Toledo Blade Blogs - Joe Vardon

Pregame:
Everyone is available to play for BG, and that includes Geter, Turner and Barnes. I don’t need to tell you how big this is. BG needs all the playmakers it can get, especially in the backfield. And I’ll tell you why … It is snowing, and that bodes well for the better ground team. No question, Buffalo with James Starks has the edge in that department. If the quarterbacks in this game, Tyler Sheehan and Drew Willy, are struggling to grip the ball and complete passes, this becomes a big advantage for the Bulls. Ten minutes to game time and no one is here. It’s pretty pathetic, but … can’t say I blame any of you for staying home. The conditions are absolutely miserable, although it should be a good tonight of football.

We won’t spend a great deal of time on the game itself. BG dominated 80-48 over a Division II opponent. The Falcons looked strong and Wayne State looked like a Division II opponent.
Let’s update the Madlock and Sims storylines. Madlock has gotten into further trouble apparently as his original suspension was to last only three games. I don’t know where he stands with the program except that he’s still a member. Coach Orr called the suspension “indefinite” and added “There are some things he has to work through, we have to work through. But he’s part of our family. Sometimes young people need to be able to focus on one thing at a time and get their footing together.” My guess is Madlock is running out of chances, but we’ll see. As for Sims, he is indeed transferring and it’s over a lack of playing time. The writing was on the wall. He played eight minutes against Concordia St. Paul and had a DNP in the other two games in Minneapolis. When three guys are suspended and you’re still not seeing the floor, well, it’s time to move on. Sims isn’t dumb. My guess is he’ll end up at a small school and be eligible to play at the start of the second semester. Orr had this to say about Sims: “He really wants a situation where he can play more. Sims is a great young man and anything I can do to help him I will. He’s part of our family.” Not that the coaching staff cares what I think, but I’d use the open scholarship to go get a big man from the junior college ranks. Polk and Larson are gone after next year, and you don’t want an unpolished freshman center starting the following season on what could be a very talented team. Nate Miller led the team in points (15) and rebounds (eight) in his first game back from suspension. He and Chris Knight, who was also suspended, came off the bench but Orr said that was not a sign of further discipline for their transgressions. “They have to fit in where they can get in,” Orr said. My guess is Miller and Knight will come off the bench until Darryl Clements and the duo of Marc Larson and Erik Marschall cool off. Speaking of Clements, he looks like a different player. He’s more confident, less choosy in his shot selection, moves more fluidly. He played with a purpose and looked much more sure of himself than was the norm from a year ago. Props to Darryl for improving his game. Miller had this to say about the suspension during the postgame interview. “I got in some trouble with coach and I had to pay the price. I kept my head up, worked hard, and now I’m back. It’s behind me and we’ll move on from there.” BG will play at Ohio State on Monday, and Clements is confident the Falcons can make it interesting. “We prepared ourselves all summer for games like this,” he said. “We’re about as confident as we’re going to get. They better be ready for us to come down there.” WSU coach David Greer, who played at BG from 1979-83, had some great lines after the game. “First of all, did anybody get the license plate to that truck?” [In reference to the blowout] “I think the thing that makes Bowling Green really good is their wings are big.” (I agree and that’s one reason BG beat Kent State last year) “Whatever Dale’s drinking the rest of them need to take a sip of.” [On Dale Brundidge’s high energy] “Larry had three fouls in the first half and quite frankly I forgot all about him sitting over there.” [On starter Larry Edwards who picked up three fouls and did not score in seven minutes] “Justin Sample really didn’t give us anything tonight.” [Sample did not score in 15 minutes] “We have 10 new guys and some of them don’t even know each other’s names.” “I have great memories here. The people just make up the town. It’s a college town. Obviously we had some success here and it was great seeing a lot of my former teammates. They came down to watch the game and it’s always great to see those guys and mix and mingle.” “To show you how deep they are, they didn’t have any bad players to put in to keep the game under control.” Pregame Some breaking news has arrived moments before tonight’s tipoff between BG and Wayne State. -Cameron Madlock’s suspension has not been lifted and Ryan Sims has requested and been granted a transfer. Madlock missed last weekend’s NABC Classic in Minneapolis and was supposed to be back tonight. Apparently he screwed up again and as soon as I know his status for the rest of the year I will let you know. Sims doesn’t surprise me. He logged just eight minutes over one game in Minnesota and was behind freshman Dee Brown on the “depth chart”. Obviously another scholarship opens up, so we’ll see what happens between now and the spring. Also on the lines of breaking news, I have learned that beer will be sold in the stands at tomorrow’s football game. Have fun pounding cold ones in 33-degree weather.

