Falcons Host Golden Flashes With MAC East Title on the Line

Bowling Green Falcons (7-3, 5-1 MAC)
vs. #25 Kent State (9-1, 6-0 MAC)
Game 11: Sat., Nov. 17 • 12 p.m.
Doyt L. Perry Stadium (24,000)
Bowling Green, Ohio
Series vs. KSU: BGSU Leads 55-18-6
Series Streak: KSU - 2
Last Meeting: at Kent State 27, BGSU 15
Television: ESPN Syndicated • Michael Reghi (PxP) and Doug Graber (Analyst)
Radio: Falcon Sports Radio Network • Todd Walker (PxP) and John Gibson (Analyst)
WBGU 88.1 FM: TBA
Live Stats: www.bgsufalcons.com
Live Stats
Watch Live
Listen Live
BGSU Game Notes
Media Central
Chris Jones on the Web

Falcon Quick Hits

Date	Opponent	Time/Result
Sept. 1	at Florida	L, 27-14
Sept. 8	IDAHO	W, 21-13
Sept. 15	at Toledo	L, 27-15
Sept. 22	at Virginia Tech	L, 37-0
Sept. 29	RHODE ISLAND	W, 48-8
Oct. 6	at Akron	W, 24-10
Oct. 13	MIAMI	W, 37-12
Oct. 20	at UMass	W, 24-0
Oct. 27	EASTERN MICHIGAN	W, 24-3
Nov. 7	at Ohio	W, 26-14
Nov. 17	KENT STATE	Noon
Nov. 23	BUFFALO	TBA

• The Bowling Green State University football team is in the middle of its 94th season of football and has an all-time record of 504-349-51 (.589).
• Head coach Dave Clawson is in his fourth season at the helm of the football team and has an all-time record of 79-75 and is 21-26 at BGSU.
• For the fourth consecutive year the Falcons will have all three coordinators returning. Warren Ruggiero, Mike Elko and Adam Scheier will coach offense, defense and special teams.
• BGSU is coming off a 26-14 win at Ohio back on Nov. 7.
• Brian Schmiedebusch was named National Punter of the Week wy the CFPA.
• Anthon Samuel ranks 18th in school history with 1,750 career rushing yards.
• Chris Jones is second in BGSU history with 27.0 career sacks and currently is second in the nation with 11.5 sacks in 2012.
• The Falcons are 150-79-5 (.652) all-time inside Doyt L. Perry Stadium and 9-12 at home under Clawson.
• This weekend's game will serve as senior day for 11 Falcons. Scott Hodges, Cory Johnson, Chris Jones, Tim Moore, John Pettigrew, Chip Robinson, Jordon Roussos, Stephen Stein, Bart Tanski, Dominique Wharton and Dwayne Woods will all be playing in their final game inside “The Doyt”.
• The last time BGSU hosted a ranked team was in 2009 when Boise State entered Doyt Perry Stadium ranked fourth in the country. BGSU's last win over a top-25 team was the season opener at No. 25 Pittsburgh.
• Chris Jones (first-team), Alex Bayer (first-team), Dominic Flewellyn (second-team), Anthon Samuel (second-team), Dwayne Woods (third-team), Cameron Truss (third-team) and Ted Ouellet (third-team) were named to Phil Steele's mid-season All-MAC teams.
• The Falcons will have six captains in 2012: Dominic Flewellyn (OL), Ronnie Goble (DE), Chris Jones (DT), Matt Schilz (QB), Paul Swan (LB) and Bart Tanski (WR).

Scouting the Offense
Quarterback Matt Schilz will be making his 33rd start of his career this weekend versus Kent State. Schilz, a junior, threw for over 3,000 yards last season and 28 touchdowns, all career-bests, and has thrown for 7,090 yards and 46 touchdowns in his career. He leads an offense that ranks 10th in the MAC in scoring (23.3) and 11th in total offense (373.9).

