Perspective

[BGSUFanatic7]

Don't get me wrong, if we don't qualify for the MAC Championship it would be terribly disappointing. I can't even put into words how awful that would be. But the whole thing coming into this season was, "We have all these returning players coming back, so...." That was the basis for everything that we thought that we could accomplish. But this team has lost SO MUCH. And that is why I will still defend coach Clawson no matter what happens this season.

BEFORE the season:
- Starting cornerback Darrell Hunter out for the season.
- Experienced backup DeVon McKoy transfers weeks prior.
- Suddenly, a safety must switch positions to be a starter (Aaron Foster).
- Starting LT Fahn Cooper leaves. Directly leading to 2 rookie tackles turning into starters.
- 990+ yard rusher and two-year starter Anthon Samuel officially leaves.

DURING season:
- Top receiver Chris Gallon out for the year half way through the season.
- Arguably the best defensive player in the conference, Gabe Martin, out for the year one game later.
- Chris Gallon's backup, Jared Cohen, also out for the year one game later.

Thats not even taking into account BooBoo Gates being lost in the second quarter of Mississippi State, backup safety Josh Pettus basically missing half the season, Ted Outlett missing games, Charlie Walker missing a few games and Gabe Martin missing significant time before the ACL tear.

This season has been an absolute nightmare with injuries. Yes, injuries happen to every team during every season. But these are our impact, all-conference players being lost for the season, their backups being lost for the season and several other key starters missing multiple games. And you can't tell me that having Gabe Martin on that 4th and 9 wouldn't have made a difference in the Toledo game. Or having Chris Gallon the final 3 quarters of MSU and all of Toledo -- games both of which were essentially lost due to dropped passes -- wouldn't have made a difference.

I completely understand that other players have to step up and all that. And if we don't follow through with our goals this year, it's still on the coaches and the players. This is just something that I think a lot of people are failing to recognize. And quite honestly, the fact that we have players like Heath Jackson and Justin Ford and Paul Senn are testaments to the coaching staff. The fact that we still have an extremely good chance to go to the MACC and have a 10+ win season with all of these losses is a tribute to the kind of program that Clawson has created.

Let's just not forget our situation. Ohio was KILLED by injuries last season. And we have lost more than them. That is the reality.

I hope like heck we can prove all of the doubters wrong, Go Falcons!!!

[BGSU33]

Some good points there. I would say this season would be a huge disappointment if we don't win the MAC East. Forget winning the MACC for a minute, because in a way, just getting to Detroit would be a big step for BG because we've never done it. But winning the East basically boils down to winning two games: against Ohio and Buffalo. The rest of the MAC East is bad and those other four teams are already toast. Further, it doesn't even matter that we lost to Toledo in order for us to win the East right now (as long as we beat EMU). BG, UB and OU have feasted on the rest of the East. We're all on even par for the most part there. Our goal of winning the East boils down to winning two key games, the Ohio and Buffalo games. It's that simple. And one of them is at home. Win those two games and you go to the MACC and go a bowl game for sure. That would be a successful season even if we lost the MACC, it would be one step farther. But if we can't win those two games, it would be a HUGE disappointment to the season.

[zete]

BG is a nice place for Clawson right now. Im sure the AD realizes what you have stated above. Personally I hope he stays around and makes the program something we fans are excited about on a yearly basis.
For guys like Beckman fumbling around at Illinois...well...I hope he continues to lose.

[Falcon137]

Don't get me wrong, if we don't qualify for the MAC Championship it would be terribly disappointing. I can't even put into words how awful that would be. But the whole thing coming into this season was, "We have all these returning players coming back, so...." That was the basis for everything that we thought that we could accomplish. But this team has lost SO MUCH. And that is why I will still defend coach Clawson no matter what happens this season.

BEFORE the season:
- Starting cornerback Darrell Hunter out for the season.
- Experienced backup DeVon McKoy transfers weeks prior.
- Suddenly, a safety must switch positions to be a starter (Aaron Foster).
- Starting LT Fahn Cooper leaves. Directly leading to 2 rookie tackles turning into starters.
- 990+ yard rusher and two-year starter Anthon Samuel officially leaves.

DURING season:
- Top receiver Chris Gallon out for the year half way through the season.
- Arguably the best defensive player in the conference, Gabe Martin, out for the year one game later.
- Chris Gallon's backup, Jared Cohen, also out for the year one game later.

Thats not even taking into account BooBoo Gates being lost in the second quarter of Mississippi State, backup safety Josh Pettus basically missing half the season, Ted Outlett missing games, Charlie Walker missing a few games and Gabe Martin missing significant time before the ACL tear.

This season has been an absolute nightmare with injuries. Yes, injuries happen to every team during every season. But these are our impact, all-conference players being lost for the season, their backups being lost for the season and several other key starters missing multiple games. And you can't tell me that having Gabe Martin on that 4th and 9 wouldn't have made a difference in the Toledo game. Or having Chris Gallon the final 3 quarters of MSU and all of Toledo -- games both of which were essentially lost due to dropped passes -- wouldn't have made a difference.