My buddy Ryan Lewis has been pestering me for some time to allow him to use this blog as a way of scratching some of the things that itches him as a sports fan. I finally caved in to his request, and I really enjoyed what he submitted.
As you'll see, Mr. Lew is as sarcastic and edgy as they come. I attribute those characteristics to him graduating from Ohio University and being forced to follow the dreadful Bobcats football team and the underachieving men's basketball team. Here's Ryan. A couple months ago Ryan and I had an unplanned conversation about a list of people who, simply put, need to go away. This impromptu dialogue triggered something in my brain that now causes me to identify the quote en quote “guy” every time I see him. Everyone knows who these people are, and nobody likes them. These guys need to take a long walk off of the proverbial short bridge. Allow me to elaborate: -Cuts you off on the freeway without using a blinker guy -Talks on his cell phone while getting rung up at the cash register guy -Coughs without covering his mouth guy (also see: sneezes without covering his mouth guy) You get the point. Since we are about to embark on the best part of the sports season (NFL contenders starting to take shape, NBA slowly picking up, BCS picture…uh….well, you get the idea), I figured I would take a moment to identify the “guys” that need to take a look in the mirror: For you college fans…. Shirt off at the game guy…. -I remember when this guy used to be covered in body paint—he was tolerable then. He was even okay when he didn’t have the body paint but you could smell the Jack Daniels and cheap beer from a mile away (at least that guy knew he was an embarrassment). But now we’ve got clowns who stand in the stands without a shirt on for no good reason. No body paint. No cheap whiskey buzz. No nothing. Listen guy, we get it. You most likely have a tone upper-body. We are proud of you, we really are. Just put your shirt on, and go back to the “Hot or Not” chat room you came from. Charges the field after a meaningless victory guy… -You won. Congratulations. Get off of the field. This guy has been getting worse and worse with every year—mainly because he and his awesome friends charge the field before the game is even officially over. Team A beat Team B, and Team C lost to Team A, therefore Team B is better than Team C guy… -Stop it right now. Any given Sunday (or Saturday for that matter). For you NFL fans… “Any given Sunday” guy… Just stop it with the cliches…ehhh..wait a second…. While there is no effective way to extricate ourselves from these “guys” we can help the problem. Here are a list of steps to follow if you see one of these “guys”: -Don’t encourage him, ignore him. -Make fun of “that guy” openly to let everyone know that his behavior is not okay. -If you realize that one of your friends is “that guy”, let him know. You owe it to him. -If you realize that you are “that guy”, tell everyone. Let them make fun of you. They owe it to you.

Tuesday:
Northern Illinois (-3.5) at Kent State. Let’s look at BG as a common opponent. BG couldn’t do much of anything offensively against NIU but a week later it destroyed Kent in every way possible. Also, NIU is clearly a more talented team than the Flashes. Huskies cover. Wednesday: Ball State (-7) at Central Michigan. There’s no chance Ball State is seven points better than Central, is there? Why am I asking you? I am the voice of reason on MAC picks and I’m taking CMU to beat the spread. This battle in the West should be superb. Friday: Miami (+3) at Toledo. I’m not sure if I’ve won a UT game yet this year. The problem is I can never gauge how bad they are going to be on any given week. Some weeks, like against Florida International, the Rockets are laughable. Other weeks, like last Saturday against Western, they are only mildly bad. It’s tough to pin down which degree of poorness will be on display by the Rockets. I predict they will only be “kind of” bad Friday, which should be good enough to cover against a pathetic Miami team. Buffalo (+3.5) at Bowling Green. When BG creates turnovers, it generally wins big. When BG doesn’t create turnovers, it generally loses in a heartbreaker. Well, Buffalo doesn’t turn the ball over too much, so the Falcons are gonna have to find another way to win here. Maybe it will be with defense, maybe in the kicking game, but I think BG pulls out a close one but does not cover. Should be a dandy. Saturday: Akron (-2.5) at Ohio. There are only so many words I can pull out of my vocabulary to illustrate how truly bad OU is. Zips cover. Eastern Michigan (+10.5) at Temple. You could offer me 10 tickets to the most plush suite inside Lincoln Financial Field, massages for me and my buddies at halftime, lunch served by the caterer of our choice, and a keg of Sam Adams Honey Wheat … and I’d turn it down because it wouldn’t be worth watching these two teams. Temple covers, I suppose. Against the spread Last week: 2-3 Season: 43-30-1

Since there were few things discussed at today’s weekly press conference, I thought I’d switch things up and answer some questions that perhaps you are wondering.
Will Freddie Barnes, Anthony Turner and Willie Geter play Friday against Buffalo? Dunno. Coach Brandon did not want to discuss injuries today for fear it would help Buffalo in preparing for his team. Brandon used a sarcastic coach-speech tone to say, “Those guys are getting better as we speak, and hopefully they will be available.” Couple things here. College coaches do not have to disclose any details regarding injuries, although Brandon is usually pretty good about giving us something, even if it includes the phrase “day-to-day.” Secondly, he wasn’t being a jerk or a smart alec. He’s just really focused on winning this game. Does BG have to win its next three games (including the MAC championship) to secure a bowl berth? No! If BG beats Buffalo and Toledo it will play in one of the three games affiliated with the MAC --- the Motor City Bowl, the International Bowl, or the GMAC Bowl. The East winner, provided they are bowl eligible, has a reservation to one of these bowls. If you recall, Miami won the East last year but did not go bowling. That’s because it had a losing record. Should BG win its next two, the worst it could finish after the MAC title game is 7-6. That’s good enough. Did the Miami and EMU losses hurt BG’s chances in the East? Not really. Let’s say BG wins those games and is sitting at 5-1 in the MAC right now. Buffalo is 4-2 and could move to 5-2 with a win Friday. You’d then have two 5-2 teams atop the East with Buffalo having secured the tiebreaker. So yeah, those upset losses at home really aren’t that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. Can BG lose Friday and still win the East? No. Buffalo would move to 5-2, BG to 3-4. The Bulls would then hang a banner and pop champagne. So those losses to EMU and Miami could come into play? Yeah, I guess. Had BG won those two and was to beat Buffalo on Friday, the Falcons would secure the East title right there and then. Can BG win Friday, lose next Friday to Toledo, and still win the East? Yes. There is a scenario in which BG could finish 4-4 and win the East based on tiebreakers. Can you explain those scenarios? I could but it would confuse the heck out of everyone. Let me put it to you this way. If BG, Buffalo and Akron all finish 4-4, BG would get the nod since it would have beaten Buffalo and Akron head-to-head. In that scenario Buffalo would have lost to Kent State in the regular season finale. And if Kent is to win Tuesday at home against NIU, and follow with a win over Buffalo, the Golden Flashes would also be 4-4. Temple could also be a player as it can finish 4-4 with wins over Eastern and Akron. Obviously not all of these scenarios can come to fruition as some of these teams would eliminate each other from contention. Is your head hurting? A little bit. If BG does win the East, should we expect it to be humiliated by the West representative in the MAC Championship? Maybe, but remember this. BG has not been blown out this season. You can argue that Minnesota whipped BG, but it could be assumed you didn’t attend the game to actually know what went on. Ball State, Central Michigan or Western Michigan would be favored over BG, but I don’t know if I’d assume a blowout.

