the Michigan Wolverines inside Michigan Stadium. Opening kickoff is set for noon and will be carried live on ESPN2.

Scouting the Falcons
The Falcons are led by second year head coach Dave Clawson, who is 8-8 overall and 6-2 in the Mid-American Conference. Clawson is 66-57 in ten-plus years as a head coach, including five years at Fordham and four at Richmond.

Offensively the Falcons will be without starting quarterback Matt Schilz, who has completed 64.8 percent of his passes for 664 yards and two touchdowns. His replacement has yet to be named.

When BGSU's quarterbacks are distributing the ball their main target is junior Kamar Jorden. The Darby, Pa. native, who spent two years at Hudsen Valley Community College before sitting out last year, has 34 catches for 343 yards and one touchdown. The 34 grabs currently leads the nation.

Senior running back Willie Geter is coming off a 31-carry performance versus Marshall (for 100 yards) and has 243 yards on the season. Geter was also solid in the pass-game, recording five catches for 86 yards last week versus the Herd.

The Falcons are coming off their best defensive performance of the year, recording four interceptions (returning two for touchdowns) versus Marshall. Linebacker Dwayne Woods leads the team in tackles (31) and interceptions (2). Last week versus Marshall the sophomore had nine tackles and a pick-six (78 yards).

Scouting Michigan
Michigan brings a 3-0 record to Saturday's contest with a team that has beaten Connecticut (30-10), Notre Dame (28-24) and Massachusetts (42-37).

Their offense is led by quarterback Denard Robinson, who is averaging 223.7 yards through the air and another 186.3 on the ground. He currently leads the country with 410.0 yards per game of total offense.

Defensively the Wolverines are allowing 23.7 points and 439.0 yards of total offense per game. Their top tackler is linebacker James Mouton, who leads the team with 28 stops.

Falcons Get First Win of Year; Down Marshall 44-28
The Bowling Green State University football team got defensive in the home opener. The Falcon defense recorded four interceptions, returning two for touchdowns, in a 44-28 victory over Marshall.

Dwayne Woods rumbled 78 yards to the end zone with a second-quarter interception, while Jerry “Booboo” Gates scored on a 29-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter to close the scoring.

The Falcons had burst out to a 21-0 lead in the first half, but the Herd crept back. MU scored with less than one second remaining in the first half to cut BG's advantage to 28-14, and the visitors tied the game late in the third quarter.

Bryan Wright's 27-yard field goal gave the Falcons the lead for good with less than a minute gone in the fourth, and BGSU forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff return, taking over at the MU 33-yard line. On the third play of the drive, Falcon quarterback Aaron Pankratz hooked up with Tyrone Pronty on a 31-yard catch-and-run for a TD with 9:21 left.

Less than a minute later, Gates picked off MU QB Brian Anderson for the final TD of the game.

Series With Michigan
Michigan leads the all-time series over Bowling Green 1-0, with the only contest between the two teams coming on Sept. 2, 2000. Michigan won that contest 42-7.

Versus Big Ten
While the Falcons have only played Michigan once (in 2000), BGSU has seen many games versus others in the Big Ten. Since 2001 the Falcons have squared-off with a Big Ten opponent nine times, coming away with four wins.
2001 at Northwestern (W, 43-42)
2003 at Purdue (W, 27-26)
2003 vs. Northwestern (W, 28-24) - Motor City
2007 at Minnesota (W, 32-31, OT)

Versus Goliath
Since 2001 BGSU has played 20 contests with teams from BCS conferences and the Falcons have held their own, winning 11 of those contests.
at Missouri (2001) - W, 20-13
Temple (2001) - W, 42-23
at Northwestern (2001) - W, 43-42
Missouri (2002) - W, 51-28
at Kansas (2002) - W, 39-16
at #16 Purdue (2003) - W, 27-26
vs. Northwestern (2003) - W, 28-24
at Temple (2004) - W, 70-16
Temple (2005) - W, 70-7
at Minnesota (2007) - W, 32-31
at #25 Pittsburgh (2008) - W, 27-17

Woods Earns CFPA and MAC Award
Dwayne Woods was named honorable mention linebacker of the week by the College Football Performance Award and Mid-American Conference East Division Defensive Player of the Week after recording nine tackles and an interception in the win over Marshall.

Woods' interception was returned for a 78-yard touchdown, the fourth longest interception return for a score in school history.

Meet Matt Schilz
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?

In his first career start the redshirt freshman was 22-of-43 for 221 yards and a touchdown. His most impressive drive came on BG's second series of the game. Schilz completed a 19-yard strike to Kamar Jorden (on 3rd and 17) and followed that up with an 18-yard completion to Tyrone Pronty (on 3rd and 15) to help the Falcons take an early 7-0 lead on Troy.

Two weeks ago at Tulsa Schilz completed 29-of-40 passes for 262 yards and added two rushing scores.

This past week against Marshall Schilz was 19-of-25 for 181 yards and one score (and no turnovers).

Pankratz Leads Falcons to Comeback Win
While Schilz started the game, he left late in the third quarter with a shoulder injury. Pankratz entered the game with the score tied at 28-28 (with Marshall having scored 21 unanswered points) and 56 seconds remaining in the third.

The sophomore drove the Falcons 54 yards on five plays to set up a 27-yard field goal. Two drives later Pankratz hooked up with senior Tyrone Pronty on a 31-yard touchdown to put BGSU up 37-28.

For the game Pankratz was 5-of-8 for 111 yards and one touchdown.

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 243 yards in 2010 (81.0 per game).

