 For the first time since the 2000 season, the Bowling Green-Toledo matchup is not the final game of the season. Initially BG head coach Dave Clawson was not pleased that the game was moved to the middle of the season. Now he thinks it’s going to be a good thing.
“When they first moved it up, I wasn’t happy with it,” Clawson said. “There is a certain thing about those rivalry games that it’s great to have them at the end of the year.
“Now that it is this week ... This is a game that you want the students of both institutions involved,” he continued. “We’re going to have great weather. I’m sure we’ll have a great crowd.”
He also said that he doesn’t want the BG-UT game to fall during Thanksgiving week again. “Now that I’ve had time to digest this, I think the positives far outweigh the negatives,” Clawson said.
Bowling Green is 3-1 in the last four games with Toledo, with the Rockets last win at Perry Stadium coming in double-overtime in 2005.
Saturday’s UT-BG game is the Falcons’ Homecoming and kickoff is at noon in Perry Stadium.
TACKLES: Clawson hopes the Falcons do a better job of tackling this week.
Last Saturday in the 45-21 loss to Western Michigan, the Broncos rolled up 351 yards on the ground, just 30 yards less than BG’s total offense in the game.
Clawson said 153 of WMU’s rushing yards came as a result of six missed tackles and another 61 occurred when BG failed to contact quarterback Alex Carder.
“Give credit to them and their running backs for making us miss and credit their quarterback for finding the holes,” Clawson said. “But those are things that are correctable and have to be corrected.
“There were tackles missed by what I think are some of our best tacklers and very best football players. These guys are learning they have to do things right; not five out of six times or nine out of 10 times, but every single time.”
NEW TROPHY: Bowling Green and Toledo have jointly announced the introduction of a Battle of I-75 Trophy to be presented annually to the winner of the football game between the two schools. The trophy replaces the Peace Pipe Trophy that had been used in the football rivalry since 1980.
The schools agreed to change the trophy after conversations with members of the Native-American community. Taken into consideration was the spiritual symbolism of the peace pipe to the Native-American community, as well as the NCAA’s initiative to remove inappropriate Native American nicknames and symbols associated with member’s athletic teams.
Diane Bishop, the director of the Native American Women’s Alliance (NAWA) and a University of Toledo graduate, said the discontinuance of the Peace Pipe Trophy was a positive step toward combating Native American stereotypes.
“I applaud both the University of Toledo and Bowling Green State University for their open dialogue regarding concerns about the Peace Pipe Trophy, and their voluntarily discontinuing a trophy that perpetuated a stereotype of the past,” said Bishop. “Dialogue and education are the roads to understanding, and both universities led the way with their quick and respectful response regarding this issue.”
FATINIKUN: T.J. Fatinikun, a Perrysburg High School graduate, is a key member of UT’s defensive unit, playing at end.Fatinikun dislocated his right elbow during the first quarter of UT’s game with Eastern Michigan on Saturday and is day-to-day.
For the season, Fatinikun has made 23 tackles, including 14 solos. He has 71⁄2 tackles for 31 yards in losses, including three sacks for 23 yards.
BECKMAN: This is the 10th BG-UT game for Toledo head coach Tim Beckman.
Now in his third season as Toledo’s head coach, Beckman was an assistant coach at Bowling Green for seven years, serving as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach.
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