Falcons Soar to the Land of 10,000 Lakes on Saturday to Face the Minnesota Gophers

Falcons Soar to the Land of 10,000 Lakes
• Bowling Green State University returns to the road to face the Minnesota Golden Gophers of the Big Ten Conference.
• Kickoff is set for noon ET and will air live on ESPNU.

Five Top Storylines
• Bowling Green held total possession of the ball for 21:35 in the second half against Murray State, including for 12:09 in a decisive third quarter. Minnesota is No. 4 in the nation in time of possession, holding the ball for an average of 37:10 per game.
• LB Darren Anders is one of two players in the nation this season with 25+ tackles (29), one interception, one fumble recovery, one forced fumble and one sack. Utah's Devin Lloyd is the other player. Anders currently ranks No. 17 in the nation and No. 2 in the MAC with 9.7 tackles per game.
• QB Matt McDonald is No. 14 in the nation and No. 2 in the MAC in completion percentage. He also ranks No. 1 in the MAC in completions per game, passing yards and passing yards per game. McDonald is 3 in the MAC in total offense.
• WR Austin Osborne is No. 1 in the MAC and No. 16 in the nation with 7.0 receptions per game. The Washington transfer entered the season with one career reception and currently leads BGSU with 21 this season.
• S Davon Ferguson is the only player in the nation that is averaging 7.0+ tackles per game (8.3), has at least 2.0+ tackles for loss (3.5) and has defended at least four passes (4).

Loeffler and BGSU Coaching Staff to Take Part in Coach to Cure MD
• Scott Loeffler and his coaching staff will take part in Coach to Cure MD on Saturday at Minnesota.
• Coach to Cure MD is a nationwide project designed to build awareness and funding to support researchers trying to find a treatment and cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research.
• The Bowling Green coaching staff will be wearing the Coach to Cure MD
patches during Saturday's game.
• This is the 13th-annual Coach to Cure MD effort and all American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) members will wear a Coach to Cure MD logo patch during games this week. Last year they took a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Coach to Cure MD is a partnership between the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), the largest nonprofit organization in the United States focused entirely on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, the leading childhood genetic killer of young men.

Bowling Green vs. Minnesota
• Minnesota holds a narrow 2-1 advantage in the all-time series. BGSU's lone win came the last time these teams played in Minneapolis. The game went to overtime at the Metrodome in 2007. It is the last overtime game BGSU has played.
• The last meeting in 2008 served as the first time a Big Ten Conference team played at BGSU's Doyt Perry Stadium.
• In BGSU's lone win in 2007: After building a 21-0 halftime lead over Minnesota the Falcons trailed 24-21 with 2:12 remaining in the fourth quarter the last time BGSU traveled to Minnesota. Tyler Sheehan and the Falcons marched down the field to set up a 35-yard field goal, which Sinisa Vrvilo converted.
• After surrendering a touchdown in overtime the Falcons answered back when Sheehan found a wide open Marques Parks for a nine-yard score. Electing to go for two instead of the extra point, Sheehan found a streaking Freddie Barnes for the score to give BGSU the 32-31 win.
• In his first career start Sheehan was 34-of-51 for 388 yards and two scores. He also caught a 24-yard touchdown from Corey Partridge. Barnes finished the game with six catches for 99 yards, while Partridge chipped in with 52 yards on six catches as well.

Bowling Green vs. B1G
• Bowling Green is 8-20 all-time against current members of the Big Ten Conference, which includes games against Indiana (1-1), Maryland (1-1), Michigan (0-2), Michigan State (0-3), Minnesota (1-2), Northwestern (2-1), Ohio State (0-5), Penn State (0-2), Purdue (3-0) and Wisconsin (0-3).
• Bowling Green is scheduled to play at Michigan in 2023, at Penn State in 2024, at Minnesota in 2025 and at Ohio State in 2027. The 2027 Ohio State game is a reschedule from the 2020 meeting that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bowling Green - UMN connections
• Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck is no stranger to Bowling Green and the MAC. He coached four years at Western Michigan and played at Northern Illinois. While at NIU, he threw an interception in Bowling Green's 34-18 win over then-No. 12 NIU in 2003. ESPN's College GameDay was on the BGSU's campus for that day.
• Minnesota's offensive line coach and run game coordinator Brian Callahan has coached in the MAC at Akron and Western Michigan.
• Minnesota cornerbacks coach Paul Haynes got his college coaching career started in 1994 as a graduate assistant at Bowling Green. A Kent State alum, he was the head coach at his alma mater from 2013-17.
• Minnesota co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Matt Simon played at NIU and coached in the MAC at NIU and at Western Michigan.
• Minnesota defensive line coach Chad Wilt worked at Liberty and Virginia with Bowling Green assistant AD for strategic communications, Vincent Briedis. The first two months Briedis was on the job at UVA in 2009 he lived with Wilt in Charlottesville as he looked for a place to live.

Ferguson Making His Mark
• CB Davon Ferguson is making his mark after coming to Bowling Green as a transfer from Kansas last spring.
• Ferguson made 2.0 tackles for a loss and broke up two passes against Murray State last time out. He was the only player in the nation this past weekend to accomplish such a feat and is one of five to do so this season. Tyler Bride (Georgia Southern), Nate Landman (Colorado), Devon Witherspoon (Illinois) and Theo Jackson (Tennessee) are the other players to do so through the first three weeks.
• He is currently No. 17 in the nation and No. 2 in the MAC with 5.7 solo tackles per game. He is also No. 2 in the MAC and No. 25 in the nation with 1.3 passes defended per game.

Osborne Becoming a Key Target
• WR Austin Osborne made eight catches in his Bowling Green debut at Tennessee. Osborne, a transfer from Washington, entered the 2021 season with one career reception. He was high school teammates with Bowling Green quarterback Matt McDonald at Mission Viejo High School in Southern California.
• Osborne followed up his BGSU debut with seven catches against South Alabama and six more against Murray State.
• His 69 receiving yards against Murray State are a career high.
• Osborne is No. 16 in the nation and No. 1 in the MAC with 7.0 receptions per game.

McDonald Settling In
• After playing all of 2020 injured, QB Matt McDonald is settling in.
• Through three games McDonald is No. 1 in the MAC in passing yards (716), passing yards per game (238.7) and completions per game (23.33). He is No. 3 in total offense (231.3).

Starting The Half Hot
• For the first time this year, Bowling Green scored on its opening drive of the game and second half against Murray State. Both went for touchdowns. This was the first time in the Scot Loeffler era that Bowling Green scored on its opening drives in both the first and second halves of the same game.
• The last time a BG team scored on its opening drive in the first half and second half in the same game was the 2017 season at Kent State. Both went for touchdowns then too.

Spreading the Wealth
• So far through three games there have been 12 different Falcons that have made at least one reception. Compared to 2020, only eight Falcons caught a pass, which was down from 14 in 2019.
• BGSU is averaging 7.3 different receivers a game that have made at least one catch.

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