“Every player that comes through the program will leave with a diploma and a championship ring.”

That’s a paraphrase from Dave Clawson’s press conference today (right now), the 17th head coach at Bowling Green. The cool thing about Bowling Green and it’s students, alumni, fans and administration, there’s equal importance placed on both items Clawson mentioned. Even when the latter hasn’t come easy (16 years and counting), Falcon fans have put a ton of pride in the former.

I’ve only read what’s popped up online in the last three or four days, and listened to him for about eight minutes, but I like the hire. Just like hiring Louis Orr to run the basketball team, I get a good feel off Dave Clawson. I think I even felt that way when Gregg Brandon was hired on as coach (though he had a two-year headstart with the program). Even in the cut-throat world of college coaching, BG has seemed to do well hiring men and women that fit what the campus and community of Bowling Green is all about.

“I don’t like to be married to a system.”

I like it. We’ve had a lot of players that seem to have been under-utilized in the last few years, between RB’s and receivers. It’s good to know that if we have two stud backs, we’ll line up that way. And if we have six stud WR’s, we’ll line up that way, too.

Dave Clawson press conference audio

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When I started to write this, I had to dig a little to make sure I didn’t miss anything I wanted to say. To the college football world, Larry Smith is a former coach at Arizona, USC and Missouri, and a Hall of Fame coach at that. But to fellow Falcons, he’s one of us.

He grew up in Van Wert before heading to the U.S. Military Academy for college. Deciding he wanted to get into coaching, he transferred to BG. As a sophomore, he was part of a national championship, even though he was the last player in the last row of the team picture. The next year, Smith was named honorable mention All-Ohio by the UPI at end, and as a senior, he was named a team captain (not to mention front and center in the team picture) as the Falcons won their third MAC title.

As a lineman, his name doesn’t pepper the record books like so many other BG greats, but he’s just as accomplished as any of his teammates, if not more so. In fact, he’s not even the only “Larry Smith” on the all-time roster. His namesake put on the Brown and Orange four years after he graduated in 1962.

(Although, Smith did return to BG to earn a master’s degree in 1967. Coincidence?)

Media outlets from around his coaching stops have lengthy obituaries about their former coach, all mention Bowling Green, some in the Los Angeles area refer to the 1959 championship. The official athletic site at BG borrowed one of those obituaries, as did The Blade, though I hope in both cases, as the days pass, they write a more BG-centric story. Maureen Fulton at The Blade did a great “In Their Own Words” story a couple years back ($2.95 through the paper’s archive search), so I know there is a lot of information there.

He’s a member of the BG Athletic Hall of Fame (it’s on me to write up a bio for him still), and was on the field coaching Mizzou when Gary Blackney led the Falcons to a 17-10 win on September 9, 1995 (a game which I broadcast for WBGU and still have on tape somewhere). Smith got his revenge and a little more three years later, blanking a much different BG squad, 37-0.

It’s stories like Larry Smith’s that I set out to tell when I started BGSUsports.com almost three years ago, the Falcons that did great things, but didn’t necessarily get the headlines. It’s a fun project, but always a little sad when one passes away.

Roll along #83!

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So. That was a little less than pleasant.

Short of running play “EMU 24 Turbo Left” (you know, the one where we line up with trips to the right, send the RB in motion and have the QB drop back, gift wrap the ball and place it on our goal line and slowly walk away), BG did what they could to give away the GMAC Bowl, and with flying colors.

It was unpleasant, and there are issues that may be better discussed at an even later date (even two full days of forgetfulness doesn’t feel like it’s enough to get an emotion-free post), but it’s only fair to document it.

For the record, I’m in the “horrible aberration” camp. BG came out knowing they would be in a dogfight with Tulsa, and after a couple unfortunate accidents (I have a hard time blaming Freddie Barnes for dropping a pass he never appeared to have much of a handle on and having it ruled a fumble as he was hit), the Falcons were in full-on press mode, trying to make up for lost ground. Like the Barnes play, I always have a hard time getting mad at players who make “errors of effort”, like Anthony Turner (remember him, the one that took a position change and carried us through November?) coughing it up on a dive to the goal line.

