Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Eastern Michigan
Falcons Look To Continue Momentum At EMU Saturday
November 17, 2013 | Football
BGSU will take on Eagles at 1:00 p.m. on ESPN3
BGSU (7-3, 5-1 MAC) at Eastern Michigan (2-8, 1-5 MAC)
Saturday, November 23, 2013; 1:00 p.m.
Rynearson Stadium (30,200) / Ypsilanti, Mich.
ESPN3
Falcon Radio Network (Todd Walker/John Gibson)
LIVE STATS
LIVE AUDIO / FALCON RADIO NETWORK
COMPLETE GAME NOTES (.PDF)
Television  Â
*Saturday's game will air exclusively on ESPN3 beginning at 1:00 p.m from Rynearson Stadium.
Radio  Â
*Falcon Radio Network with Todd Walker (play-by-play) and John Gibson (analyst). Radio coverage can be heard on the flagship station for BGSU Football WFRO 99.1 FM in Fremont, Ohio as well as WWSR 93.1 FM (Lima, Ohio), WCIT 940 AM (Lima, Ohio), WXKR 100.7 FM (Toledo, Ohio), WONW 1280 AM (Defiance, Ohio), WHKW 1220 AM (Cleveland, Ohio), WFXN 102.3 FM (Mansfield, Ohio), WXXF 107.7 FM (Ashland, Ohio) and WHKW 1420 AM (Cleveland, Ohio).
*The Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO) broadcasts home games and select road games on 88.1 FM in Bowling Green.
Tickets  Â
*Tickets are available for $10 through the BGSU Ticket Office by calling 877-BGSU TICKET or going to the BGSU Ticket Office, located inside the Stroh Center. Fans can also visit the BGSU tickets page and order online at BGSUFalcons.com/tickets.
Websites / Social Media  Â
*BGSUFalcons.com (Bowling Green), EMUEagles.com (Eastern Michigan)
*Follow BGSU Football on Twitter through the official account of BGSU Athletics
@BGAthletics or the official account of BGSU Football @BGFalconFootbal
*On Facebook search for BGSU Athletics
Polls  Â
*Neither BGSU nor Eastern Michigan is receiving votes in the Associated Press or USA Today Coaches polls.
Live Stats / Live Audio / Live Video  Â
*Live stats are available online at BGSUFalcons.com.
*Live audio is available (via Falcon Radio Network) online at BGSUFalcons.com.
*Live video is available online at BGSUFalcons.com.
Series Info  Â
*Saturday's matchup will be the 37th all-time meeting between Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan. The Falcons lead the series 24-11-1.
*Bowling Green has won 10 of the last 11 meetings dating back to 1990, including a 24-3 win last season at Doyt Perry Stadium.
*BGSU Head Coach Dave Clawson is 1-0 against Eastern Michigan in his career.
THE COACHING STAFF
*Head coach Dave Clawson is in his fifth season at the helm of the football team with a career record of 87-80, which includes a 29-31 mark at BGSU. He is 21-17 in Mid-American Conference games.
*For the fifth 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 the only program in the MAC that can boast having the same head coach and coordinators for five years running.
THE REBUILD IS COMPLETE
*Following a trip to the Humanitarian Bowl in 2009, BGSU Head Coach Dave Clawson knew he had an arduous rebuilding job ahead of him. The Falcons slumped to 2-10 in 2010 but have rebounded by winning three more games than the previous season in each of the past two years. The Falcons are one of just four FBS teams to have made a three-win increase or better in each of the past two seasons and the only one of those teams to have seven wins so far in 2013.
THE CAPTAINS
*BGSU Head Coach Dave Clawson has named eight captains for the 2013 season -- Alex Bayer, Jairus Campbell, Dominic Flewellyn, BooBoo Gates, Ronnie Goble, Chief Kekuewa, Gabe Martin and Paul Swan.
*The group represents three players on the offensive side of the ball (Bayer, Flewellyn and Kekuewa) and five on defense (Campbell, Gates, Goble, Martin and Swan).
*Three of this year's captains were also captains a year ago -- Flewellyn, Goble and Swan.