It's hard to say who Schilz's top target is this year, but Shaun Joplin (31 rec., 478 yards), Chris Gallon (32 rec., 369 yards), Ryan Burbrink (32 rec., 260 yards) and Alex Bayer (27 rec., 331 yards) lead the way.

At running back the Falcons will depend on Anthon Samuel. Samuel, the reigning MAC Freshman of the Year, has already surpassed 1,750 yards in his career and has 10 100-yard games in his first 18 contests. On the year Samuel has 906 yards on the ground, while averaging 5.8 yards per carry and 10 touchdowns.

Scouting the Defense
The Falcons return 10 starters from the 2011 team and are led by senior defensive tackle Chris Jones. Jones has 35 tackles, 17.0 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks on the year. Jones is currently second in the country in sacks and tied for third in tackles for loss.

As a team, the Falcons rank sixth in the nation in total defense (285.4) and ninth in scoring (15.1), which are both first in the MAC. The Falcons also lead the conference in rush defense (103.7) and passing defense (181.7).

Scouting the Special Teams
Brian Schmiedebusch, a 2011 first-team all-conference punter a year ago, will once again handle all punting duties. The junior is averaging 42.7 yards per punt this season and has a 44.1 yard per punt career average.

Overall BGSU is 6-of-12 on field goals and 27-of-29 on extra points.

Ohio Recap
The Bowling Green State University football team downed the Ohio Bobcats 26-14 with the help of a dominate defense, terrific special teams play and a great rushing attack throughout the night.

Defensively the Falcons had 9.0 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks and held Ohio to 14 points and 244 total yards. BGSU added two blocked punts and the Falcons' Brian Schmiedebusch had five punts of over 50 yards in the win.

Offensively, BGSU ran the ball 36 times for 197 yards and two scores, behind career numbers from Anthon Samuel in carries (29) and rushing yards (181).

The Kent State Series
Saturday's contest with Kent State will be the 80th meeting between the two schools from the Mid-American Conference. BGSU holds a 55-18-6 advantage over the Golden Flashes, but Kent State will enter this week's match-up with two straight wins.

The Falcons are 24-10-3 all-time at home versus KSU, but did drop the 2010 contest inside “The Doyt” 30-6. The last time BGSU lost two straight home games to the Golden Flashes was a 7-0 loss in 1942 and 13-0 defeat in 1940.

Biggest BG/KSU Game ... EVER?
The last time BGSU and Kent State met this late in a season, with this much riding on a single game ... arguably never. The only argument could be 30 years ago, on Oct. 14, 1972. That season BGSU entered the contest at 3-0-1, while the Golden Flashes were just 1-3-1. KSU won the game 14-10 and finished the year at 4-1 in MAC play, edging out the Falcons, who were 3-1-1 in conference play. The Golden Flashes went on to win a MAC Championship that season.

In fact, the last time both of these teams came into a game in which they were both above .500 was in 1977. BGSU entered the contest at 3-2, while Kent State was 4-1.

Just Win Baby
The Falcons have won six straight contests for the first time since 2004. That season the Falcons rattled off seven straight wins and advanced to the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala. The six game win streak is one of the tops in the nation, trailing just a select few teams.

Nation's Current Win Streaks
Ohio State - 10
Oregon - 10
Notre Dame - 10
Kansas State - 9
Northern Illinois - 9
Kent State - 8
Bowling Green - 6

Running For The Wins
Over the last six contests the Falcons have produced a dominant rushing attack. BGSU garnered at least 200 yards rushing in four of the six contests and have run the ball 241 times for 1,265 yards and nine touchdowns in that span, an average of 210.8 per game.

Team                         Att.    Yds.
vs. Rhode Island         39        206
at Akron                    44        292
vs. Miami                    44        251
at UMass                    37        94
vs. EMU                    41        225
at Ohio                        36        197

Stopping The Run For The Wins
In that same span the BGSU defense has completely shut down the rushing attacks for each of the last six opponents, holding the teams combined to 435 yards (72.5/game) on the ground on 175 carries (2.5/rush).