Didn’t make the trip to Minnesota, so this blog post will be based on what I see on the box score and what I heard on the radio telecast.
The men may not play a more exciting game all season than the one they played tonight against Georgia State. Brian Moten hit a 3 with two seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime, and Joe Jakubowski made one of his six 3s as time expired in overtime to win the game. BG was beaten twice but wins the game 77-76. Nice victory. Here’s what stands out from the stat sheet. -Jakubowski had a superb game, scoring a career-high 24 points and helping on six other baskets compared to just one turnover. When asked about Jakubowski during a postgame interview, assistant coach George Jackson seemed to be more impressed with the way he ran the offense than the 24 points. -BG made 14 of 17 from the line, something that was a major issue a year ago. Moten (19 points) made all six of his tries from the line. -Both teams shots 44.1 percent from the field. That’s not terrible defense on BG’s part, but 40-41 percent is more ideal. -Big return for Erik Marschall, who sat out all of last season rehabbing from two surgeries. He scored 17 points, including BG’s first five in overtime, grabbed nine boards and blocked two shots. I doubt coach Orr would prefer to play Marschall 38 minutes this early in the season, but what can you do when three other forwards were suspended for the game? -Starting center Otis Polk played 17 minutes. His backup Marc Larson logged 34. Polk picked up three fouls --- his second with 6:35 to go in the first half and his third with 13:35 to go in regulation. You can live with that. Larson only scored one point, so unless he was doing a lot of intangible things, I’m kinda surprised he played twice as many minutes as the starter. -BG made 11 of 21 3-pointers but got killed on the boards 42-29. I can live with the rebounding disparity since Miller and Knight were missing. -Freshman Dee Brown had a decent debut, scoring six points on 3 of 5 shooting in 18 minutes. He had two assists, two turnovers and two steals. Fellow freshman Scott Thomas took three shots in his three minutes of PT and did not score. -Check out the stat line from Georgia State guard Joe Dukes. 20 points, 12 boards, eight assists. What’s a 6-1 guard doing pulling down 12 rebounds? Dukes played sparingly at Wake Forest before transferring and sitting out last year. -Saturday’s opponent Minnesota crushed Concordia 76-51 in the night cap. BG will have its hands full against Minnesota but should be fine against Concordia on Sunday. Tonight was the biggie, and BG took it in the most improbable of ways.

It’s taken nothing short of a miracle, but BG is now in an excellent position to win the MAC East.
It’s simple. Should BG beat Buffalo and Toledo the next two Fridays it will secure a berth in the Dec. 5 MAC Championship game at Ford Field. I don’t know how it happened. Well, yes I do. Kent State downed Temple on Wednesday to all but eliminate the Owls in the East, and Buffalo pulled off a four overtime win at Akron on Thursday. A scenario still exists in which Akron can win the East, but we’re not gonna get into it because it ain’t happening. Don’t feel bad for the Zips; their schedule was almost as easy as BG’s. For all intents and purposes, Friday’s game at Perry Stadium will be for the East title. Buffalo has won four straight and doesn’t have a bad loss this season (Pitt, Missouri, Central, Western). The Bulls have had a better season than BG. On Wednesday, the West title is up for grabs when Central Michigan hosts Ball State. Should CMU win, it will pummel Eastern Michigan in the regular season finale to clinch the title. Should BSU win, it will face a dangerous Western Michigan team six days later. Just for fun, let’s say WMU, BSU and CMU all finish 7-1 in the conference (We’re assuming WMU will beat Toledo on Saturday). Since each of their losses would have come to one another, the tiebreaker to determine the West would be based on the cumulative winning percentage of each team’s cross divisional opponents. Here’s who they played from the East: BSU-Kent, Miami, Akron CMU-Ohio, Buffalo, Temple WMU-Temple, Ohio, Buffalo Yuck. Gross. Eww. The West could potentially be decided on the horrible conference records of Miami, Kent, Temple and Ohio. But it won’t. Ball State is going to finish undefeated and play BG or Buffalo in the MAC title game Dec. 5 at Ford Field in Detroit.

