Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/coll ... tf-knights

Found this link from another board, and was not that surprised to see their unit picks. A good read, you'll notice that they think BG has the best OL, DL, and RB corps in the MAC. That is a VERY good start to a successful season.

Also of note they have Oklahoma with the #1 OL & #1 DL in the nation. The game is won in the trenches, and it is fair to say that both teams are very good in that area. I firmly believe our chances rely on those 2 matchups. We MUST get pressure, and we must protect our young QB. The rest will come.

I'm surprised they gave the nod on WR's to UT though. They're good I guess, but we have such depth! Should O-dumb, go down they're in a world of hurt. Heaven forbid Magner or Chuck go down, we have players who can step right in.

There is no way we have the best OL in the MAC with Harris graduating.

Rightupinthere wrote:There is no way we have the best OL in the MAC with Harris graduating.

LOL!

Our line play should be stellar this season. Good play in the trenches can make up for a lot of mistakes by our QB, if need be. Good play in the trenches will also lessen the number of mistakes that our QB is forced to make. I'm really hoping to see about 1300 yards from Pope this season. Let the OL dominate and let our HB tote the rock!

Not just Pope--we've got a pretty solid stable of horses in the backfield as well. There may be some games where Omar doesn't even have to throw a pass.

4th Row wrote:Not just Pope--we've got a pretty solid stable of horses in the backfield as well. There may be some games where Omar doesn't even have to throw a pass.

Agreed the whole backfield is top notch (as noted by the fact we were rated the #1 group of RBs in the MAC in the above article). An entire game without throwing a pass!? My DREAM football :DROOL:

hammb:

You'll appreciate this, then ... during one of the games early in my BG dynasty, Omar went down early (injured for the game) and Thurman did, too ...on the next play. I didn't throw a pass the rest of the game, running Pope, Stover and Lane relentlessly. BG won handily, too.

I love a good passing game, but watching a team march the ball down the field on the ground has a way of sucking the life out of an opponent.

I wonder how good of an Option QB Omar is.

BGSU Falconz wrote:I wonder how good of an Option QB Omar is.

He's pretty good in NCAA 2005

Seriously, I AM warming up to the offensive style that we've played the last few season, and I've become deadly with it in the video game realm. However, I'm still old school in the belief that if you can pound the ball down someone's throat its the quickest way to victory. Remember the Marshall game a few years ago at the Doyt? THAT was how you play football. I think we racked up over 300 yards on the ground in that one.

Passing is nice, but the truly great offenses run the ball as well. Last season we were at our best when Pope & J5 were getting carries to go along with throwing it around.

That's the beauty of our offense. By spreading the field and forcing the defense to cover the whole field, we can in essence force them to give us weak spots to target with the running game. For example, we'll set trips to one side and force the defense to cover it and then pull the gaurd from that side to take advantage of the mismatch in the middle or opposite side. Rather than just lining up a big formation and going seven on eight in the box, we play a shell game and force the defense to guess where we're going to attack them. That's why our OL is a bit smaller than most top 25 programs, we need them to be able to move and block downfield.

It does present some problems in the red zone because the field is compressed, but I think Omar's speed will allow us to option a little more than we did with Josh. That should help alleviate the problems we had at times last year, particulalry inside the 5 yard line

Flipper wrote: That's why our OL is a bit smaller than most top 25 programs, we need them to be able to move and block downfield.

Like Scott M laying a block at the 2 while Josh finished his TD catch off against the spRockets last year?

BGSU Falconz wrote:I wonder how good of an Option QB Omar is.

I don't know about the option per se, but it's going to be fun watching him tote the rock when he gets a chance to do so. He's really fast. Being at field level for the spring game was one of the coolest football experiences I've had--you can really see the speed down there.

rc_ziggy84 wrote:I'm surprised they gave the nod on WR's to UT though. They're good I guess, but we have such depth! Should O-dumb, go down they're in a world of hurt. Heaven forbid Magner or Chuck go down, we have players who can step right in.

Here's another ranking from Fox Sports on receivers.
http://msn.foxsports.com/story/2657616

3. Bowling Green
If only the Falcons had any experience ... yeesh! Eight very good receivers return with at least three All-MAC caliber talents highlighted by Cole Magner and Charles Sharon. There's speed, size and a whole bunch of talent as this group should pick apart defenses with ease. This is one of the nation's deepest corps.
Wide Receivers: 1) Cole Magner, Sr. 2) Charles Sharon, Jr. 3) James Hawkins, Sr. 4) Steve Sanders, Jr. 5) Cornelius McGrady, Sr. TE) Steve Navarro, Jr. TE) Todd DiBacco, Sr.


In this one, BG receivers are ranked third in the nation overall, with Toledo coming in at 46. Miami OH is ranked in 5th, Ball State 18 and NIU in 40th all come in before Toledo. I'm not saying the rankings are correct, I just saying take a look. But third in the nation sounds about right