vs. Akron (10/9)

[mbenecke]

On Saturday, October 9, our Falcons (2-3) will return home to take on the Akron Zips (1-4). The game will kick off at 12:00pm, and it will be available to stream on ESPN+.

BG opened as a 7-point favorite at Circa, so we have a great shot in this game. We need to play hard and fast, and we need to do a better job of being more consistent on offense to give ourselves a chance here.

Go Falcons! Beat Akron!

[jpfalcon09]

13-point favorite at MGM. That seems incredibly high. BG has been profitable for me ATS and total wise (all unders) but I may choose to stay away from this one.

Definitely a winnable game. Akron's QB Irons is extremely mobile and will present a lot of challenges. BG's defense struggled a bit with the zone read game against Kent, and I can see Akron going that route as well.

[mbenecke]

13-point favorite at MGM. That seems incredibly high. BG has been profitable for me ATS and total wise (all unders) but I may choose to stay away from this one.

Definitely a winnable game. Akron's QB Irons is extremely mobile and will present a lot of challenges. BG's defense struggled a bit with the zone read game against Kent, and I can see Akron going that route as well.

Definitely feels high. And yes, I have the same concerns about us playing a mobile QB. Should be interesting to see how we adjust after last week.

[roguewarrior]

We should punish Akron. Their MLB and best player Is out for the year. Defense is very bad. This is a team we can run on for sure….. OU switched to a running QB and they couldn’t stop it. This SHOULD Be a game that our offense runs the way Loeffler predicts it will one day (once our o-line is stout). Let’s see if they can showcase it?

[Schadenfreude]

I'll take Bowling Green and give the points.

It is true that these Falcons can't look past any team on the schedule. Akron could surprise us. But our Falcons have beaten expectations in every single game this year. Heading into this season, Akron was one of only two games I thought we could win this year. The Zips haven't done much to change preseason expectations.

I could see this going a lot like the Murray State game: Tight for a while, but Bowling Green pulling away gradually as they succeed in the trenches and on the ground.

[jpfalcon09]

We should punish Akron. Their MLB and best player Is out for the year. Defense is very bad. This is a team we can run on for sure….. OU switched to a running QB and they couldn’t stop it. This SHOULD Be a game that our offense runs the way Loeffler predicts it will one day (once our o-line is stout). Let’s see if they can showcase it?

Some of us have long memories of games even with prior coaching staffs where games like this presented a challenge. The 2005 loss at home against Akron 24-14 immediately pops into my head.

Akron has enough horses on offense to keep this interesting. Irons had 100 yards rushing and was 14-17 for 175 and 2 TDs this past Saturday. Mumpfield is their big playmaker at WR and has enough speed to break one in open space. I agree their defense looks suspect, and their OL allowed seven sacks to Ohio, definitely exploitable weaknesses.

The embarrassing blowout from last year needs to be front of mind this week in practice.

[Beaker]

I wouldn’t touch that bet at a 13 point favorite. I absolutely think we can and should win this one but with the lack of consistency in the offense, I wouldn’t put any amount of money on us beating anyone by that kind of margin. I think for us to have a strong chance of beating any team, we can’t give up more than 20 points.

[mbenecke]

I wouldn’t touch that bet at a 13 point favorite. I absolutely think we can and should win this one but with the lack of consistency in the offense, I wouldn’t put any amount of money on us beating anyone by that kind of margin. I think for us to have a strong chance of beating any team, we can’t give up more than 20 points.

Agreed. Going to be very difficult for our offense to score in most games, so it's imperative that the defense gets stops when they can. It's also really important that we not turn the ball over and give the opponent a short field - our defense is the strong unit on this team, but it's very difficult to defend a short field. Have to do what we can to make it easier on them.

[jpfalcon09]

It's up to 14.5 now at MGM. Big money has come in on the Falcons. I may have to jump in on Akron at that line. More than two scores is asking for a lot with this Falcon offense.

[MarkL]

Akron gives up 7.7 yards per play, 6.46 per rush. That is insane. I hope the BG offense comes to life in a big way.

[Bgsu2016]

I'd like to see a little more out of the offense. Our defense looks great though, should allow us to possibly steal a game or two the rest of the way

[MarkL]

The QB Irons is the leading rusher with around 50 per game. The Murray State QB was similar. All around I'd say Akron is a similar level to Murray State. So we ... should ... win, but being a young team, and Akron being a hungry and perhaps desperate team, you never know.

I briefly perused the Akron board. Curious their thoughts on Arth. Can't say I was surprised that his welcome has worn out.

[MarkL]

Couple other interesting notes. Akron's receiving corps is not tall. Looking at guys who have a catch, there are two guys at 6 foot, everybody else below. Not a lot of weight either. It is probably a fast, small corps.

Also of note. I guess I didn't put this together until now. Do you know how many passing TDs BG has given up on the season? One. Just one. That was the garbage time bomb by Milton of Tennessee. Meanwhile we've picked off 5 passes. Holy smokes this defense is night and day improved from prior years.

[roguewarrior]

Akron has a bad D and their best player MLB is out. I stand by my belief that we smoke them, big.

[MarkL]

Maybe it's my years of being jaded by bad BG teams, and maybe its compacted by being spoiled by previous runs of success by BG. Regardless I cannot expect we smoke anyone. The team hasn't earned that expectation yet IMO. I think we should win this one. But if the team comes out flat and plays a penalty laden mistake prone turnover heavy game, I unfortunately cannot call myself shocked. Team needs more consistent play at a high level first.