GBMWolverine Preview: Bowling Green at Michigan

Posted at 8:00am — 9/23/2010

GBMWolverine Preview: Bowling Green at Michigan

This weekend the Falcons of Bowling Green State University (1-2) take a short trip up the I-75 and US 23 corridor to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Bowling Green is one of many MAC teams out making a paycheck with hard work this weekend. As our readers know, Eastern Michigan will travel down the same US 23 corridor to Columbus in an attempt to gain the first EMU victory of the Ron English era. Bowling Green must like its chances much more than Eastern.

On a good day, the ride from Bowling Green to Ann Arbor is a nice drive, especially after hitting the Michigan border and catching some extra mph and at least a little road freedom not customary in Ohio.

This version of the Falcons lost some serious talent from last year’s team, and Michigan fans must be elated that Freddie Barnes, the leading receiver in the nation last year, has moved on along with many other talented veterans. As a result, BG will rely on younger talent this year and may take some lumps. But the younger talent is passing the early look test and the future may bode bright in 2011 for BG to compete at the top of the MAC. The emphasis has been to recruit speed.

For several years, BG football has been known for offense, plenty of offense, sometimes almost pinball like offense. This will not change under young coach Dave Clawson. Clawson turned the historically win-challenged programs of Fordham and Richmond around very quickly. He was the offensive coordinator at Tennessee before accepting the BG position. Clawson is cerebral and came from a small college setting. While by some this is considered a disadvantage, coaches at small colleges are forced to do everything to continue a program and must immerse themselves in every aspect of football. The staff coach Clawson has assembled is very capable.

So far this season, the pass has surpassed the run as the weapon of choice in the BG offense. But that trend may or may not change this Saturday; a primary reason being Matt Schilz has been announced as out for Saturday’s game due to a shoulder injury. There are three possibilities for BG to settle upon for the quarterback job, but the most probable choice will be young Aaron Pankratz, who led BG to victory against Marshall, after Schilz left the game.

The Falcons run a spread and do some read within the offensive structure. Out of that set Willie Geter is a good all-purpose back and Kamar Jorden, the leading Falcon receiver has taken up where Freddie Barnes left off; he has 34 catches which leads the nation.

If the Falcons run more than pass it will be as a result of what was seen in the UMass film, or a strategy to shorten the game by staying on the ground and chewing the clock. This is a tried and true strategy of the underdog and it can work if a team can drive and eat clock, but once down most undermanned teams go back to bombs away.

The thinking here is BG will do what the team does best and the objective will be to become better at what will carry the future. So, be ready to see a selection of passing plays designed to control the clock and quick strike when available.

The Falcons will frequently have four receivers and may even run empty. The Falcons do not have a Denard Robinson on board, but UM must still account for the quarterback. As last week demonstrated, even an average athlete in the pocket can chew up 5-10 if no one pays attention. The Falcons love to go for the near corner or the deep corner of the end zone when in the red zone (on the out or the double move out). They are good at this, so be aware. If a team cheats and overloads, then the quick slant to a soft spot will take place. Further away from the end zone, this offense will run the seams and sit in soft spots in a zone, about like all other football brethren. There are quick hits to the flats that are not yet at the level of the UM offense. All in all this offense is versatile enough to cause some match-up problems.

It will be interesting to see if BG goes against the status quo and uses tight ends like UMass did. This would seem irresistible, but we will see.

The Bowling Green offense scores about 30 points a game and gives up about the same number. So, there just may be another semi-shootout at the corral Saturday. But the Falcon defense possesses talent, albeit young. Jerry Gates and Dwayne Woods (a very solid linebacker) had pick-sixes last week against Marshall that helped the Falcons to their first win. The biggest problem for BG’s defense will be matching up with Denard Robinson’s speed. This may be pick your poison, but logic says the Falcons will try first to stop Denard and then adjust if UM uses the rest of the arsenal successfully. The problem with that strategy, as has been demonstrated in three straight games, is that Denard can use the entire field to attack laterally, only needing to find one quick gap. He has shown that selling out the safeties can be dangerous to a defense’s overall health when he goes vertical or hits the quick flat.

There is a most interesting twist to the Falcon kicking game. Bryan Wright, a three-year letter winner at Michigan, is handling all of the kicking duties for the Falcons. As with his time at Michigan Bryan is having mixed success. The kickoffs have been sufficiently deep; the punting OK, and the field goal success is at 3-6 (yes, still better than UM). But not one made field goal has been from any true distance. But we all know Bryan would love for the first long shot this year to be against the Wolverines.

Michigan for its part just wants to cash in on an opportunity to show improvement, obviously defensively, but certainly the special teams need to demonstrate proficiency. The tryout for the running back spots may be nearly over if Michael Shaw has another strong day. Any experimentation by Michigan will surround efforts to run the ball better in short yardage and to the flank. The second area of emphasis may be in using the tight ends, both as blockers and pass catchers. As has been said many times here, that is a pretty good pair of athletes to ignore. The zone stretch has again been just all right and Vinnie Smith appears to be uncomfortable in this situation. He simply may not have all his jets back yet. Everyone is waiting for a Cox, or a Fitz, or a Tate, or a Devon sighting. Hopefully the defense makes this a reality. UM would like nothing better than to be sharp and get the starters off the field in preparation for the trip to Bloomington.

The defense should come out angry and answer the critics. That needs to happen every game the rest of the way. The defense will give up yardage to the BG team if soft cushions are again given. The first play of the game may tell the strategy for the chosen defensive scheme and corner coverage. Will the base set 3-3-5 again rule the day? Or does that fourth lineman come in and Craig Roh goes to weakside lb?

BG may not be able to run as well as UMass unless the tight ends are emphasized. Coach Clawson has a choice, go against what the Falcons do best to take advantage of the weaknesses UMass found, or work for the future by gaming for what the BG offense best does. Or maybe a choice play here and there from the UMass archive will be revisited.

One thing for sure, Coach Clawson would rather be in Ann Arbor than Columbus.

Written by GBMWolverine Staff

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