DIVING INTO 7-3 AND 5-1
*In jumping out to a 7-3 start, Bowling Green defeated a pair of teams (Tulsa and Kent State) that each won 11 games a year ago.
*The Falcons handed Kent State its first regular season MAC loss since Nov. 25, 2011 at Temple.
*For the second consecutive season, Bowling Green has started a season 7-3. Last year, the Falcons also started 7-3 and played in the Military Bowl against San Jose State.
*2013 also marks the second straight season that the Falcons have started 5-1 in Mid-American Conference play. Last season, Bowling Green also began MAC play 5-1 and finished 6-2.
*With their 45-3 win at Miami, Bowling Green became bowl eligible for the second straight season, and third time overall under Clawson.
WHAT A WIN WOULD MEAN
*With a win Saturday, Bowling Green would improve to 8-3 and would keep pace with Buffalo atop the East Division standings at 6-1.
*A win over Eastern Michigan would be the second straight for the Falcons in the series, and 11 of the last 12 for the Orange and Brown.
BREAKING THE #MACTION MOLD
*When fans hear the phrase #MACtion, most think of the offensive fireworks by Mid-American Conference schools featured in weeknight games on national television. But Bowling Green has broken that mold with a stifling defense.
*The Falcons return nine starters in 2013 from a defense that ranked sixth in the country in total defense in 2012, allowing just 296 yards per game.
*Through the first ten games of the 2013 season, BGSU is again dominating defensively. The Falcons lead the MAC in scoring defense, total defense, pass defense, first downs allowed and red zone defense.
*BGSU is first in the country in red zone defense (allowing opponents to score points on just 14-of-25 possessions), 6th in scoring defense (15.1 points per game allowed), and 6th in passing defense (allowing just 171.6 yards per game).
THE RED ZONE
*In its seven wins, Bowling Green has been 33-of-36 scoring on trips in the red zone. All three of the unsuccessful attempts came when the Falcons went into victory formation and kneeled down for wins over Akron, UMass, and Miami.
*Defensively, Bowling Green ranks first in the country, allowing just 14 scores in 25 red zone trips. Of the 11 stops, four have come by virtue of missed field goals, three by recovered fumbles and four by fourth-down stops.
*UMass and Miami did not reach the red zone when the Falcons played them.
NEWS AND NOTES FROM OHIO
*The 49-0 win on Tuesday night was the Falcons' biggest win since Oct. 1, 2005 (70-7 vs. Temple)
*Tuesday night's shutout was the first shutout for the Falcons since a 24-0 win vs. UMass last season (Oct. 20, 2012)
*Tuesday's 21-point first quarter was the largest offensive output in the first quarter by the Falcons since scoring 28 vs. Morgan State (Sept. 10, 2011). Coincidentally, that game was on 9/10/11. Tonight's output occured on 11/12/13.
*Tuesday's 21-point first quarter was the fourth time this season the Orange and Brown have scored 21 points in a quarter. They have now scored 21 points once in every quarter this season. They scored 21 points in a quarter vs. Ohio (1st quarter), vs. Tulsa (4th quarter), vs. Murray State (2nd quarter), and at Miami (3rd quarter).
*Travis Greene rushed for 149 yards on Tuesday night, moving into fourth place all-time for a single season. He now has 1,167 rushing yards this season. Tuesday also marked Greene's sixth 100-yard rushing game this season, and 5th such game during MAC play.
*With his two touchdowns, William Houston becomes the fourth Falcon since 2004 to rush for 10 TDs in a single season. Last season, Anthon Samuel rushed for 11 TDs, and in 2004 P.J. Pope had 15 rushing TDs.
*Shaun Joplin had three catches in the game, surpassing 100 career catches.
*Cam Truss led the team with 7 tackles, surpassing 200 career tackles in the contest.
*BooBoo Gates' 82-yard interception return was tied for third longest in school history. It was his seventh career interception.
HEY BOOBOO
*While the Falcons have the best defense in the Mid-American Conference, they have only been able to record three interceptions through their first 10 games.