We have a ton of basketball news to discuss, everywhere from suspensions to recruiting to this weekend’s game.
Ladies first. The BG women signed three players today, and the first thing that jumps out is the height each brings. There is a 6-foot post and two 5-10 wings, which is consistent with BG’s recent trend in recruiting. The post is Anthony Wayne’s Allison Papenfuss, who BG coach Curt Miller and his staff have been eyeing for some time. I saw Papenfuss play two years ago, and although I can’t remember specifics from that night, I do remember coming away impressed. Miller said Papenfuss can make an immediate impact on the court, but her recruitment can also pay dividends in the community as she’s a local girl. Chrissy Steffen set the record for most points (31) in a state championship game last year as she led Carmel High (Indiana) to the Class 4A title. Miller said Steffen is one of the best shooters in the country and he compares her physically to Lauren Prochaska. In other words, she’s rail thin but strong enough to score inside. Jessie Tamerlano (North Royalton, Ohio) is a McDonald’s All-America nominee and has averaged 16 points throughout her career. Her sister is a soccer player at BG, so that obviously helped in her recruitment. Whereas Steffen is more of a shooter, Tamerlano’s MO is attacking the basket. All three committed prior to the summer, which probably means BG didn’t reach for any of them. Miller and his staff love to recruit and are obviously good at evaluating talent and convincing that talent that BG is a good fit. Miller said this in regards to recruiting: “Players win championships, not coaches. Ultimately it comes down to recruiting wars and who can get the best talent and who can find the hidden gems at our level and who can steal a player every once and a while from the Big Ten. That’s what our conference is all about. Recruiting has to be your passion. If recruiting isn’t your passion, you’re not going to be a coach for very long.” Every coach has high marks about their recruits at this time, but Miller ratcheted it up a level. Including transfers Tamika Nurse and Maggie Hennegan (who become eligible next year) Miller believes next year’s class is capable of really special things. “If you roll that five out as a starting lineup that is a five who could compete night in and night out for a championship in this conference,” Miller said. “When you infuse those five with the rest of our talent, we are really excited about our future.” Someone alert the rest of the MAC. Now for the men. BG coach Louis Orr announced the signings of guard Luke Kraus (Findlay) and power forward Danny McElroy (Cincinnati La Salle). Orr called Kraus “a tough cookie” and McElroy a “gladiator.” Good enough for me. I saw Kraus play last year and came away impressed although not overwhelmed. But from everyone I’ve spoken with, he had an excellent summer and really improved his shooting. Miami was really turning up the heat on Kraus before he chose BG. Speaking of Miami, coach Charlie Coles was expected to sign Cincy prep teammates Orlando Williams and Allen Roberts today. If you recall, and you may not, Williams and Roberts gave BG a very fragile oral commitment last year. Not sure what happened, but they ain’t coming. Orr said there’s a chance he’ll sign another player in the spring. It was not clear whether he was speaking in general terms or if he has a player in mind. Do not be surprised if Darren Goodson reemerges. Goodson committed to BG in October 2007 but was stripped of the offer after being charged with sexual assault this past September (charges were later dropped). Orr confirmed that Nate Miller, Chris Knight and Cameron Madlock are suspended for this weekend’s tournament and stressed that the incidents were not related, meaning they did not get in trouble together. The transgressions occurred sometime between the end of last season and recently (so basically sometime during the offseason). I wouldn’t lose any sleep over this. Yeah, BG will be hurting big time without its top two returning scorers this weekend, but it’s not a big deal. They’ll be back for Thursday’s home game against Wayne State. Friends, these guys aren’t punks or thugs. It’s a long offseason and there are many opportunities to cause trouble, and they weren’t very smart about it.

I’m rather busy today working on basketball preview stuff, so I’ll just give you my picks without any explanation. This should be a great week of MAC football, and unlike most weeks, I’ll be able to watch every game.
Tuesday: Ball State (-19.5) at Miami –Ball State Wednesday: Temple (-2.5) at Kent –Temple Central Michigan (+3) at Northern Illinois –CMU Thursday: Buffalo (+2.5) at Akron –Buffalo Saturday: Toledo (+15.5) at Western Michigan –WMU Against the spread Last week: 2-3 Season: 41-27-1

Before we get to today’s press conference, I have a personal issue I’d like help with.
I’ve become numb to the Browns and I’m asking you to pick a new NFL team for me to follow. I can’t even bring myself to getting upset when they lose anymore. I should have been throwing shoes at the TV Thursday when the Broncos staged an improbable comeback. Ditto two weeks ago when Cleveland blew a two-touchdown lead in the second half against Baltimore. Instead of throwing a fit, I just smirked and kept moving. If that isn’t a sign of a relationship needing to end, then I don’t know what is. So help me out and please convince me into liking your favorite team. Few rules though … Cincinnati and Detroit are not options (I’m not going to trade bad for worse) as is Pittsburgh (I’m decent enough to not start dating the girl who beat out my ex for homecoming queen). Appreciate the input. Now on to BG news. -Freddie Barnes will practice this week and could be healthy for the Buffalo game. Chris Bullock suffered a concussion Saturday but is fine. As for BG’s other running backs, Anthony Turner (shoulder) could have played more Saturday if needed, and Willie Geter (knee) seems to be progressing. BG, compared to just about every team in college football, is very healthy at this stage of the season. -Erique Dozier was named MAC East Defensive Player of the Week. Doze had an INT, 1.5 sacks, and seven tackles in Saturday’s win. He and fellow linebacker John Haneline rank second on the team with 73 tackles --- two behind P.J. Mahone. -Coach Brandon is not happy with his the execution of his offense. This is a guy that got spoiled early in his BG career by teams hanging 40 points on opponents every Saturday. That being said, he has a point. BG ranks just ninth in the MAC in total offense (340.4 yards per game) and sixth in scoring offense (26 points per game). Brandon said he’s OK with the latter but not exactly impressed. -Brandon said the offensive woes can be traced to a number of things, for instance injuries in the backfield and an offensive line that has taken time to mesh. Personally, I think the line has done a solid job. They probably aren’t as big or as talented as last year’s group, but no one expected them to be. As a unit, they’ve been steady --- and you would have absolutely signed up for steady before the season started. -Speaking of the line, I spoke with Jeff Fink tonight. Fink wasn’t able to make today’s press conference because it was his first day of teaching English at BGHS. He admitted to some pregame jitters but said it was a great day. Fink and Joe Schaefer are English majors, which I find refreshing in a time that almost every athlete is a sport management major (not that it’s a bad thing). Fink is getting married this summer to the sister of former BG lineman Rob Warren. Fink is not interested in playing football at the next level and is looking forward to teaching and coaching. -Eric Ransom, who has played in just two games over the last two seasons, will in all probability we awarded a sixth year of eligibility. But after three knee surgeries is Ransom willing to give it another go? For that matter, will the doctors even allow it? I’m skeptical that Ransom will ever play again, which would be quite a shame. The kid can run. -Brandon or someone on the team found a watch commemorating Buffalo’s share of last year’s MAC East title inside the lockerroom at OU. It will be returned when BG hosts Buffalo next week. This is unreal to me. Yes, Buffalo finished in a three-way tie with Miami and BG, but the Bulls finished third in the tiebreaker. Way to award mediocrity, coach Gill.

