College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Bowling Green Falcons season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Bowling Green Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 3-9 overall, 2-6 in MAC
Head Coach: Scot Loeffler, 2nd year, 3-9
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 122
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 124
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 124
No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: Bowling Green Falcons Offense 3 Things To Know
– Scot Loeffler took over the Bowling Green job after years as an offensive coordinator. The former Michigan quarterback knows how to get attacks going, he can work with passers but has the mindset for the ground game, and he knows what he’s doing.
It’s just going to take a little while.
His offense in his first season finished 120th in the nation with just 319 yards per game, and it was the third-worst in scoring O averaging just 16 points per outing. The ground game was okay at times, the passing attack didn’t work, and the team managed 20 points or fewer in nine games, and fewer than ten points five times.
– Finding the right quarterback is going to be the key. It would’ve been nice if 2019 was about developing the guy for 2020, but Grant Loy – who threw six touchdown passes and 11 touchdowns – left for Auburn.
Boston College transfer Matt McDonald is a good-sized passer with the arm to do what Loeffler is looking for – he was there when his new head coach was the OC at BC – and there’s no experience behind him. 6-3 redshirt freshman LaBronz Davis will be the likely No. 2.
6-4 senior Quintin Morris is one of the MAC’s best tight ends, leading the way with 55 catches for 649 yards and four scores, but the wide receivers have to emerge.
Julian Ortega-Jones was second with 298 yards, but he only caught 20 passes and didn’t come up with a score. The rest of the receiving corps will be about the underclassmen and recruiting class – it’ll be a work in progress. The second-leading wide receiver returning caught just one pass.
– The offensive line was a positive. As a function of the offense, the pass protection was great – it led the MAC in fewest sacks allowed – and it did a good job for the ground game.
With three starters expected to return, there’s hope to do it all again. Tim Tanner-Blair is a good guard on either side, and Derek Downs is a veteran tackle who can work on either side.
The running backs are in place to form a good rotation behind the solid line. Andrew Clair is the best back of the bunch – he ran for 244 yards and four scores but suffered a foot problem and only played in four games. In his place Bryson Denley will help after leading the team with 544 yards and four scores.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Bowling Green Falcons Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: Bowling Green Falcons Defense 3 Things To Know
– Defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder has to replace just enough starters to be annoying – four of the top six tacklers are gone – but there’s enough of a pass rush to work around. The run defense, though, has to be far stronger and the secondary has to generate more big plays after being among the nation’s least efficient pass defense.
– The line has a decent pass rusher in Karl Brooks to start with, but his team-high 4.5 sacks weren’t enough. There was just enough pressure overall to get by, but Roland Walder has to grow into a factor on the other side.
Finding an anchor to make the run D better is the bigger problem – 6-3, 275-pound junior Walter Haire and 284-pound redshirt freshman Jevon Henderson will get his chances.
The linebacking corps should be the strength of the defense with leading tackler Kholbe Coleman back after coming up with 103 tackles on the weakside, and with junior Jerry Roberts an active tackler on the other side. The middle should be set with 231-pound sophomore Darren Anders expected to take over – he’ll be one of the team’s leading tacklers.
– The really, really young secondary gets three starters back after coming up with just four of the team’s seven picks and got hit for 24 touchdown passes. Sophomore Jordan Anderson is back at one safety job after making 51 stops, and the corner tandem of sophomore JaJuan Hudson junior Caleb Biggers return after combining for 81 stops.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top Bowling Green Falcons Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top Bowling Green Falcons Players
Best Bowling Green Falcons Offensive Player
TE Quintin Morris, Sr.
The hope is for Matt McDonald to rise up and become the type of quarterback star who takes the offense to a whole new level, but to do it, he’ll need Morris.
The 6-4, 248-pounder broke out as a sophomore with a 42-catch, seven-touchdown season, and took his game up a notch as a junior with 55 grabs and four scores. He can stretch the field, and once again he’ll be a go-to guy.
2. QB Matt McDonald, Jr.
3. RB Andrew Clair, Sr.
4. OG Tim Tanner-Blair, Sr.
5. WR Julian Ortega-Jones, Soph.
Best Bowling Green Falcons Defensive Player
LB Kholbe Coleman, Sr.