*Ryland Ward got the pick party started, and senior BooBoo Gates has continued it.
*Gates now has two interceptions on the year, including one which he returned 82 yards against Ohio.
*The strong safety is second on the team in tackles (51), has two interceptions, has forced two fumbles, and recovered three more.
AN EXPERIENCED CREW
*Bowling Green returns nine starters on defense and eight more on offense from the 2012 team. In fact, it is the second year in a row in which the Falcons return 17 starters between the two units.
*Entering 2013, BGSU's returners accounted for 182 career starts on offense and 214 on defense for a grand total of 396 career starts.
*Four Falcons entered 2013 with at least 30 career starts (Matt Schilz, Dominic Flewellyn, Alex Bayer and Cameron Truss) and three more had at least 20 (Ryland Ward, BooBoo Gates and Paul Swan).
HOME SWEET HOME
*The 2013 season marked the first time that Bowling Green has won at least five home games since 2004, when they went 5-0.
*BGSU completed its first three-game homestand since 2004 earlier this year, matching that season's 3-0 mark during the stretch.
*Since 1956 -- the first year with Doyt Perry as head coach -- BGSU has played 15 three-game homestands and a four-game homestand in 1960 (going 3-1).
*The Falcons went 3-0 in seven of the 15 homestands, 2-0-1 in another, 2-1 three times and 1-2 in the other four.
*Including the win over UMass, BGSU is 36-12-1 during three or four-game homestands since 1956.
*2013 marks the first season since 2002 that Bowling Green has played five of their first eight games at home. That 2002 team, coached by Urban Meyer, began the year 8-0 before finishing 9-3.
THAT'S ANOTHER FALCON FIRST DOWN
*With Tuesday night's three-catch performance, Shaun Joplin now has 101 career catches.
*Throughout his career, 78 of Joplin's 101 catches have gone for first downs, an astonishing 77.2-percent. So far this season, 32 of his 39 catches are first downs.
FIRST TIME TO PAYDIRT
*In the first 10 games of the season, Bowling Green scored 43 touchdowns and 31 of them came from players who had not scored prior to the start of 2013.
*While the Falcons are viewed as a veteran team, redshirt juniors Jared Cohen and Heath Jackson, junior Chris Pohlman, redshirt sophomores Chris Gallon, Ryan Burbrink, Travis Greene, Andre Givens and Matt Johnson and true freshmen William Houston and Ronnie Moore have all scored offensive touchdowns this year.
*Burbrink and junior Paul Senn have added special teams touchdowns.
MAC LEADERS
*BGSU leads the Mid-American Conference in nine different team statistical categories.
*Defensively, the Falcons lead the league in scoring defense, total defense, passing defense, passing defense efficiency, first downs allowed, and red zone defense (ranking first in the country).
*BGSU ranks first in the MAC and sixth in the country in time of possession.
*The Falcons also lead the league in punt return average (ranking fourth in the country at 16.5 yards per return).
*Bowling Green ranks first in the MAC (and 16th nationally) converting 50-percent of their third-downs.
THE SIGNAL CALLER
*Redshirt sophomore Matt Johnson was inserted into the season-opener against Tulsa at quarterback to start the Falcons' third possession of the game and guided the Falcons to the 34-7 victory.
*Since the time he was inserted into the starting lineup, he has earned three MAC East Offensive Player of the Week awards (weeks two, four and seven).
*Johnson got the first start of his career against Kent State, going 19-for-25 for 357 yards and two touchdown passes, earning MAC East Offensive Player of the Week honors. He was one of eight Manning Award Stars of the Week.
*In the win over Murray State, Johnson was 19-of-22 passing. His .864 completion percentage was the fifth-best single-game percentage in BGSU history. He again earned MAC East Offensive Player of the Week honors.
*In the 45-3 win over Miami, Johnson was an efficient 20-of-26 for 252 yards and three touchdowns. He also added a rushing touchdown. In that game, the signal caller surpassed 2,000 yards passing on the season.
ON T.O.P. OF THEIR GAME
*BGSU leads the MAC in time of possession, possessing the ball for an average of 33:43 per game.