I completely understand that other players have to step up and all that. And if we don't follow through with our goals this year, it's still on the coaches and the players. This is just something that I think a lot of people are failing to recognize. And quite honestly, the fact that we have players like Heath Jackson and Justin Ford and Paul Senn are testaments to the coaching staff. The fact that we still have an extremely good chance to go to the MACC and have a 10+ win season with all of these losses is a tribute to the kind of program that Clawson has created.

Let's just not forget our situation. Ohio was KILLED by injuries last season. And we have lost more than them. That is the reality.

I hope like heck we can prove all of the doubters wrong, Go Falcons!!!

Ok, I'll be that guy. Some context to all this.

-Aaron Foster wasn't suddenly switched. He was switched in part because McKoy wasn't cutting it. He was dropped to 3rd team, with Foster being the best corner in camp. If anything McKoy hurt special teams depth, which have been pretty good this year.
-There was always going to be at least 1 freshman tackle. Cooper leaving hurt, although knowing why he "left." I'm not upset. And both of those tackles have been excellent this year.
-Samuel at the time was big. But it happened months before camp. Coaches were able to recruit for it. Our backs are better this year than they were last year.
-Losing BooBoo to Mississippi State in the 2nd half didn't hurt. The defense shut them out. His selfish penalty did lead to a killer MSU TD, after stopping them on 3rd down. If you say him not getting ejected could have won the game. I would say if he doesn't take an ejection penalty and MSU kicks a FG instead of getting a 1st down and scoring. We win.
-Charlie Walker missed part of Tulsa - WIN ; Kent State - WIN ; Indiana - LOSS. He wasn't making BG 30 points better that day.
-Losing Gallon hurts big time, no question. Not sure Toledo and MSU are W's with him. He wasn't the difference maker this year, everyone thought he would be.
-Losing Gabe Martin hurts. He missed 3 quarters of IU which wouldn't have affected the outcome and then a blowout win over Murray State. Does Toledo still convert on 4th down? Who knows. BG gave up 17 on 3rd and 26 with him on the field.
-No team is going through an entire season 100% injury free.
-Few, if any have questioned the talent up and down the roster. Just about everyone has praised Clawson for the talent and depth he has brought in. Lots have questioned the actual coaching in big games and the slow starts.
-Ohio still went 9-4 and won their bowl game, with all their issues.

Excuses, excuses, excuses.

If we can't win the East. We HAVE to win a bowl for this year to be considered any sort of a success.

[kdog27]

Yep I praise Clawson for the team he has put together. We finally have talent all over the place instead of just a few areas.

My problem with his teams since year one has been winning close games. They almost always find a way to lose a close game. Whether it is a drop, missed XP, mistackle or whatever they are never on the right side of things. Over time we have also seen that they rarely win against good teams or big games. Then this year and the most talented of his teams typically only show up for the second half of the game. It would be one thing if this was limited to one season but it has plagued his teams for 5 years now. Getting down to Toledo by 3 scores to start the game 2 years in a row is infuriating to me given that we were just as talented as UT both years. How does a team that has lost to their rival 3 times in a row shows up lackadaisical and seemingly disinterested?

Clawson has done many things well here but his weaknesses are still glaring. I would think after coaching 5 years in this conference that he would know what it takes to win big games. We have a good enough offense to open it up from the first snap yet he waits to open up until we are down multiple scores to UT and MSU. His attitude of we can line up and wear a team down and play solid defense only works against bad MAC teams. I understood it last year when we didn't have consistent QB play but it makes no sense to me that we still go out of our way to try and play this way now. I think we will beat OU but that Buffalo game has me concerned.

Teams like Ohio State seem to always win close games. It's not luck.

[TG1996]

-Losing Gabe Martin hurts. He missed 3 quarters of IU which wouldn't have affected the outcome and then a blowout win over Murray State. Does Toledo still convert on 4th down? Who knows. BG gave up 17 on 3rd and 26 with him on the field.

Martin went out a couple plays before the 3rd & 26.

Tweet: https://twitter.com/jwagnerblade/status ... 6369530880
Box score: http://espn.go.com/ncf/playbyplay?gameI ... 9&period=4

Of course, UT had moved about 60 yards in five or six plays before Martin went out, but you'd have to think missing his experience on a short field had to hurt those last couple plays. At the very least, I don't think Owens scrambles for 17 yards on 3rd down.

[Globetrotter]

Why did fahn cooper leave?

[jpfalcon09]

Why did fahn cooper leave?

The reason I was given was that he wanted to be closer to his family, however he seems to be drawing interests from BCS schools so I wonder if someone told him to skip on BG and try to get into a bigger school.

[mscarn]

Why did fahn cooper leave?

The reason I was given was that he wanted to be closer to his family, however he seems to be drawing interests from BCS schools so I wonder if someone told him to skip on BG and try to get into a bigger school.

The same year the #1 overall pick in the NFL Draft was an offensive tackle from a MAC school.

[jpfalcon09]

Why did fahn cooper leave?

The reason I was given was that he wanted to be closer to his family, however he seems to be drawing interests from BCS schools so I wonder if someone told him to skip on BG and try to get into a bigger school.

The same year the #1 overall pick in the NFL Draft was an offensive tackle from a MAC school.

Indeed, however I imagine that will prove to be an anomaly.