Morgan State

[mbenecke]

Loeffler has really slowed things down so as to get this thing over. It's a respectful, sportmanship-filled action, and I admire that.

[mbenecke]

1:47 left and we "turned it over" on downs. We got inside their 10 yard line and Loeffler decided not to bring out the field goal team, electing to run the ball on 4th and 7 so as to not look like a poor sport. I love the way he respects the game.

[mbenecke]

Morgan State intentionally grounds the football in the ednzone and it results in a safety.

46-3, and it's about to be time for the victory formation.

[MarkL]

Great way to start the Loeffler era! And for the first time since the end of the 2015 season, BG has a winning record.

[mbenecke]

FALCONS WIN, 46-3!

Most points since scoring 48 at Ball State on November 24, 2015.

First Downs - BG 37, Morgan State 4
Rushing Yards - BG 326, Morgan State 46
Passing Yards - BG 294, Morgan State 24
Total Yards - BG 620, Morgan State 70
Sacks - BG 4, Morgan State 1

Wade finished 22/32 for 252 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Clair rushed 14 times for 87 yards and a touchdown.
Jones rushed 16 times for 76 yards and a touchdown, also adding a score through the air.
Morris finished with 5 catches for 65 yards and 2 touchdowns.

[MarkL]

Wade looked overall good. He made some big throws, moved around in the pocket well, and came up with some nice runs too. The running game dominated and showed some serious depth. It wasn't just Clair, it was everyone. Loy provided a nice spark when he came in. Missed a few throws but ran like a tight end.

And the defense. Holy hell. If you told us anytime in the last few years we would give up 700 yards in a game, we would have believed it and just been glad it wasn't 800. If you said in 2019 we would give up just 70 yards in a game, we all would have laughed. But here we are. All the props to the new staff for teaching fundamental football. I saw nothing complicated on defense. Just sound tackling.

Now of course the opponent was lower and had no spring practice, so it was kinda an ass kicking contest against a one legged man. So let's keep this all in perspective. Regardless. What a way to kick off the Loeffler era!

It just feels ... normal ... to host an FCS and whip them soundly. No last second win, no multi possession loss. A beat down where we play sound defense and dominate both lines. It feels right.

Go Falcons!

[MarkL]

And an addition. Special teams were an adventure. High snaps, questionable holds, shanked punt, missed XP, missed FG that had no chance due to distance and a high snap, odd trickery. Lots to work on there. If there's any chance we hang with KSU next week, we cannot afford a ST mishap to give away the game.

[jpfalcon09]

Beat a team you should beat. The bar was set so low from the previous staff that this is oddly satisfying. First opening night win since Tulsa in 2013.

My observations:
Wade was rusty but overall played well. Nice to have a QB who is mobile and isn't scared to take off and go.

Hard to judge the OL given the opponent but they did a good job of keeping the pocket clean.

If the stable of running backs stays healthy it'll go a long way to keeping this team competitive.

Refreshing to see fundamentals on defense and see solid tackles.

Secondary wasn't tested much but that will change next week.

Nice to leave the Doyt with a win. Hasn't happened much the last few years.

[MarkL]

I listened to the post game interviews. I don't know how else to put it. It is so refreshing to listen to a football coach that actually knows how to talk football and answer football questions. I was engaged listening to Loeffler speak, rather than thinking "get this guy away from the camera already." He talked football, philosophy, friendship, and sounded like the kind of man anyone can look up to.

And listen to Darius Wade. You can see the respect he has for Loeffler. That is also satisfying to hear. Players respect him.

Also. Loeffler mentioned that there were players who benched 185 4 times when he showed up that now do 225 19 times. 185 at 4 reps? I'm not a football player. 185 at 4 reps is what I would call my morning warmup. That explains a lot of recent struggles stopping the run and keeping up in the second half.

[hammb]

Also. Loeffler mentioned that there were players who benched 185 4 times when he showed up that now do 225 19 times. 185 at 4 reps? I'm not a football player. 185 at 4 reps is what I would call my morning warmup. That explains a lot of recent struggles stopping the run and keeping up in the second half.

Reminds me of talking with Jon Mazur '02. He was describing how absolutely disgusted Urban was when he got here that big Jon was the ONLY OL who could max out at over 400#.

Not close enough to the program anymore to know how it was under Jinks, but I was back then. Those comments were no surprise at all because many of the players during Blackney's final years would openly joke about how they skipped weight training by going in super early, signing into to the board and then leaving without actually doing their workout.

Comments like the above from Loeffler make me believe that things under Jinks were way too similar to the end of Blackney's tenure. The big question will be, now that they're being forced to actually WORK, whether there is as much natural talent still hidden on the roster as what Blackney left to Urban. Those Blackney teams were awful, but it was pretty clear once they got Urban working with them there was a lot of talent there. Jinks's recruiting classes were pretty highly thought of, it'll be interesting to see if the new coaching voice will bring out some of that talent.