*The Falcons rank sixth in the country in the category.
*Bowling Green is 7-1 this season when they win the time of possession battle, and 0-2 when they lose it.
The LAST 10 QUARTERS
*Since trailing 21-7 at halftime of their game against Toledo, the Falcons have played some dominant football.
*Bowling Green is outscoring opponents 112-10 over the last 10 quarters, including 87-0 over the last seven quarters.
HOUSTON, THEY'VE GOT A PROBLEM
*Walk-on freshman William Houston made a splash in his first collegiate game, scoring three times from just a yard out against Tulsa.
*The team's short-yardage back, Houston (who weighs 262 pounds) carried the ball 10 times against Tulsa, gaining positive yardage on nine of those carries.
*For his efforts, Houston was named MAC Offensive Player of the Week.
*Houston has scored 10 touchdowns this year, eight from one yard out and the other two from two yards away.
WE WANT MOORE
*True freshman Ronnie Moore has added a facet to the offense missing in 2012 -- explosive speed and play-making ability. He has three receiving touchdowns this season to lead the team.
*Moore has been responsible for five plays of 37 yards or longer, the most on the team.
*He had a 37-yard run in the season-opener against Tulsa on the Falcons' first touchdown-scoring drive.
*Moore's 51-yard touchdown reception on a screen pass against UMass opened the scoring in the second quarter.
*Later in the UMass game, Moore had a 43-yard reception that iced the victory.
*The true freshman added a 43-yard kickoff return against Toledo.
*Against Miami, Moore had an explosive 49-yard punt return in the fourth quarter.
*Moore got his first career start at Indiana, catching one pass for five yards and rushing twice for 15 yards. He also picked up a start against Murray State.
TATE IS GREAT
*Tyler Tate has been consistent in 2013, something the Falcons have been missing from their kicking the past few years.
*He is 10-of-13 on field goals this season and 41-of-42 on PAT attempts.
*Tate had made six consecutive field goal attempts before missing from 47 yards out against Indiana. He did, however, make a career-long 45-yarder later in the game.
*Against Akron, Tate made his only field goal attempt, a 29-yarder, and was 4-for-4 on extra points.
*Tate made two more field goals at Mississippi State, including a 45-yarder that tied his career long as time ran out in the first half.
PACING
*Through 10 games, several players are on pace to etch their names in the BGSU single-season record book. Among the most notable:
*Travis Greene is on pace to rush for 1,400 yards during the regular season, which would rank third all-time for the Falcons. If the team is able to make the MAC Championship and/or play in a Bowl Game, Fred Durig's school-record 1,444 yards is in serious jeopardy.
*Greene is on pace for 1,539 all-purpose yards, which would be fourth all-time and only 64 yards shy of second.
*The running back is currently averaging 6.1 yards per carry, which would tie him for sixth-best all-time for a single season.
*Matt Johnson has completed 65.9 percent of his passes thus far, which would put him in third for a season. Omar Jacobs completed a school-record 66.9 percent of his passes in 2004. Johnson is averaging 13.4 yards per completion which would be the 10th-best mark in school history.
SPECIAL TEAMS DOMINANCE
*BGSU's special teams have provided key sparks in the early going this year.
*BGSU kicker Tyler Tate is 10-for-13 on field goal attempts and 41-of-42 on extra points.
*Ryan Burbrink had a 67-yard punt return for a touchdown against Tulsa.
*Cameron Truss stuffed a fake punt on fourth-and-1 against Tulsa.
*BGSU recovered a muffed punt in the fourth quarter against Tulsa.
*Brian Schmiedebusch had two punts that went more than 50 yards against UMass, including a season-long 56-yarder that was downed at the 4-yard line.
*In his only two punt attempts at Mississippi State, Schmiedebusch recorded 48 and 49-yarders. More impressively, one was downed at the one-yard line and the other, following a penalty, forced MSU to start at its own six.
*Paul Senn blocked a punt against Indiana and returned the ball for a 56-yard touchdown, earning the No. 1 play on SportsCenter's Top 10 for Saturday, Sept. 14.
