A quick history lesson

[MarkL]

A history lesson I find highly relevant.

2011. BG pulled a huge upset over Temple - the same team who utterly thrashed the same Maryland team who utterly thrashed the same Miami team who utterly thrashed Ohio State. It was a dramatic late win on a 4th down TD pass. BG was suddenly in serious contention to win the MAC east. Win their games and BG is in Detroit. And the next week, BG was uncompetitive against lowly Kent State. Total flat game by BG. Momentum stalled, MAC east unattainable.

2012. BG upset and pretty well demolished Ohio on the road. Good upset road win over a team that spent much of the season nationally ranked. Next up was Kent State at home. Beat Kent, go to Detroit. And BG came up just short, playing flat on offense and giving up uncharacteristic big plays on defense.

2013. BG upset heavily favored and nationally #12 Northern Illinois to win the MAC title. A culmination of a major program build, a shocking and dominant win on national TV. And the follow up was an upset loss to Pitt in the bowl. To be fair, Aaron Donald was on that Pitt team. It was a flat ending to an outstanding season.

2014. BG upset Indiana in the final seconds. It was a thrilling come from behind win and one of the most entertaining games in BG history. And the following week, BG got shellacked by Wisconsin. Nothing that worked against Indiana worked against Wisconson.

2015. BG demolished Maryland on the road. Total annihilation that could have been worse. And followed it up by losing at home to Memphis, with the offense going dry late in the game.

Also 2015. BG beat Purdue in the final seconds in a back and forth game. Travis Greene ran in a TD with seconds on the clock to win it. It was far from BG's best game on the season but they came up big when it counted. And the next week, BG had to hold on to beat an average Buffalo team.

Also also 2015. BG came out totally flat against both UT and Georgia Southern after big wins respectively against WMU and NIU. Two blowout losses in winnable games.

2019. BG upset in dominant fashion UT, a nearly 30 point favorite. In an emotional win and a scrappy QB's first start, BG set the tone of the game from the first play. And the follow up: a dud against Central Michigan.

Coaching staff and leadership on the team need to be keenly aware that BG has a history of coming out flat after big wins.

[mbenecke]

I agree, and I think the staff is - Loeffler mentioned post-game that practice this week was going to be intense to prepare for MAC play.

[FalconTurf]

Staff should be keenly aware every football program in America has “let down” games after huge wins. Take Minnesota after manhandling Colorado as an example.

[roguewarrior]

Kent is a good team. We have our hands full.

[fanatic13]

That 2011 was my first ever bg football game i attended great memories!

[jpfalcon09]

I trust this staff will keep everyone focused this week. There's a party in the union today to celebrate the win with the team which is great, but I hope the players don't get stuck admiring this win. Conference games are important for this program right now, and I think there's reason to believe winning 3-4 games with the opponents on the schedule is attainable.

[mbenecke]

I trust this staff will keep everyone focused this week. There's a party in the union today to celebrate the win with the team which is great, but I hope the players don't get stuck admiring this win. Conference games are important for this program right now, and I think there's reason to believe winning 3-4 games with the opponents on the schedule is attainable.

Had the same thought when I saw that was happening. Great win to celebrate, but we have to move on now.

Hopefully the only outcome from this event is more students becoming interested in the program and coming to games. There's been a noticeable lack of interest in the football program in recent years (for good/legitimate reason), so I hope this is a sign that the students are paying attention and want to come out in droves to support a football team they can call their own.

[jpfalcon09]

I trust this staff will keep everyone focused this week. There's a party in the union today to celebrate the win with the team which is great, but I hope the players don't get stuck admiring this win. Conference games are important for this program right now, and I think there's reason to believe winning 3-4 games with the opponents on the schedule is attainable.

Had the same thought when I saw that was happening. Great win to celebrate, but we have to move on now.

Hopefully the only outcome from this event is more students becoming interested in the program and coming to games. There's been a noticeable lack of interest in the football program in recent years (for good/legitimate reason), so I hope this is a sign that the students are paying attention and want to come out in droves to support a football team they can call their own.

Always been that way unfortunately. 2002-2005 and 2012-2015 have been the only times in my lifetime that the Doyt has been filled out for MAC games, which coincides with the most recent successful eras of the program. Majority of the fan base is fair weather and will turn out if there's a winner. Such is life for a majority of G5 programs. Doesn't help you have Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame in the area where a lot of people grew up rooting for those teams, but ended up going to BG. BGSU becomes a secondary program then if those other ones are down or aren't playing at the same time.

[pdt1081]

Always been that way unfortunately. 2002-2005 and 2012-2015 have been the only times in my lifetime that the Doyt has been filled out for MAC games, which coincides with the most recent successful eras of the program. Majority of the fan base is fair weather and will turn out if there's a winner. Such is life for a majority of G5 programs. Doesn't help you have Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame in the area where a lot of people grew up rooting for those teams, but ended up going to BG. BGSU becomes a secondary program then if those other ones are down or aren't playing at the same time.

None of this is unique to BGSU, or football. You can look at every sport, at almost every university no matter the level, and see the same thing. Fan attendance is driven almost solely by winning. Yes, ticket prices, Gameday experience, etc, all factor in. But those become less and less of an issue the more you win.

[Schadenfreude]

I think it's important to celebrate this win, as President Rogers has proposed to do today. This will (hopefully) send the message that we don't take a backseat to anyone, that we expect to get on the field with the Big Ten and win sometimes.

This expectation -- that Bowling Green compete with anybody -- was a bit easier to understand during the CCHA salad days, when the Falcons routinely demolished the likes of Ohio State and Notre Dame before big crowds at the Ice Arena.

If Rogers speaks, I hope he will also mention our nationally-ranked men's soccer team, which has already defeated Michigan State and takes the field this week at Ohio State.