I still think 6 wins is the ceiling (Urban got pretty lucky to inherit an all MAC QB talent who happened to fit like a glove into what he was wanting to do), but we shall see.

[AyZiggy97]

I listened to the post game interviews. I don't know how else to put it. It is so refreshing to listen to a football coach that actually knows how to talk football and answer football questions. I was engaged listening to Loeffler speak, rather than thinking "get this guy away from the camera already." He talked football, philosophy, friendship, and sounded like the kind of man anyone can look up to.

And listen to Darius Wade. You can see the respect he has for Loeffler. That is also satisfying to hear. Players respect him.

Also. Loeffler mentioned that there were players who benched 185 4 times when he showed up that now do 225 19 times. 185 at 4 reps? I'm not a football player. 185 at 4 reps is what I would call my morning warmup. That explains a lot of recent struggles stopping the run and keeping up in the second half.

I'm not sure if the first paragraph is meant to be a comparison solely to Mike Jinks or a combination of previous coaches. But I was proud that Jinks represented the university well. He was not a successful coach and the need for a change was manifest. I felt Jinks was as open and honest as possible about the program's struggles as practical.

Scot Loeffler is in a wonderful honeymoon period that we all hope encompasses his entire BG tenure. It's easy to be affable when you've got an undefeated career record, outscoring opponents by 43.

[Schadenfreude]

I'm not sure if the first paragraph is meant to be a comparison solely to Mike Jinks or a combination of previous coaches. But I was proud that Jinks represented the university well. He was not a successful coach and the need for a change was manifest. I felt Jinks was as open and honest as possible about the program's struggles as practical.

I agree with this.

The biggest mistakes Jinks seemed to make in dealing with media was in completely mismanaging expectations. Heading into his first season, it was easy to think Bowling Green wasn't going to miss a beat. The 2016 MAC media poll picked Bowling Green to win the East again and I don't remember Jinks ever trying to talk people out of that idea. But, instead, the Falcons finished 4-8.

In retrospect, perhaps Jinks didn't have enough experience to get an accurate reading of what he had in Bowling Green and what it would take to repeat as MAC East champion. But he was a decent man.

[Falconwriter]

Very few people are going to go into a new job admitting they probably aren't a good fit or even qualified, and that expectations should be kept low. Jinx was no exception. I'm having a hard time separating the "decent man" stuff from the train wreck he orchestrated while he was here. It's now pretty obvious he did not maintain any kind of discipline with these guys.

As for the game: it's nice that they did what a mid major should do to a smaller program like Morgan State. The real unknowns remain, though. And I fear when they go against bigger programs like KSU and ND, the lack of bodies/depth will be the main driver in what will likely be some pretty lopsided scores.

The one area that really gave me a bit of hope was the tackling by the defense. A dramatic improvement.

[kdog27]

I'm not sure if the first paragraph is meant to be a comparison solely to Mike Jinks or a combination of previous coaches. But I was proud that Jinks represented the university well. He was not a successful coach and the need for a change was manifest. I felt Jinks was as open and honest as possible about the program's struggles as practical.

I agree with this.

The biggest mistakes Jinks seemed to make in dealing with media was in completely mismanaging expectations. Heading into his first season, it was easy to think Bowling Green wasn't going to miss a beat. The 2016 MAC media poll picked Bowling Green to win the East again and I don't remember Jinks ever trying to talk people out of that idea. But, instead, the Falcons finished 4-8.

In retrospect, perhaps Jinks didn't have enough experience to get an accurate reading of what he had in Bowling Green and what it would take to repeat as MAC East champion. But he was a decent man.

If I recall correctly prior to his first game here he was chirping about a lot of the talent being on par with the big 12. As the losses piled up he had all kinds of excuses about the holes he inherited and lack of talent.

[Falconfreak90]

Pleased with the game last night! 620 yards offense and the D held the Bears to 70 total yards. The last 3 years, we would give up 70 yards on the first 3 plays. Now we face a MUCH tougher opponent next week but we are on are way back to what BOWLING GREEN FOOTBALL should be. Love this staff to death already and they way they approach the game. As far as Jinks? Don't care as he is LONG gone...thank God.

Just saw Central Arkansas upset WKU 35-28 last night. Buffalo beat Robert Morris 38-10. CMU 38-21 over Albany. AZ State 30, Kent State 7. Another surprise is Minnesota only beat South Dakota St, 28-21. Week 1 is always crazy.

Had a blast, as always, with the tailgate crew! #BeatKansasState