LOOK WHO'S TALKING
For years Bowling Green was known as a team that could light up the scoreboard offensively and Dave Clawson was known as an offensive guru. But Clawson's team became one of the most stout defensive units in the country in 2012 and carried that into 2013, currently leading the MAC in scoring defense and total defense. In 2010, the team allowed 33.6 points per game, but cut that total to 28.8 points allowed in 2011 and 16.8 in 2012. The Falcons are allowing just 15.1 points per game in 2013, sixth-best in the nation.
FIRST TIME STARTERS
*Three Falcons earned their first career starts against Tulsa -- all on the offensive side of the ball. Offensive tackles Logan Dietz and Jacob Bennett, along with running back Travis Greene, had their names in the starting lineup for the first time.
*Quarterback Matt Johnson picked up his first career start in the win over Kent State.
*Ronnie Moore and Brian Sutton picked up their first career starts at Indiana.
*Justin Ford posted his first career start against Murray State.
*Two more players got their first career starts against Mississippi State -- Chris Pohlman and William Houston.
*Redshirt junior Jared Cohen picked up his first career start against Toledo.
*Heath Jackson started at receiver against Miami, his first career start.
GETTING THEIR CAREERS STARTED
*In the season opener, 16 Falcons stepped on the field wearing the Bowling Green uniform for the first time in their collegiate careers.
*Four true freshmen saw action including Fred Coppet, Isaiah Gourdine, William Houston and Ronnie Moore.
*Nine of the first timers were redshirt freshmen in JJ Beggan, Jacob Bennett, Terrance Bush, Scott Davis, Logan Dietz, Greg Hohenstein, James Knapke, Izaah Lunsford and Ben Steward.
*Others who saw action for the first time were redshirt junior Jared Cohen (junior college transfer), redshirt sophomore Diontre Delk and junior Paul Senn (junior college transfer).
*Alphonso Mack and Jahlil-Nashid Croley both saw their first collegiate action in the win over Murray State.
*Against Ohio, Zac Bartman and Patrick Brown saw their first career action. Brown, celebrating Senior Day, kneeled down the final snap of the game.
THE GREENE LIGHT
*Redshirt sophomore Travis Greene was named the starting running back for 2013, filling a hole left with the departure of former high school teammate Anthon Samuel.
*Greene converted from wide receiver to running back during the spring and continued to climb the depth chart until finally being moved to the top of the two-deep after the team's second fall scrimmage.
*Making his ascendence even more surprising is the fact that the Falcons have a talented and deep pool of backs that include senior Jordan Hopgood, junior Jamel Martin, sophomore Andre Givens and a pair of explosive freshmen in Fred Coppet and Marcus Levy.
*Greene carried the ball 22 times for 88 yards in the season opener and then followed that up with 24 carries for 145 yards against Kent State.
*Greene had a streak of three consecutive 100-yard rushing games, but that was snapped when he went for "only" 99 at Mississippi State.
*At Doyt Perry Stadium, Greene has rushed for at least 100 yards in 4-of-6 contests.
*Greene ranks fourth in the MAC at 116.7 yards per game.
*In the win at Miami, Greene became the 11th Falcon to surpass 1,000 yards in a season. He is the first to do so since P.J. Pope in 2004
*Greene's 149-yard performance against Ohio was the sixth time that he has surpassed the 100-yard plateau in 2013, and the fifth during Mid-American Conference play.
FALCONS DOMINATE IN SHUTOUT OF OHIO
*Bowling Green dominated in a 49-0 shutout of Ohio last Tuesday night at Doyt Perry Stadium.
*It was the first shutout of 2013 for the Falcons' defense.
*Prior to the Ohio game, the last shutout came on October 20, 2012 in a 24-0 win at UMass.
PHIL STEELE HONORS TWELVE IN MIDSEASON
Phil Steele Magazine, one of the nation's most informative college football publications, has named 12 members of the Bowling Green State University football team to its mid-season All-MAC squad, tied for the most players in the conference honored. Offensively, Travis Greene, Alex Bayer and Dominic Flewellyn earned first-team honors with Ryan Burbrink being named first-team punt returner. Chief Kekuewa was recognized on the second team at center with Gabe Martin and BooBoo Gates being named on defense. Matt Johnson, Shaun Joplin, Alex Huettel, Bryan Thomas and DJ Lynch were named to the third team.