Top 20 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.   Bernard White (84-85), 1,985
12.   Dan Saleet (74-77), 1,965
13.   Keylan Cates (94-96), 1,827
14.   Chris Bullock (2006-09), 1,756
15.   Jack Woodland (47-49), 1,752
16.   Willie Geter (2007-PR), 1,681
17.   Anthony Turner (05-07), 1,569
18.   Stew Williams (64-66), 1,550
19.   Vic DeOrio (55-57), 1,545
20.   Phil Polak (71-73), 1,435

It's Been a While
While we have a long way to go in 2010, Willie Geter has a chance to do something that has not been done at BGSU in some time. Geter currently is averaging 81.0 yards per game on the ground and through 12 games that would be 972 yards, which is a bit short of 1,000, but ...

If Geter were to get to 1,000 yards on the ground he would be the first Falcon to do so in a single season since P.J. Pope's 1,098 in 2004.

Take me to Your Leader
BGSU junior Kamar Jorden currently leads the nation with 34 receptions through three games. Jorden, who made his first career start three weeks ago 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 last weekend versus Marshall.

Not that it was that long ago, but if you remember Freddie Barnes, he finished 2009 with a nation's best 155 grabs, which broke the former NCAA mark for catches in a season (142). Jorden is currently on pace for 136 catches (in 12 games).

Nation's Reception Leaders
1.    Kamar Jorden (BGSU) - 34
2.   Ryan Broyles (Oklahoma) - 31
3.   T.J. Moe (Missouri) - 30
4.   Michael Egnew (Missouri) - 29
5.   Jordan White (Western Michigan) - 27

Freddie Numbers?
Through three games BGSU's Kamar Jorden has 34 receptions for 343 yards. Flash back just one season, after three games in 2009 Freddie Barnes had 42 catches for 336 yards.

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.

Old School
While Calvin Wiley is clearly the “old guy” on campus, many of his wide receiver teammates have been around for a while as well. When the Falcons line up for their first offensive play versus Tulsa it is expected to see sixth-year Wiley, joined by fifth-year wideout Tyrone Pronty and redshirt junior Kamar Jorden. The fourth Falcon wide receiver is expected to be redshirt junior Adrian Hodges and you can't forget about fifth-year tight end Nick Rieke.

New Side of the Trench
Senior Nick Torresso spent 2007-09 as a defensive tackle for the Orange and Brown, but in 2010 the Chicago, Ill., native will be starting on the other side of the ball. Torresso is currently listed as a starting guard for the Orange and Brown.

In three years on the defensive side of the ball, Torresso recorded 38 tackles, making three starts.

Defense, Defense
The Falcons are coming off their best defensive effort of the 2010 season after allowing just 376 yards and forcing five turnovers (4 INTs, 1 fumble) in the win versus Marshall. In week one BGSU gave up 474 yards versus Troy and allowed 546 against C-USA opponent Tulsa.

Speaking of Turnovers
Bowling Green has forced nine turnovers in the first three games of this season. They picked off two passes versus Troy, added two more turnovers against Tulsa (1 INT, 1 Fumble) and the five takeaways last week versus Marshall.

The nine forced turnovers currently rank third in the MAC.

And Doing Something With Them!
Its not good enough to just force turnovers, but it also helps when you can score points from them. This past weekend the Falcons returned two interceptions for touchdowns and had 158 return yards among the four takeaways.

In the contest versus Tulsa Dwayne Woods intercepted a pass and took it down to the Hurricane 1-yardline (BGSU scored on the next play).

Coach to Cure MD
The AFCA will hold its third annual Coach to Cure MD effort with the games on September 25. More than 5,000 coaches at more than 350 NCAA schools will be wearing a Coach to Cure MD patch to raise awareness and funding for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research and BGSU's Dave Clawson and his staff will be one of them.

Rimington Watch List
Bowling Green State University's Ben Bojicic was named to the Rimington Award Watch List, announced on Aug. 26. The award is given to the nation's top center.

In all, there are 37 players on the Watch List, including three from the Mid-American Conference. Bojicic, along with Kent State's Chris Anzevino and Central Michigan's Colin Miller are the lone representatives from the MAC.

The junior from Farmington Hills, Mich., is one of four captains on this year's Falcon squad.

The winner will be honored at Rimington Trophy Presentation banquet at the Rococo Theater in Lincoln, Nebraska on January 15, 2011.

Follow the Leader
Ben Bojicic, Eugene Fells, Willie Geter and Calvin Wiley will serve as captains for 2010.

Voice of “Champ”ions
The Bowling Green athletic department released its 2010 television commercial on Aug. 1, 2010. The 30 second spot features Falcons working out as they get ready for the season, but the special part of the commercial is that BGSU's Eugene “Champ” Fells does the voice-over for the commercial.

Wright Place, Wright Time
BGSU's kicker/punter Brian Wright is expected to handle most, if not all, of the kicking duties for the Orange and Brown all season. What wasn't expected was how he got here.

Wright spent the past three seasons as the kickoff specialist for the Michigan Wolverines. Wright graduated early and wanted to enroll into a graduate school, but Michigan did not offer the correct major.

Bowling Green did have this major (hospitality management), which allowed Wright to enroll in graduate school at BGSU and at the same time gave him the opportunity to play for the Falcons without sitting out a year.

30+ League
Since 2002 the Falcons are 52-6 when scoring at least 30 points and just 9-35 when scoring 29 or fewer. BGSU was 7-2 under Clawson last season when scoring 30-plus points and are 1-0 this season.

Much Too Young
The Falcons enter 2010 with 44 of their 85 scholarship players being either true or redshirt freshmen. Combine that with five players that played as true freshmen last year, the Falcons have a total of 49 players (57.6 percent) that have one year or less in playing experience.

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