Team                         Att.    Yds.
vs. Rhode Island        32        96
at Akron                      26        88
vs. Miami                    20        3
at UMass                    26        85
vs. EMU                    27        64
at Ohio                        44        99

Two to Go
With two games remaining in the 2012 regular season the Falcons have everything to play for. At 5-1 in conference play BGSU controls its own destiny if it wants to reach the MAC Championship game in Detroit, Michigan. Wins over Kent State and Buffalo would guarantee a MAC Championship appearance and give the team a chance to win its first MAC Championship since 1992.

Senior Leaders
This weekend's game will serve as senior day for 11 Falcons. Scott Hodges, Cory Johnson, Chris Jones, Tim Moore, John Pettigrew, Chip Robinson, Jordon Roussos, Stephen Stein, Bart Tanski, Dominique Wharton and Dwayne Woods will all be playing in their final game inside “The Doyt”. Combined, this senior class has 130 career starts, 485 rushing yards, 472 tackles, 31.5 sacks, 68 tackles for loss, four interceptions, 10 forced fumbles, eight touchdowns, 10 field goals and 46 extra points.

Must Protect This House
The Falcons are 4-0 on the season at home and a win versus Kent State would move BGSU to 5-0 on the year inside Doyt Perry Stadium. The last time BGSU won at least five games at home in a single season was in 2004 (team went 5-0 on the year).

Youth Still Served
Even with 20 starters returning, the Falcons still have the 10th youngest team in the country according to PhilSteele.com. According to that website the Falcons have 66.7 percent of its roster as underclassmen. The entire roster breakdown is below.
Seniors            10 (9.5%)
Juniors            25 (23.8%)
Sophomores   26 (24.8%)
Freshmen        44 (41.9%)

Under Center
Quarterback Matt Schilz will be making his 33rd start of his career for the Orange and Brown. While still a junior, Schilz is nearing in on several BGSU school records.
• Is third is passing yards (7,090)
• Is third in passing attempts (1,093)
• Is third in passing completions (646)
• Is fifth in passing touchdowns (46)

Smart Football
While the passing numbers are not there for Matt Schilz, what he has done a great job of is hanging onto the ball. In 304 passing attempts he has just six interceptions (1 INT for every 50.7 passing attempts). Schilz currently has not thrown an interception in 75 consecutive passes.

Samuel.1000
Anthon Samuel, who has only played in 18 career games (missed three games in 2011 one in 2012 due to injury) has already surpassed the 1,000 yard career rushing mark, becoming just the 35th Falcon in school history to do so. Samuel currently ranks 18th in school history with 1,750 rushing yards.

Up Next For Samuel
10. Zeb Jackson (90-93)         2,044
11. Courtney Davis (93-96)   2,011
12. Bernard White (84-85)       1985
13. Dan Saleet (74-77)            1,965
14. Keylan Cates (94-96)        1,827
15. B.J. Lane (02-05)               1,799
16. Chris Bullock (06-09)         1,756
17. Jack Woodland (47-49)   1,752
18. Anthon Samuel (2011-PR) 1,750

Mr. 100
As stated before, Anthon Samuel has played in just 18 games in his Falcon career, but has already produced 10 100-yard games. His 10 career 100-yard games is tied for fifth in BGSU history.