THE CHIEF OF THE O-LINE
*David "Chief" Kekuewa spent two years at Arizona Western Junior College before coming to Bowling Green just prior to the 2012 season. Kekuewa has started every game over the past two seasons at center.
*Chief's last name comes from Keli'ikuewa (which is also his middle name) and means the wandering chief. In old Hawaii, Kekuewa's family were chiefs of Honaunau, the city of refuge, on the island of Hawaii. Once foreigners went to the islands and especially after the Great Mahele chiefs in the Hawaiian Kingdom lost land and power, his family became wanderers, hence the wandering chiefs.
CLASSY
A year ago, 67 percent of Bowling Green's roster consisted of freshmen or sophomores. This year, that number has dropped slightly to 63 percent. The Falcons have 47 freshmen or redshirt freshmen on the roster this year, which is actually three more than a year ago.
ANOTHER CHANCE FOR EIGHT WINS
With a senior class that went 2-10 during their first year of eligibility, the Falcons will play for their eighth win on Saturday at EMU. It would be just the seventh time since 1980 that the Falcons have won eight or more games in back-to-back seasons.
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ALL-MAC RETURNERS
*BGSU returns seven players who were named All-MAC a year ago. Gabe Martin and BooBoo Gates were first team all-league honorees, while punter Brian Schmiedebusch made the second team. Alex Bayer, Dominic Flewellyn, Ted Ouellet and Cameron Truss were named to the third team.
*In all, the Falcons had 10 All-MAC players a year ago, the most for the team since 2004.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
*BGSU has earned nine Mid-American Conference East Division Player of the Week honors this season.
*Travis Greene was named MAC East Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 142 yards and adding 71 more yards receiving in a 31-14 win over Akron. Greene also had a rushing touchdown and a receiving score.
*Matt Johnson earned three MAC East Offensive Player of the Week awards for his efforts against Kent State, Murray State and Mississippi State.
*Paul Senn earned MAC East Special Teams Player of the Week after blocking a punt and returning it for a touchdown against Indiana. He also recovered a fumble on a kick-off after the Falcons took a 10-7 lead in the second quarter.
*William Houston was named MAC East Offensive Player of the Week after scoring three touchdowns in his first collegiate game against Tulsa.
*Ryan Burbrink was named MAC East Special Teams Player of the Week after a 67-yard punt return for a touchdown against Tulsa.
*BooBoo Gates earned defensive honors after his performance at Miami where he had two fumble recoveries and returned one for a touchdown.
*Tyler Tate earned special teams honors after going 7-for-7 (6 PATs, 1 FG) at Miami.
ALL ALONE
Senior BooBoo Gates has two kick returns for touchdowns, one punt return for a score, two interception returns for TD, and a fumble recovery returned for a TD in his career. Gates is the first Falcon in school history to own touchdown returns via kick, punt, interception, and fumble 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 five years, Scheier's special teams have:
*three kick returns for touchdowns.
*four punt returns for scores.
*blocked 15 kicks.
*returned a blocked punt for a touchdown.
*converted on two fake punts.
*produced two All-MAC returners (BooBoo Gates and Eugene Cooper).
*produced two All-MAC punters (Brian Wright and Brian Schmiedebusch, twice).
HAIL TO THE CHIEF
David "Chief" Kekuewa was named to the Rimington Fall Watch List, an award given annually to the top center in college football. Kekuewa started all 13 games at center a year ago and was part of a unit that helped produce more than 150 rushing yards per game.
SCHILZ SURPASSES 8,000 YARDS
Quarterback Matt Schilz surpassed 8,000 career passing yards against Ohio with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Ronnie Moore. He is the third QB in school history to reach that milestone.
