Thoughts on the Akron game...

[Falconfreak90]

First half...OMG. I was stunned. Enough of that...

Second half...OMG. I was stunned. LOL. We completely dominated after halftime. We rushed for 292 yards with Samuel going for over 100 again, Pettrigrew with 81 (This kid's legs NEVER stop driving) and Martin had 79. TWO HUNDRED NINETY TWO yards rushing. I don't care if it's Akron or Florida. 300 yards on the ground is awesome and I would love to see this week in and week out. Schilz did not have a good game...but made it count when needed to Bayer. His 60 yard catch and run was awesome...totally outran the Zip D. And Joplin made a killer catch down in the red zone, catching a ball thrown behind him. After mustering only 150 1st half yards, we ended with 472. Keep the running game going and control the clock. I'll take power football every day of the week.

The Defense....Simply one of the best efforts I've seen in a BG D unit in quite some time. Akron came into the game averaging 498 yards and almost 39 pts a game. They finished with 10 pts, getting shut out in the 2nd half, and 316 total yards. BG held UA to 36 2nd half yards on 26 plays and really got after the UA QB. We were basically rushing 3 linemen all 2nd half and came up with 4 sacks, including one by Kendall Montgomery. I love seeing his energy on D and since we're a bit thin there, I'd keep him there. We have Bayer, Beck and Rolf at TE and are well stocked. Cam Truss had a great game with 10 tackles. IF our D can play to that level every week, we won't lose another game the rest of the year. Akron has the best O in the MAC so far this year and we crushed them in the last 30 minutes.

ST's...decent. Schmiedebusch did well pinning UA back a few times but was still a bit shaky. Stein? Give the kid credit for hitting all his XP's and a FG. However, the miss? I simply cannot believe he can hit the upright so many times...never seen anything like it.

2nd half adjustments were awesome...and we got an important road win in the East, which is what matters most. Keep it rollin' at the Doyt next week.

BEAT MIAMI

[Dayons_Den]

Sounds like a great win, an adjustment win, a win we pulled out despite Schilz struggling, a win many on this board felt we were incapable of achieving.

Great job Falcons.

The game I attended yesterday was pretty good too!

CANNOT WAIT TO MAKE THE 12 HOUR TRIP TO SEE THE ORANGE & BROWN NEXT WEEKEND!

[Beaker]

After attending the game, I have some observations:

- Schilz was terrible on saturday. Granted, he has a new crop of receivers this year but after spring and fall camps and this many weeks into the season, the passing game should be much farther along. Had I been the coach, he would not have played the 2nd half. He did make one excellent pass on the touchdown to Bayer. Not sure where that's been all year, as we've seen him make those kinds of throws the last couple of seasons.

- Our running game was the best I've seen it in years. Hopefully, Samuel is back next week, but if not, we have some darn good guys to step in for him. Pettigrew and Martin were outstanding on saturday, along with our O line. That's the kind of running game we need, but if we get too one dimensional with it, other teams will adjust and stack up the line of scrimmage. The passing game needs to provide some balance or wins are going to be very hard to come by.

- The defense was tremendous, especially in the 2nd half. Akron has a potent offense and we absolutely put the clamps on them as the game went on. If we can play that kind of defense every week, we'll be in every game from here on.

- Wow, that stadium is nice! I love the Doyt like a baseball player loves his old, broken in glove, but to be honest, we should aspire to have a facility like that. Akron is going to be able to recruit mcuh better talent than when they played at the Rubber Bowl. When kids come in and see the kind of stadium they'll get to play in, they have to be impressed. They are likely to be a team to be reckoned with in the coming years.

- We got away with bad playcalling and bad execution in a half of football yesterday. We can't count on that and need to put together 4 good quarters every week. The East is still within reach if we win out and it's possible for that to happen if we see the team that played the 2nd half yesterday and if Shilz can get his head cleared.............and if we can avoid a game that comes down to needing a field goal to win it. It starts with Miami. Crush the Wammie!

[Flipper]

This is might have been the pivotal gam of the season. Come out and play the second half like you did the first and you can pretty much write the rest of the year off. Love the way they came out and just physically stomped Akron...we've been a "finesse team" for so long...can't tell you how enjoyable it was to see us come out and just dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.

Samuel is our best player...establish him early and then open it up a bit. We have TE's that can work downfield...how many times have we seen Toledo killl us with 15-20 yard strikes to the TE off of play action?

Can't say enough good things about the defense... Chris Jones battled through double and triple teams but he was still a factor. Love the idea of trying Montgomery at DE (I think he played there last week too). he's a prototype rush DE at 6-5, 270. I'll stack our back 7 up against anyone in the MAC right now...

[Dayons_Den]

What happened to Samuel? Any reports on status?

[Falcon137]

What happened to Samuel? Any reports on status?

Clawson said he injured his foot and would know more Wednesday. He quipped, even if he knew something he wouldn't say.

[Falcon137]

The Akron radio guys repeatedly said BG's back 7 was by far the best they had seen all year, Tennessee included.

It was men against boys in the 2nd half. BG was getting pressure rushing 3, forcing throw aways, getting sacks and when Akron did complete a pass, guys were flying to the ball and making tackles for no gain and no yac.

[jpfalcon09]

The second half was the team we saw in Florida, and we haven't seen since then. Samuel looked okay coming off the field, I would think he'll be okay for Saturday, but I feel confident in Martin and Pettigrew to pick up the slack of needed.

[camkru9701]

Screw Toledo, Akron by far has the best stadium in the MAC. What an impressive facility.

Really glad to see the halftime adjustments. This team needed this type of win for major confidence going forward. Our defense is amazing-we just need our offense to support them for four quarters each game and we will be playing at Ford Field at the end of the year with a 9-3 record.

[Class of 61]

What happened to Samuel? Any reports on status?

Clawson said he injured his foot and would know more Wednesday. He quipped, even if he knew something he wouldn't say.

He'd also mentioned a "foot sprain" at first, then was asked a question regarding Anthon's status...and replied as you'd indicated... I had my binoculars on him on the sideline...he was seated with some sort of small "boot" (Perhaps ice pack?) on his right foot.

As to the Akron stadium, it is indeed a nice facility, but 10K for your HC game? And I was complaining about 16K for ours.... the MAC has improved a lot this year, despite what a few posters have said (right Hambb? ) But attendance is still a problem, seemingly league wide... EMU drew 6+K for their HC vs. Kent! How bad is that? High Schools draw better!