A few notes now that I’m finally home from a truly awful trip to Athens. Nothing against OU, which has a beautiful campus, but the drive down there is excruciating. As I say, once you get past Columbus you’re staring at nothing but hills and hillbillies.
Solid win for BG. I’m not yet ready to say the Falcons are totally legit, but you have to like what they’ve done to weaker opponents the past two weeks. You also have to like the team’s pride bouncing back from an awful October. The heavy lifting comes in two weeks against Buffalo, but having two weeks to prepare for the game is huge. It’s just amazing how workable this schedule is. Strong showing by BG’s defense … or was it a horrific showing by OU’s offense? I’m gonna say a little of both. OU’s offense, as it has been more of the year, was laughable. But the Falcons allowed just three points, and you can quibble about the opposing offense, but it doesn’t change the fact BG kept a team out of the end zone. When you look at the level of talent on this defense, they should be pretty dominant. The secondary is most impressive as all four of them could contend for All-MAC honors at the end of the season. Everyone talks about Antonio Smith, P.J. Mahone and Kenny Lewis, but how about Jahmal Brown. He very well could be the best open field tackler on the team. Strong game from Brown, who had a team-best 13 tackles. Big assist from Andrew Beam, whose first career completion was a TD. The pass was low, but Tyler Sheehan made a great play on it in the end zone. Beam is a big, strong runner that is good for at least four yards if the blocking is right. It’s good to see his redshirt year was not wasted by a few meaningless snaps in the Boise and Wyoming games. That’s all for now. I need to get some rest in preparation for tomorrow’s women’s MAC soccer championship game. Maybe if I'm really, really lucky I'll get to see more than one goal. Halftime: -Using a strong defensive performance, BG has taken a 14-0 lead into halftime. In the last two weeks, BG has outscored its opponents 42-0 in the first half. Pretty impressive. -Tyler Sheehan has a touchdown pass (to Jermiah Kelley) and a touchdown reception (from Andrew Beam). Beam’s first career pass was thrown low but Sheehan made a nice effort to get down and scoop it. -Beam leads the team in rushing with 17 yards on three attempts. All of his carries came consecutively during the same possession he connected with Sheehan for the score. -Sheehan has been sharp, completing 18 of 23 for 161 yards. He’s been sacked three times. -Jason Rice started the game but hasn’t played a whole lot. -Sinisa Vrvilo missed a 40-yard FG with about 40 seconds to go. For whatever reason, BG called a timeout before the attempt, which allowed the Bobcats ample time to drive down the field. They did not. Pregame: -Freddie Barnes (knee) did not make the trip but Willie Geter (knee) and Anthony Turner (shoulder) are here and warming up. My guess is neither plays extensively, although Geter had a bounce in his step in warm-ups. -Obviously BG must win to keep its title hopes in tack. Maybe I’m being greedy here, but I’d like to see an impressive win. Time for the Falcons to sharpen things up if they want to be taken seriously.

Tuesday:
Miami (+8) at Buffalo. Miami has had two weeks to prepare for this game. I’m always leery of lines like eight or 15, which are hard for teams to get to. Buffalo wins by seven. Wednesday: Toledo (+4.5) at Akron. The Rockets are running high on emotions following the announcement that their coach would resign. That can be either really good or really bad depending how that emotion is channeled. I’m thinking the Rockets play loose and with a swagger. Let’s go with UT. Northern Illinois (+9.5) at Ball State. This one won’t be as close as what many people are thinking. NIU’s offense is not going to do too much against Ball’s very underrated defense. The combination of Davis and Lewis for Ball State should be worth three or four touchdowns. Saturday: BGSU (-3) at Ohio. I have no idea whether BG is ready to be serious on a consistent basis, but I like when teams are backed into a wall. OU is a strange team but there’s more evidence suggesting the Bobcats are bad than decent. Take BG to cover. Illinois (-7) vs. Western Michigan (game is being played at Ford Field). Very good chance WMU is exposed as a fraud. Illinois wins big. Against the spread Last week: 3-2 Season: 39-24-1