Most 100-yard Games in BGSU History
Dave Preston - 20
Paul Miles - 16
Fred Durig - 13
Zeb Jackson - 11
Bryant Jones - 10
Anthon Samuel - 10

In Reach
Sophomore Anthon Samuel is also nearing in on 1,000 yards this season, something that has only been done 10 times in BGSU history and been accomplished by just seven different running backs.
Fred Durig, 1951              1,444
Dave Preston, 1974         1,414
Paul Miles, 1971              1,185
Dan Saleet, 1975             1,114
P.J. Pope, 2004                1,098
Bryant Jones, 1981          1,051
Bernard White, 1984        1,036
Paul Miles, 1973               1,030
Paul Miles, 1972               1,024
P.J. Pope, 2003                 1,005
Anthon Samuel, 2012         906

Sticking Together
The Falcon offensive line has started the same unit in all 10 games this season. Despite an offensive line that features three first-year starters (Fahn Cooper, Chief Kekuewa and Alex Huettel), the Falcons have held up well up front.

Rushing
2010    62.3/game*
2011    122.9/game
2012    172.4/game
*Last in the nation

Sacks Allowed
2010    2.8/game
2011    1.9/game
2012    1.2/game (12 sacks in 10 games)

Bayer Named To John Mackey Midseason List
The Nassau County Sports Commission, sponsored by Briarcliffe College, has released the 2012 John Mackey Award Midseason Watch List and Bowling Green's Alex Bayer was named to that list.

Given annually to the most outstanding collegiate tight end, the award recipient is selected by vote of the John Mackey Award Selection Committee and the 2012 John Mackey winner will be presented live on December 6, 2012 at The Home Depot College Football Awards Red Carpet Show airing at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

Bayer has a career-high 27 receptions for 331 yards and three touchdowns on the year. Earlier this season he posted career-highs in catches (5), yards (94) and touchdowns (2) in the Falcons' 24-10 come-from-behind win at Akron.

Look Who's Talking
For years Bowling Green has been known as an offensive team, but don't look now, the BGSU defense is ranked first in the MAC in scoring (15.1) and total defense (285.4). They are first in rush (103.7) and pass (181.7) defense as well.

Year    Total Defense
2009    398.2
2010    432.0
2011    406.0
2012    285.4

Year    Rush Defense
2009    194.2
2010    207.8
2011    203.4
2012    103.7

Year    Scoring Defense
2009    27.5
2010    33.6
2011    28.8
2012    15.1

BGSU Tweet-fense
Below are 10 nuggets that you need to know about the BGSU defense, all under 140 characters.
• Leads the MAC in scoring defense (15.1) and is ninth nationally.
• Leads the MAC in total defense (285.4) and is ranked sixth nationally.
• Leads the MAC in rushing defense (103.7)
• Leads the MAC in pass defense (181.7)
• Fifth in the MAC with nine interceptions
• Second in the MAC with two INT returns for touchdowns
• Second in the MAC with 29 sacks
• BG defense is allowing just 15.3 first downs a game (leads MAC)
• Leads the MAC in 3rd down defense (30.6%)
• Have allowed just five TDs in the last six games.

Hit Rock Bottom
Since falling 37-0 at Virginia Tech on Sept. 29, the Falcons have rattled off six straight wins on the back of its defense. Since then BGSU has allowed just five touchdowns.

First Four                                                     Last Six
26.0                 Pts./game Allowed                 7.8
75 (18.8)         First Downs Allowed               78 (13.0)
150.5             Rushing Yards Allowed            72.5
242.2             Passing Yards Allowed            141.3
392.8                     Total Offense                    213.8
2                             Interceptions                    7
40%                         Third Downs                  25%
9                                     Sacks                      20
12                             TDs Allowed                 5

Monster of the MAC
Senior defensive tackle Chris Jones has been a demolition machine in 2012. Through 10 games the senior has 35 tackles, 17.0 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks. Jones has already been named MAC East Defensive Player of the Week three times this year and is second in the country in sacks and tied for third in tackles for loss.

Of the 35 tackles Jones has been involved with this season, 24 have resulted in no gain or negative yardage -- and the total minus yardage on those plays is minus-104 yards. The 11 “positive” plays have gained just 31 yards.

