 In a perfect world, the first third of the college football schedule would be against non-conference opponents with the league games scheduled for the final two months of the season.That’s not the case for Bowling Green this fall.
The Falcons opened Mid-American Conference play at Miami last Saturday and are now getting ready to play their final non-conference game at No. 22-ranked West Virginia.
“When the schedule came out we just looked at that Miami game as a critical game. If you can start out 1-0 in the conference now this game (West Virginia) is at a great time,” said BG head coach Dave Clawson. “If you would have lost that game (Miami), this one becomes a tougher one because you know you are already behind and you have two weeks before you can get back into conference play.
“These are the opportunities to get to play in front of a lot of people and try and earn respect nationally for your program. We certainly want to take advantage of those opportunities,” he continued. “This is a great game where you find out a lot about your football team: Who are the guys who are going to fight and battle and compete for four quarters?”
LEADERS: BG quarterback Matt Schilz is leading the nation in touchdown passes (14) and is 15th in the country in passing yards per game (292.25).
Falcons’ punter Brian Schmeidebusch is leading the nation in punting (49.1 yards per punt). Of his 17 punts, eight have gone over 50 yards and eight have been downed inside the 20-yard line.
HOLDERS: All athletes have superstitions, quirks, pregame rituals, etc. to try to keep things going in a positive direction.
Same underwear every game??
Even Detroit Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland, the Perrysburg High School graduate, said he wore the same underwear every game during a recent 12-game winning streak.
On Bowling Green’s football team, Kyle Burkhardt uses Bart Tanski as his holder while Steve Stein uses Alex Bayer.
“Sometimes kickers can be a little bit high maintenance,” Clawson said. “I think back to the old baseball teams that had a pitcher who would have to have a certain catcher and our kickers are like that.”
Clawson said the kickers get in a rhythm with their holder and when the decision was made to replace Burkhardt with Stein during the Miami game: “We made the change in the bullpen and brought in Alex Bayer as the holder.”
HUNTER: Darrell Hunter, a true freshman, stepped into the starting lineup against Miami due to an injury to Cameron Truss, BG’s most experienced defensive back.
Hunter finished with four unassisted tackles, including a tackle for loss and a pass breakup.
“For a true freshman in his first start, he played awesome,” Clawson said. “Did he do everything perfect? No. But he did not back down. He tackled, he covered. He was aggressive. I was really proud of how he played.”
DUNLAP: While BG’s Steve Dunlap will be returning kickoffs, West Virginia’s Steve Dunlap, an assistant coach for the Mountaineers, will be in the upstairs in the coaches’ box.
TOP 25: The last time Bowling Green beat a team ranked in the Top 25 was in 2003, when the Falcons won both at No. 16 Purdue (27-26) and against No. 12 Northern Illinois (34-18). BG also lost at No. 4 Ohio State (24-17) in 2003.
NEHLEN: This is Don Nehlen quarterback scholarship weekend with more than 20 former Mountaineer quarterbacks scheduled to return to campus to honor the former West Virginia head coach.
A BGSU graduate, Nehlen played for Bowling Green in 1955, 1956 and 1957 and was the Falcons’ head coach from 1968-76, compiling a 53-35-4 record. He later went on to an outstanding coaching career at West Virginia, which included 13 appearances in bowl games.
INJURIES: Offensive lineman Chip Robinson (knee), Truss (ankle) and running back Anthon Samuel (leg) are all game-time decisions for the West Virginia game.
“We’re hopeful that all three of them can play and will play,” Clawson said. “We’re going to take those kids up to kickoff to see how they feel.”
In non-conference games, the travel roster expands from the players for MAC games to how many a team wants to take. “To dress them and have them ready, doesn’t eliminate someone else dressing,” Clawson said.
TV: For those who can pick up the Big East Network, the BG-West Virginia game will be televised live.
The game is also scheduled to be available on ESPN3.com.
Rob King and John Thornton will call the action.
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