The big news from today is Toledo coach Tom Amstutz is resigning at the end of the year. That is resign as in leaving, not re-sign as in staying.
This is too bad. He seemed like a nice guy the few times we've chatted. I think he's a great ambassador for the university and he'll be missed. That being said, UT closing in on its third straight losing season, and that just isn't good enough. It was time for him to go. Say what you want about Stutz winning initially with Gary Pinkel's recruits, but I’m not sure I’m buying that argument. Amstutz is/was a solid coach that for a variety of reasons hit a rough patch in recent seasons. Not all of his success should be attributed to Pinkel’s work on the recruiting trail. BG coach Gregg Brandon had this to say about Amstutz during today's weekly press conference. "He's a great coach, great guy. I think not only for Toledo, I think the MAC will miss coach Amstutz. He's been a guy in this league for a long time and been a great advocate for the conference. I think he'll be missed." Amstutz is one of Brandon's closest friends among MAC coaches, or at least that's the way I've seen it. The two ate together in July at the MAC Media Day in Detroit, and if I recall they were the only two at the table. Maybe the large Amstutz saw the skinny frame of Brandon and thought he might be able to steal a muffin from his rival coach, I really have no idea. But they are friends. Amstutz once harassed Brandon for wearing a gaudy orange blazer, suggesting that Brandon had just got done picking up trash on I-75. The comedic styles of Tom Amstutz, ladies and gentlemen. Don’t forget to tip your waitresses. A little trivia for you. What do Amstutz, Stan Joplin, Mark Ehlen and Dan Dakich have in common? Yes, all were either fired or pressured into resigning within the last two years. But that’s not what I’m looking for. Maureen Fulton was the beat reporter for all of their teams when they were let go. As I said earlier today, the Grim Reaper dressed as Maureen Fulton for Halloween. Now for Falcon news. Freddie Barnes (knee) is listed as day-to-day, and Willie Geter (knee) practice sparingly Sunday night. As for Anthony Turner, he was getting an MRI on his shoulder as we spoke with coach. So basically, we didn't learn a whole lot there. If all three of these guys are out for Saturday’s game, obviously that isn’t good. You don’t want to count on Chris Bullock and Jason Rice as your primary source for rushing yards. And that’s no knock on Rice, who was superb Saturday. But the Falcons are in a “win or go home” mode and Rice is still a pup. As for other injuries, freshmen Chip Robinson and Winston Etheridge were in street clothes Saturday, which isn't a big deal as both are redshirting. Robinson has a bad knee that could require surgery. Brandon attributed the injury to Robinson being too big, adding "Chip needs to drop some weight. That would help, and he knows that. He'll work on that hard." Brandon said there was no particular reason why Etheridge hasn't been in gear for the past few weeks, which can't be true. Short of Etheridge losing his equipment, there's no reason he wouldn't be in pads just like every other freshman that is redshirting. Brandon said the team is treating its remaining schedule as playoff games, meaning if they lose they're done. From what SID Dave Meyer told me, if BG wins out AND Miami finishes fifth in the East, the Falcons will go to the MAC title game. I’ll be honest; I really don’t want to delve into hypotheticals yet. There’s too much football left to be played. That being said, let’s maul over a few important things regarding BG’s title chances. 1. BG could be favored in every remaining game. Last I checked the Falcons were three-point favorites for Saturday’s game, and I’ll be taking them when I make my weekly selections tomorrow. 2. BG will have two weeks to prepare for the Nov. 21 game at home against Buffalo, which could turn out to be a pseudo East championship game. 3. Toledo will be extremely jacked up against BG in Amstutz’s final game. No way do those kids want to send their coach out on a losing note against an arch rival. Moving on now. Some predictions … Jimmy Scheidler will be on an NFL roster two years from now. I don’t know what the knock on him would be. Great hands, solid blocker, decent speed. … Anthony Turner will miss an extended amount of time due to his latest shoulder injury. I have no inside information, just a hunch … Julian Edelman will find his way onto an NFL roster as a receiver or specialist. This guy is out of this world. … Ball State will finish undefeated but be held out of a BCS game. For the record, the Cardinals don’t deserve to be in a BCS game. Their toughest non conference game was on the road at Indiana. Not good enough.

Falcons win 45-30 and continued to dominate offensively in the second half. I have somewhere I need to be tonight, so I’m going to keep this short. Read tomorrow’s paper for all you need to know.
Halftime: BG is completely dominating this game and leads 28-0 at halftime. This is the team we’ve expected to see for the last month. -Tyler Sheehan has been excellent, completing 11 of 15 passes for 140 yards with two touchdowns and one interception (really bad pass inside the red zone). Sheehan also has 10 carries for 83 yards, including a 16-yard TD late in the half. The coaching staff must have spotted something from Kent’s defense because Sheehan is running much more than normal. -Anthony Turner was taken to the lockerroom in the first half. Looked like he was favoring his shoulder but I’m awaiting confirmation. Turner has a rushing touchdown and 54 total yards (37 rush, 17 receiving) -Kent is a really rotten football team. Not to take anything away from BG, which is playing great, but the Flashes are horrific. -As you might think, BG is dominating the stat sheet. They’ve had 18 first downs to Kent’s 3 and have already rolled up 330 yards of total offense. The Falcons have converted seven of eight third downs and one of one on fourth downs. -Kent RB Eugene Jarvis has just 30 yards on 11 carries. BG is tackling him very well. QB Julian Edelman has 39 yards on four carries. There’s no reason Edelman has only four rushing attempts.

