vs. Murray State (9/18)

[Schadenfreude]

It's good to have the monkey off our back. And, yes, the officiating seemed ticky-tack.

[factman]

The back judge and field judge were both HORRIBLE! Maybe they saw that Vegas point spread!

[jpfalcon09]

The back judge and field judge were both HORRIBLE! Maybe they saw that Vegas point spread!

The fumble ruling was the worst call I've seen since that safety against Ohio like ten years ago. Replayed showed the ball was clearly out. Do they not have replay for these FCS matchups?

[ZuluWarrior]

This team, coaching staff are showing true improvement! Congrats to the team on the Win! I think BG will exceed expectations - this is not the worst team in the country - far from it. Only going to continue to go up from here. 30 of 44 on the two deep are freshmen or sophomores! ROLL ALONG!!

[MarkL]

I've not watched the game yet. I'll have to catch it this week. So not much to say other than we finally finished drives and pretty well dominated the second half.

Looking at the schedule, it seems this is a bad year to be anything less than a decent team. The balance of power in the MAC east is shifting, as it has been a clear top four and a bottom two. By early looks, Ohio is dropping to the cellar, and no telling yet who else may join.

Point is, a decent team can torch this MAC east. And the three west opponents on the schedule too for that matter. So far it seems this defense is at least decent. The offense needs more consistent pop against FBS competition to be labeled decent.

[mbenecke]

27-10 win, and it's awful quiet in here.

Awesome day. Was great to be back there tailgating, great to see friends, and an awesome win.

Go Falcons!

[jpfalcon09]

I've not watched the game yet. I'll have to catch it this week. So not much to say other than we finally finished drives and pretty well dominated the second half.

Looking at the schedule, it seems this is a bad year to be anything less than a decent team. The balance of power in the MAC east is shifting, as it has been a clear top four and a bottom two. By early looks, Ohio is dropping to the cellar, and no telling yet who else may join.

Point is, a decent team can torch this MAC east. And the three west opponents on the schedule too for that matter. So far it seems this defense is at least decent. The offense needs more consistent pop against FBS competition to be labeled decent.

There will be four more competitive games on the schedule. Akron, NIU, EMU, and Ohio. Next two weeks will probably be rough with Minnesota and Kent.

The defense so far this year is night and day compared to the dumpster fire VanGorder had. They tackle well, the corners are good pass defenders, and they generate turnovers. Offense needs to hold up their end of the bargain.

[Schadenfreude]

The fumble ruling was the worst call I've seen since that safety against Ohio like ten years ago. Replayed showed the ball was clearly out. Do they not have replay for these FCS matchups?

No question it was a fumble, but the video clearly showed the Racer quarterback snatched the ball back from our guy. The only question, I suppose, is whether the play should have been dead when our guy seemed to grab it.

To Mark's point about the lack of powerful teams in the MAC East: True. Buffalo looks to be in good shape. They looked pretty good today at home with Coastal Carolina, only losing that one by three.

[MarkL]

From what I've seen, I'll call all eight conference games winnable.

And no, we are not winning them all. Not happening. What I mean is the eight on our schedule, possibly save Buffalo, have not shown anything to suggest they are championship caliber teams. If the offense can finish some drives and set the pace of the game, all of those games could be won. Realistically I'd be happy if they win 2, thrilled if they win 4.

My biggest concern is the offense just stalling out and putting the defense on the field in bad situations. Nothing ends the morale of a good defense faster than consistently defending short fields. Ask Michigan 2008. Then it seems an avalanche effect can happen.

[hammb]

It was very nice to get back out to the tailgate and the Doyt on a gorgeous fall (late summer) afternoon! I do love the 5 pm kicks.

Great to finally get a win!

The defense played really well for the first, third, and fourth quarters. Great game from the guys.

I thought McDonald mostly played pretty well. Bad int though.

The end of the first half is yet another indicator that we will never win close games with Loeffler. Just a complete s**t show drive and he was content to gain zero yards even though they had all their timeouts to use. Very fortunate to get the hold (and follow up with a nice sack fumble, weird call though). I was really getting worried that we were going to end up down at the half.

I still hate our offense. It worked ok today but way too many heavy and tight formations, I just can't see us moving the ball at all against decent teams. Did use motion to some effectiveness but they better learn the rules about motion.

The officiating was not great but gotta figure out what they're calling and clean it up, can't keep commiting that many penalties.

So nice to finally see a win.

[BGSU33]

Just great to come up with a win today....finally! It wasn't always pretty, but any kind of win is a beautiful one in my eyes. I simply hoped we could score just 1 more point than they did today no matter how we got there, and they found a way to get it done. It had been two years since the last win and I just hope the entire program can enjoy this one. There's still lost of work to be done and still much to improve upon, but this is something they can build on. It was much earned, well deserved and way too long overdue especially coming off the heels of that heartbreaking loss last week. Hopefully we can experience a few more wins this season. Today was a good day.

[mbenecke]

Matt McDonald was 22/28 passing for 221 yards and a touchdown. Another really nice performance.

[Flipper]

Good to finally hang a W. Baby steps....The Gophers are going to be a tough match up as will Kent and Buffalo. Not sure what to make of Toledo....I think you can probably pencil in four more losses.

The other five games will determine the direction of the program

[TommyG]

I’d say they have a good chance against Akron and maybe Ohio. Gonna be tough to win games scoring 14-21 points. There just aren’t many FBS defenses BG is going to move the ball against.
Defensively they are significantly better, although I’m not sure they’ve faced a team that can really stress the defense with the run and play action. They definitely tackle better…against some MAC opponents that can be enough.

[jpfalcon09]

I’d say they have a good chance against Akron and maybe Ohio. Gonna be tough to win games scoring 14-21 points. There just aren’t many FBS defenses BG is going to move the ball against.
Defensively they are significantly better, although I’m not sure they’ve faced a team that can really stress the defense with the run and play action. They definitely tackle better…against some MAC opponents that can be enough.

OL needs to beef up and the scoring will improve with a run game. Going to take time there. The pass game seems to be working well and there is typically an open receiver on almost every play. Run play action out of that and there's a good chance at success.

Loeffer admitted after the game that people view his offense as old school but he said he's not worried about stats, just wins and losses. A good defense will go a long way to helping the offense with short fields. So I think we're starting to see what the overall philosophy is. It's not going to be flashy but if it's effective, so be it.