RUNNING FOR THE WINS
Over the past two years, Bowling Green has been at its best when pulverizing the opposition in the running game, a fact that was in direct contrast to Dave Clawson's first three seasons at BGSU. From 2009-11, the Falcons rushed for 200 yards in a game just one time. But the Falcons have now reached that total nine times in the past two years (including five times already in 2013). Below are all the 200-yard rushing games (and a 197-yard effort) in the past two seasons, all BGSU wins.
STOPPING THE RUN
A year ago, Bowling Green held its opponent to less than 100 yards rushing in all eight of the team's wins. In 2013, that has not been as important to the Falcons' success as only Tulsa, Akron, and Ohio have rushed for less than 100 yards this year. Kent State rushed for 138 yards, Murray State had 166 on the ground and UMass posted 184.
TWO NAMED TO LOMBARDI WATCH LIST
Dominic Flewellyn and Gabe Martin were each selected to the Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List, an award given annually to the best down lineman in the country, either on offense or defense. Flewellyn was a third-team All-MAC performer on Bowling Green's offensive line in 2012, while Martin earned first-team All-MAC honors as a linebacker.
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
Almost every preseason poll in the country has picked the BGSU football team to finish first or second in the MAC East, splitting most of the votes with Ohio. The Falcons were picked first by Athlon, The Sporting News and Phil Steele. The MAC media and USA Today picked Bowling Green to finish second in their respective preseason polls.
SWEET SEVENTEEN
One of the most respected college football writers in the country, Phil Steele, picked 17 Falcons among his preseason All-MAC teams, the most of any team in the conference. The Falcons had four representatives on the first team, three second-team members, four players on the third team and six more Falcons were named fourth-team preseason All-MAC. Toledo had the second-most picks in the conference with 14.
FALCONS WITH AN IMPRESSIVE SCORING MARGIN
While the Falcons trail Northern Illinois by a point for the MAC lead in scoring margin, the Falcons are the only team in the MAC that has scored more than double what they have allowed in 2013. The Falcons (+18 ppg) have outscored their opposition 331-151 (68.6% of ppg) this season, including a 219-74 margin in conference games. Although NIU (+19.4 ppg scoring margin) leads the league, they have only scored 446 while allowing 252 points (63.8% of ppg). BGSU is the only MAC team scoring more than double what they allow.
ON THE TUBE
BGSU has had nine games selected to be aired on the ESPN Family of Networks. Games against Tulsa, Indiana, and Miami were televised on ESPNU and the Kent State game was aired on ESPN Regional. The Murray State, Akron, UMass, and Ohio games were broadcast on ESPN3 as is this week's game against Eastern Michigan. The contest on Nov. 29 at Buffalo will also be televised on ESPNU. On top of that, the game at Mississippi State was televised on Fox Sports Net.
THE NFL DRAFT
*BGSU alumnus Chris Jones joined a select fraternity in April when the defensive tackle was picked in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans. Jones was the first Falcon drafted since Kory Lichtensteiger in 2007. Jones, the MAC Defensive Player of the Year, was joined in NFL camp by classmate Jordan Roussos, who was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent.
*Jones has already made his way around the NFL but may have found a home in New England. After being released by Houston, signed and released by Tampa Bay, the defensive tackle was picked up by the Patriots and is now starting. He had 10 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss and two sacks in the Patriots' loss against the New York Jets.
MORE NFL RUNDOWN
*BGSU alumnus Kory Lichtensteiger has started nine games at left guard for the Washington Redskins this year after starting all 16 games at the position a year ago.
*Shaun Suisham has been the Pittsburgh Steelers' kicker since 2010 and is 19-of-21 on field goals this year. He has made all 105 extra point attempts in his time with Pittsburgh as well.
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS
For the second straight season, Bowling Green will have the chance to play a de facto MAC East championship game when they travel to Buffalo on Nov. 29. That game, which will be played at Ralph Wilson Stadium, will be aired on ESPNU and begin at 1:30 p.m. The winner of the BGSU vs. Buffalo contest will advance to the MAC Championship game on Dec. 6 at Ford Field in Detroit. Last season, Bowling Green lost to Kent State in a game which decided the MAC East champion.