CLEVELAND --- Nothing great is ever learned at MAC Media Day as most beat writers have already spoken with the coaches and players of their respective teams. But it’s nice to chat with other coaches and media members you haven’t seen in a while or are meeting for the first time.
I focused mostly on the men while Maureen spoke with the women. The BG women are picked to win the MAC (of course) and the men are picked to finish third in the East and actually got two votes to win the MAC championship game. A few notes: -Darryl Clements and Lauren Prochaska were the representatives for BGSU. Felt bad for both of them as they had to leave BG at like 5:30 a.m. Most players, coaches and media members stayed overnight in Cleveland to cut down on the morning travel time. I tried to offer Darryl and Lauren a cup of coffee before realizing how bad of an addiction that can be for college kids. I should know as every morning shift worker at McDonald’s and Tim Horton’s knows me as a regular. -Speaking of early mornings, rumor has it men’s coach Louis Orr took a nap while West coaches and players were being interviewed. Although he’s very guarded during interviews, Louis is a character and has a lot of personality. He’s fun to shoot the breeze with once the recorders are put away. Now that I think of it, we spoke about politics and religion, which are usually topics that are off limits. -Darryl said Nate Miller has lost 10-12 pounds. You hear these things every offseason about someone putting on a bunch of muscle or losing some excess weight. Sometimes it’s true, sometimes it’s bologna. In this case, I can tell you Miller has definitely dropped some lbs. It’s definitely noticeable in his face. Darryl said Nate is quicker yet still has the girth to knock people around. -Similarly, Orr said Joe Jakubowski has put on 10 pounds of muscle. Again, this appears to be true. Jakubowski’s arms looked pretty ripped when I was at practice. I’m looking for big things from him this year, but don’t be surprised if he plays off the ball more if Dee Brown can get comfortable running the offense. -Nobody is in love with their team right now. Kent and Western Michigan, the teams picked to win the East and West, have issues in the front court. I still think Kent wins the title again based on an excellent back court led by MAC POY Al Fisher and a physically tough Chris Singletary. Fisher told me he’s working on limiting turnovers and improving on 3-pointers (he shot about 1000 per day in the offseason). -Toledo coach Gene Cross is an impressive guy. He’s young and hip and seems to be able to relate to players (not that old and non hip coaches can’t). You can tell Cross feels genuinely blessed to be where he is. -Cross is new to the league but he’s known many of the coaches for a long time. Cross said NIU coach Ricardo Patton is a jokester who doesn’t take himself too seriously. I cut Cross off at that point and told him a story about Patton walking into a postgame press conference last year after a close loss to BG and asking if anyone had a bottle of Jack Daniels. Unfortunately I couldn’t help him as I only ever carry Captain Morgan in my brief case. -New Ohio coach John Groce was at Ohio State the past four years, but don’t expect him to be a complete Thad Matta clone. I absolutely agree with Groce when he said he’d be foolish not to steal things he’s learned from Matta and Xavier coach Sean Miller, but that he must stay true to who he is as well. He wants to be able to push the ball with frequency, but with only 10 guys (including a walk-on) he’s not sure if he’ll have the personnel to implement that style this year.

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We’re nearing a point where every weekly press conference is sounding identical to the one before.
*BG is hanging tough in every game *BG still has a chance to win the MAC East *Injuries are killing BG I acknowledge the first to be true, wouldn’t bet more than a couple of bucks on the second one happening, and disagree with the third. BG has had a couple of boo-boos on offense and that’s about it. It’s nothing that not every other football team (professionally, semi-professionally, college, high school, intramural flag football) is dealing with. Freddie Barnes (knee) and Willie Geter (knee) will not play Saturday against Kent State. But when injury-plagued guys like Nick Davis, Corey Partridge, Joe Schaefer and Jeff Fink are still playing at the end of October, you’re doing OK health wise. Coach Brandon said he has no plans to play Andrew Beam at quarterback even though Tyler Sheehan threw for only 92 yards Saturday and has been pretty ordinary much of the season. I agree with that decision, but should BG lose Saturday --- thus ending any chance of winning the division --- it would be silly not to start Beam the following week at OU. You gotta see what you have here. That being said, Sheehan has been better than his detractors suggest. He’s as good or better than every quarterback in the East. Defensive coordinator Mike Ward said he disagreed with my assessment in Sunday’s paper that the line was getting blown off of the ball in the second half. Not saying he’s wrong, but it’s amazing how two sets of eyes can see things so differently. Whatever led to NIU’s dominating run attack, it was very real. Nick Torresso attributed the problem to guys not following the game plan. It was the first I had interviewed Torresso, and he’s very impressive. Bright kid with high acumen for the game. More from him later in the week. Diyral Briggs did not start Saturday as sort of a punishment for his two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against Miami. He played a lot, though, and finished with seven tackles. Lastly, I know everyone is disappointed about how this season has shaken out. I don’t blame you. But it’s only sports, so try to keep that in perspective. Whether BG goes 12-0 or 0-12 you still have to wake up the next morning and go to work. Sports are entertainment for fans; they’re supposed to be enjoyable. Obviously this season hasn’t been enjoyable, but hey, it’s only sports.