Doesn't Seem Possible
While most find it hard to believe that a defensive tackle has 11.5 sacks on the season all by himself, most may even find it harder to believe that Chris Jones' 11.5 sack are more than 11 teams have for the entire year! That's right Jones' 11.5 sacks are more than any of these BCS Teams:
Chris Jones - 11.5
Baylor - 11.0
Iowa - 11.0
Kansas - 9.0
Boston College - 6.0

Jones'n For Sacks
For the third straight year, Chris Jones has led the Falcons in sacks. The senior led BGSU with 6.0 sacks in 2010 and 8.5 sacks in 2011. This year his 11.5 sacks not only lead the team, they also nearly lead the nation. The defensive tackle has 27.0 sacks in his career, and is beginning to stalk Kevin O'Brien's BGSU sack record of 31.0 from 1989-92.

BGSU Career Sack Leaders
Kevin O'Brien (1989-92) - 31.0
Chris Jones (2009-PR) - 27.0
Diyral Briggs (2005-08) - 26.0
Devon Parks (2003-06) - 22.0

BGSU Single Season Sack Records
Kevin O'Brien (1992) - 19.0
Chris Jones (2012) - 11.5
Diyral Briggs (2008) - 9.5

Among Defensive Tackles
While Chris Jones does lead the country in sacks with 11.5, his lead is marginal compared to defensive ends or rush linebackers, but when you compare what Jones is doing against other defensive tackles, he has been remarkable.

Top Defensive Tackle Sack Leaders
Chris Jones (BGSU) - 11.5
Will Sutton (Arizona St.) - 10.5
Leonard Williams (USC) - 6.5
* No other defensive tackles are ranked in the top-50 national leaders

Under Pressure
Chris Jones leads a defense that has been getting after the quarterback this season. In fact, the Falcons are second in the MAC with 29 sacks on the year.

Defense ... Clap, Clap
That pressure has helped the BG defense get off the field in a hurry. Dating back to the second half with Akron, the Falcon defense has either forced a turnover or a three-and-out in 30 of 55 drives. In those 30 drives the Falcons have allowed 112 yards on 89 plays (1.3 yds./play).

I Got It!
That same pressure has also started to produce turnovers, including 10 turnovers in the last four games. The Falcons, which rank fourth in turnover margin (+6) and turnovers forced (+17) in the MAC, forced three turnovers versus Miami, four versus UMass and another three versus Eastern Michigan. BG had no turnovers forced versus Ohio.

Bring The Wood(s)
Middle linebacker Dwayne Woods is surpassed 300 career tackles. The senior has 312 career stops, recording 24 as a freshman in 2009, 134 in 2010, 111 in 2011 and 43 this season.

National Treasure
Brian Schmiedebusch was named the National Punter of the Week by the College Football Performance Award (CFPA). The junior had six punts on the night, with five of them traveling over 50 yards in the Falcons' 26-14 win at Ohio last Wednesday (Nov. 7). For the contest, the 2011 first team All-MAC performer averaged 50.5 yards per punt and had four of his six attempts downed inside the opponent's 20-yard line. Schmiedebusch is averaging 42.7 yards per punt this season and has a career average of 44.1 per kick.

All Alone
In his career BooBoo Gates now owns two kick returns for touchdowns, one punt return for a score and has two pick-6's in his career, becoming the first Falcon in school history to own touchdown returns via kick, punt and interception returns.

Very Special Teams
Since head coach Dave Clawson arrived at Bowling Green, he and assistant coach Adam Scheier, have found a way to get the most out of the BGSU special teams. In four years Scheier's special teams have:
• Three kick returns for touchdowns.
• Three punt returns for scores.
• Have blocked 13 kicks.
• Produced two All-MAC returners (BooBoo Gates and Eugene Cooper).
• Produced two All-MAC Punters (Brian Wright and Brian Schmiedebusch)
• Successfully converted on two fake punts.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Bowling Green State University Athletics

Falcons Host Golden Flashes With MAC East Title on the Line

Related News

Related Videos