Anyway.

This win reminds me a bit of the 2001 opener at Missouri, when Urban Meyer shocked us all with a win over the Tigers. The Falcons had suffered six straight losing seasons. They were coming off a bad 2-9 campaign that ended Gary Blackney's career in head coaching. No one saw that win coming, just as no one saw this one coming.

Meyer's 2001 Falcons finished 8-3 and without a bowl game. (The MAC only had two bowl tie-ins back then.) I'm not predicting eight wins or a bowl game for these Falcons. We may struggle this weekend against Kent (much as Meyer's first Falcon team fell short at Marshall) and we may struggle against some other MAC teams. This program was in worse shape when Loeffler took over than when Meyer took over.

But just as Meyer's win at Missouri made it clear that he was turning the program around, this win seems to show that better days are ahead, even if we still have some lumps to take along the way.

[OptionQB]

The defense played extremely well. As well as they have played in several years. That being said, I still feel it was more about what Fleck/Minny did/didn't do than anything BG did to them. Yes, the DL came up big on a 4th and 1 that led to a score, but who in their right mind goes for that fourth down when you haven't ran the ball all day?

I agree, most would concur PJ isn't in his right mind.

Two fourth down penalties that extended what became the game winning drive. One on a punt and the other on a successful FG try that in hindsight puts the game in OT. These are coaching errors and metal lapses not anything BG did to win the game.

McDonald left at least 14 points on the field with errant throws. I congratulate the team and staff on the win, but cautiously optimistic doesn't cover this one. The defense was the lone bright spot for me. The offense has a few nice pieces and not much else.

[roguewarrior]

The defense played extremely well. As well as they have played in several years. That being said, I still feel it was more about what Fleck/Minny did/didn't do than anything BG did to them. Yes, the DL came up big on a 4th and 1 that led to a score, but who in their right mind goes for that fourth down when you haven't ran the ball all day?

I agree, most would concur PJ isn't in his right mind.

Two fourth down penalties that extended what became the game winning drive. One on a punt and the other on a successful FG try that in hindsight puts the game in OT. These are coaching errors and metal lapses not anything BG did to win the game.

McDonald left at least 14 points on the field with errant throws. I congratulate the team and staff on the win, but cautiously optimistic doesn't cover this one. The defense was the lone bright spot for me. The offense has a few nice pieces and not much else.

Agree. This week Vs. Kent will go a long way to telling me if Loeffler has the Chops to be truly/consistently successful. The D coordinator is getting it done. I was exasperated again by the stupid timing and selection of the trick play. Also, going for it on the late 4th down was, I felt, Ill advised…. But, … we converted. If we knock Kent off, then the hot seat conversation is over from my perspective, deservedly so.

FYI: Minnesota is a beautiful stadium. Parking planning and direction, not so hot.

[jpfalcon09]

The defense played extremely well. As well as they have played in several years. That being said, I still feel it was more about what Fleck/Minny did/didn't do than anything BG did to them. Yes, the DL came up big on a 4th and 1 that led to a score, but who in their right mind goes for that fourth down when you haven't ran the ball all day?

I agree, most would concur PJ isn't in his right mind.

Two fourth down penalties that extended what became the game winning drive. One on a punt and the other on a successful FG try that in hindsight puts the game in OT. These are coaching errors and metal lapses not anything BG did to win the game.

McDonald left at least 14 points on the field with errant throws. I congratulate the team and staff on the win, but cautiously optimistic doesn't cover this one. The defense was the lone bright spot for me. The offense has a few nice pieces and not much else.

Fair points. Minnesota did enough to shoot themselves in the foot. BG had a hand in that as well with some creative blitzes and getting a bigger than expected push up front. When teams don't execute though, they're ripe for beating. Gophers made enough bonehead mistakes with penalties and BG did enough to take advantage of them to steal the game. I refuse to diminish the win. The kids earned it.

We're all aware of the struggles on offense. I'd like to see Keith get more play as he is a dynamic guy in space and can make guys miss, and has breakaway speed. Broden and Osborne are good pieces to have as well. Sims has shown to be capable. Really all hinges on the OL and we know things are tough there right now. I noticed they moved Grant to center and Zimmerly to guard against Minnesota. I suspect that will stay the same. Really it's simply week to week with this group and you hope to see incremental improvement.

[Flipper]

Weird how certain posters have a ton to say after a loss, but disappear after a win. It can't be Kit Hughes' fault...can it?

[kdog27]

The defense played extremely well. As well as they have played in several years. That being said, I still feel it was more about what Fleck/Minny did/didn't do than anything BG did to them. Yes, the DL came up big on a 4th and 1 that led to a score, but who in their right mind goes for that fourth down when you haven't ran the ball all day?

I agree, most would concur PJ isn't in his right mind.

Two fourth down penalties that extended what became the game winning drive. One on a punt and the other on a successful FG try that in hindsight puts the game in OT. These are coaching errors and metal lapses not anything BG did to win the game.

McDonald left at least 14 points on the field with errant throws. I congratulate the team and staff on the win, but cautiously optimistic doesn't cover this one. The defense was the lone bright spot for me. The offense has a few nice pieces and not much else.

I found them going for it there as a sign that they had no respect for the BG offense. They were looking for a spark and were probably like what’s the worst that’s going happen, BG scores 14 points .

Minnesota tried to do several different things, just none of them worked. Game probably shouldn’t have been as close as it was. That fumble at the 5 yard line should have been reviewed and overturned. At least getting a field goal out of that. Somehow didn’t get that muffed punt.

I do feel like you need to hold your breath on every offensive play. Sometimes you got to run the ball even though you know you’ll only gain 3 yards at most otherwise all these short passes are going get blown up and all the pass deflections at the line are going continue.