What do you want me to say?
BG loses 16-13 mostly because of horrific run defense down the stretch. NIU had four drives in the second half and they went like this: 1. 17 plays, 80 yards, 10:06 Ended on a 1-yard TD. 2. 16 plays, 72 yards, 8:05. Ended on a 25-yard FG. 3. 8 plays, 24 yards, 4:43. Ended on a 30-yard FG. 4. Two knees to end the game. I’ll do the math for you. That’s 23:02 in time of possession out of a total of 30 minutes. Of NIU’s 38 plays in the second half, 35 were runs. BG knew what was coming and it simply did not matter. This form of late-game domination by the opponent’s offensive line is not unlike the EMU and Miami games (although it was longer and more severe). Are BG’s defenders out of shape? Are they just not any good? Undersized? Take your pick. I don’t want to overstate this … but that was one of the biggest physical whoopins’ I’ve seen a defense take in a long time. It was men vs. boys, which should NEVER happen when two MAC teams square off. I’ve covered enough good games and enough good players that I rarely get overly impressed. But this was rare. My dad was a heck of a disciplinarian when my brother and I acted up (and it was often). We grimaced when he pulled out the yard stick, ran when he took off his belt, and downright hid in a closet when he had neither because his “man” hands supplied more force to the behind than the yard stick and belt combined. BG got the “man” hand right across the tush in the second half. Absolutely. (It would probably be wise of me to say that my old man is a great guy and my brother and I deserved everything we got. He’s a softie now, but I guess having a young daughter who never acts up can do that to you. But even at 53 he could still put a whoopin’ on me.) BG coach Gregg Brandon attributed the beat down to poor tackling. I’m not buying it. Sure there were some missed tackles, but the majority of them came four or five yards down the field. The defensive front was totally beaten up in the second half, and that’s all there is to it. Yes, BG’s offense was ineffective. Yes, the running game was non existent again. But did you expect anything else facing the MAC’s top defense? BG wasn’t gonna score in the mid or high 20s today. It just wasn’t. Technically BG still has a chance of winning the East, but A) Why should we believe the Falcons can run the table? B) Winning the dreadful East is akin to being the world’s tallest midget or the world’s purest stripper. Halftime: BG leads 6-3 after a solid first half. -Sinisa Vrvilo had made chip shots of 29 and 20 yards. NIU’s Mike Salerno drilled a 52-yard with the wind at his back for the early 3-0 lead. When you’re on the road and you’re not having as good of a season as your opponent, you need to kick extra points and not field goals. Toledo played well today but had to settle for three field goals and fell to Central Michigan by one. BG needs to get in the end zone. -NIU drove to BG’s 20 with a couple minutes to go in the half before losing some yards and missing a 49-yard FG. Get this … that was BG’s first red zone stop of the season. Unbelievable. Opponents were 24 of 24 before that drive. -Chris Bullock has 29 yards on five carries and was influential in BG’s second scoring drive as he rushed three straight times for 8, 8 and 6 yards. Anthony Turner has six carries for 17 yards, including an eight-yard run on third-and-1 from the -Tyler Sheehan is 9 of 14 for … 31 yards. Corey Partridge has four receptions for … zero yards. NIU’s defense is tough, but those type of numbers ain’t gonna get it done. -P.J. Mahone picked off his first pass of the year on a gimmie from freshman Chandler Harnish. Harnish didn’t look much better when he threw directly to Kenny Lewis, who if not for diving to catch the ball, would have gone 50 yards for the score. -Kent State is destroying Miami, 44-7, midway through the third quarter in Oxford. Should BG win today, it will control its own destiny in the East race. Don’t ask questions. Pregame: -Freddie Barnes (knee) and Willie Geter (undisclosed injury) are out for BG. -It’s hooded sweatshirt and jacket weather and strong winds are blowing to the north. The crowd is surprisingly sparse, as if something more important is going on in Dekalb. Dekalb is very similar to Bowling Green in size and look. Fairly residential, not many chain restaurants, surrounded by a whole lot of nothing. Depending what you like in a city, Dekalb can either be really good or really bad. -I’m not ready to call this a must win for BG, but it certainly could be. The East is so dreadful that the Falcons could sneak into the MAC title game with perhaps four league losses provided they own tiebreakers over the right teams. In reality this is more of a must win for NIU, as a loss would put the Huskies two games behind Ball State and Central Michigan in the West. That’s just plain weird to think about.

John Sahly, the Northern Illinois beat reporter for the Daily Chronicle, and I will swap blogs this week. I didn't oblige until John promised me a guest spot on the Best Damn Sports Show Period.
Before I get to his post, the Orange and Brown men's basketball scrimmage will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday at Anderson Arena and will be open to the public. Here's John.... Since coming to DeKalb, Northern Illinois coach Jerry Kill said he was going to build his football team around defense and special teams. He's done that in his first season. The NIU defense, led by senior defensive end Larry English, ranks at the top of the MAC in scoring defense, total defense, rushing defense and turnover margin. It hasn't been by accident, as the Huskies have kept things simple on defense and have simply been able to pressure the quarterback with their front four. NIU has started moving English around, forcing offenses to adjust their protections based on where English is. That's something Bowling Green will have to look out for on Saturday. That said, the Huskies haven't played an offense like Bowling Green in NIU's recent 4-1 stretch. Bowling Green isn't setting the world on fire with its offense, but it is still better than Toledo and Miami (Ohio). So we'll see how much of the defensive success for NIU was because the Huskies were playing some bad offensive teams. In the kicking game, punter Andy Dittbenner averages 40.9 yards per punt and kicker Mike Salerno already has 11 touchbacks on kickoffs. On offense, Northern Illinois brings a successful running back rotation that's been able to win games. Freshman Me'co Brown (383 rushing yards) and sophomore Chad Spann (216 yards) have received the majority of the carries in the past few games. Redshirt freshman Chandler Harnish will start at quarterback and appears to have knocked the rust off after missing a month with a right mid-foot sprain. If Bowling Green is to pick up another road win, it will have find a way to rattle Harnish, who so far has only been stopped by injury.

OU and Temple play tonight so I figured I better get these done.
Ohio (+3) at Temple. This one can be viewed on ESPN2 at 8 tonight. Don’t do it, folks. Go play catch with your son. Cook for your wife or your girlfriend. If you don’t have a son, borrow someone else’s. If you don’t have a girlfriend, you’re not gonna find one watching OU-Temple. There’s just no good reason to watch this game. Take the Bobcats and the points. Eastern Michigan (+24) at Ball State. Woooh that’s a lot of points. Ball State wins big, but not 24 points big. BG (+8) at Northern Illinois. NIU has a nice team and BG may or may not be bad. But the Falcons are really, really desperate. Not sure if they win, but I like them with the points. Central Michigan (-4) at Toledo. I feel insulted. Look Vegas, I’m a grown man. And you’re gonna tell me Central Michigan is only four points better than Toledo? Kent State (+7) at Miami. I’m not gonna be tricked into thinking Miami is suddenly good after last Saturday. Of course Kent isn’t very good either, but I like it with the points. Flashes lose a close one. Against the spread: Last week: 2-3 Season: 33-20-1