The Falcons have to find as many defensive playmakers as possible to work around – especially against the run – and Coleman is one of them. The 6-0, 227-pounder followed up his 70-tackle sophomore season with a team-high 103 tackles and doing a little bit as a pass rusher. He’s not going to be a thumper, but he’s a sure-tackler with the speed and burst to do even more.
2. DE Karl Brooks, Jr.
3. LB Jerry Roberts, Jr.
4. S Jordan Anderson, Soph.
5. LB Darren Anders, Soph.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Bowling Green Falcons Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: Bowling Green Falcons Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Bowling Green Falcons Offense
The passing game has to start working. That’s where Matt McDonald has to step in.
The offense will run well, the pass protection will be fine, and if the receivers emerge, all that’s missing is steady quarterback play.
The Falcons threw four touchdown passes in the opening week win over Morgan State, and just five spread out over the other 11 games with 15 interceptions.
How weak was the passing attack. The 250 yards against Ohio in the 66-24 loss were the most against any FBS team, and that was only the third time all year it got past 200 yards.
Biggest Key To The Bowling Green Falcons Defense
The run defense can’t be so brutally awful. It got worse as the season went on, getting destroyed by Ohio for 342 yards and six scores and Buffalo for 455 yards and seven touchdowns in the final two games.
On the year, the Falcons gave up over 300 rushing yards five times, and allowed over 200 yards in two other games with 25 rushing scores allowed in the final six games.
To be fair, as miserable Bowling Green was against the run, it was a huge improvement after allowing 3,366 yards and 42 touchdowns in 2018.
Just be mediocre against the run, and the Falcons will start winning.
Key Bowling Green Falcons Player To A Successful Season
QB Matt McDonald, Jr.
It’s hard to run the offense the offensive head coach would like to do without a quarterback who can consistently produce.
Grant Loy was a big passer who struggled last year – and now he’s an Auburn Tiger. Backup Darius Wade is finished, and there’s no experience among the young parts.
Enter McDonald, a 6-3, 214-pound transfer from Boston College – and the son of former USC star QB Paul McDonald – who followed Scot Loeffler to BGSU, with the pro-style passing skills to push the ball all over the field.
He sat out a year, but he knows the offense, and he should be ready to make this passing game work.
Key Game To The Bowling Green Falcons Season
Miami University, Oct. 10
How much better are the Falcons this year and just how far have they come?
The schedule might be up in the air, but if the MAC slate goes forward like normal, beating Miami University – the defending East champion – would be a huge step forward for the program.
Last year the Falcons were thumped 44-3 for a second straight loss in the series and the third in four years.
– Bowling Green Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Bowling Green Fun Stats
– 3rd Quarter Scoring: Opponents 104 – Bowling Green 31
– Red Zone Scores: Opponents 43-of-51 (84%) – Bowling Green 25-of-36 (69%)
– Touchdowns Scored: Opponents 62 – Bowling Green 25
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Bowling Green Falcons Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: Bowling Green Falcons Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
The 2015 MAC Championship season only seems like it was 23 years ago.
Even longer ago was 2013, when the defense was a devastating killer on the way to a MAC Championship as it allowed 222 points in the 14 games, and seven points or fewer in seven games. Over the last six seasons, the defense allowed over 400 points in every one of them, hoping for the high-powered offense to make up for it.
It hasn’t worked lately.
Since 2015, the program has just nine wins over FBS teams with a whole lot of ugly losses. In his first season, head coach Scot Loeffler wasn’t able to turn things around with an offense that scored 100 fewer points than the 2018 version, and with a defense that was every bit as bad.
But this was always going to be a rebuild. Now the coaching staff has enough parts in place offensively to expect more consistent pop, and there’s just enough depth and experience on defense to expect a bit of a turnaround.
Oh yeah, and the special teams – absolutely miserable, they need some help, too.
But even with all of the problems, Bowling Green still on three games. That might not seem like a big deal, but ask 2019 Akron what it’s like to win anything.
At the moment, the Falcons miss Ball State – who’s going to be great – Central Michigan and Western Michigan. That’s a big break all across the board, there’s more in place to get better in a hurry, and the coaching staff has settled in.
It’s not okay for Bowling Green to be this bad anymore.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