And the 4th and 2 from the 3 that went incomplete? I questioned parts of it as it happened, but quickly recognized it. It was a mirror image of the “awesome play call” that picked up the winning two-point conversion at Minnesota at the start of the year. Just didn’t go this time. In fact, aside from an odd reliance on a Turner-free running game, even down a couple scores, the only play call I wasn’t huge on was the ever-popular draw play from 5 yards deep on 4th and a foot.

(Not including, of course, Tulsa’s choice of playcalls down the stretch, with their starting quarterback throwing at will up 49. They say they had their reasons, I still think their reasons border on classless, but then again, my team lost by 56.)

I already said more than I planned in this post, but I’m not ruling out more thoughts later.

But for now…how about that hockey team?

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The hockey team put up a valiant effort before falling to Miami(OH), so the weekend won’t be as perfect as previously suggested, but the men’s hoops team beating Ohio was pretty awesome and we have dessert yet to come.

I mentioned at AZZ.com, but can’t believe I missed it here, but Bowling Green’s eighth bowl appearance comes on what would have been Doyt Perry’s 98th birthday. Happy birthday Coach, and if you can find some time to help out your beloved Orange and Brown, it would be much appreciated!

GO BG!

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Remember a couple months (and about four posts) ago when we had a near-perfect weekend for BG athletics? Well, we’re 1/5 of the way through another that would make the first one look like an early season win over Urbana.

Last night, the hockey team dominated (then held on. Whew!) #1 Miami(OH) at the BG Ice Arena. They go back at it tonight, and while BG can probably expect to see a completely different (and desperate) team coming at them, a win to sweep the RedskinHawks might just seal the best weekend in Falcon hockey in 15 or more years. (The last win over a #1 team was 1993, I can’t imagine the last time they swept #1 over a weekend.)

But wait, there’s more. The women’s hoops team is currently up 17 on Chicago State (after seeing a 24-point lead dwindle before halftime) in an appetizer before the real fun begins. Or so we hope. The men open MAC play against Ohio at 4pm, and a win over a strong Bobcats team would be incredible. By all accounts, the guys were a bushel basket of turnovers away from being even more in a game against a tough Duquesne than they already were (they fought back to within four or five before losing it down the stretch, and watching the margin expand with free throws). Not saying they can click their heels and make turnovers go away, but if they can limit them, they might have a shot to beat OU, and send a throng of cocky Bobcat fans home with their tails between their legs.

Of course, after the second half of the hockey series Saturday night, the day we’ve been waiting for since we started turning things around in November has arrived. BG vs. Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl. The more I think about how strong Tulsa’s offense is, the more I think about how our defense stepped up against Toledo and shut down a Rocket offense that had been clicking through November.

And how.

Even though BG didn’t play for a MAC Championship, they were clearly one of the best teams (and CMU got awfully wishy-washy after locking up the MAC West) in the conference during the last four weeks, and make a damn fine bowl representative. Some grade/discipline-related issues thin the ranks a little in some key spots, but if we’ve learned anything with this team, it’s to never count them out.

A liveblog from afar might not be out of the question. GO BG!

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A little tidbit of information to restart the heart of AZZBlog, as we gear up for a Sunday night battle with Tulsa at the GMAC Bowl…

I was updating the football results database, and found out that back on November 9 at Eastern Michigan, Anthony Turner’s second quarter four-yard TD run put BG over the 17,000 point mark in their history. Pretty fitting for that to come on the legs of #17, don’t ya think?

Also, BG is obviously playing its first January game in school history Sunday, and a win over the Golden Hurricane would mean a winning record for every month in which the Falcons have played a game. That fact will be tested in the season opener at Pittsburgh in late August, as the Falcons are 4-3 in that month.

And since we all love to beat Toledo (and that was, after all, the last game we played)… the 37 points scored by BG in the game is the first time in series history they’ve scored exactly 37 points against the Rockets. Also, Jermiah Kelley’s ducking and dodging 52-yard touchdown put BG over the 1,400 point mark all-time against their rivals.

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BEAT TOLEDO!

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Poor, poor Ryne Hamblet.

If only the lone senior on the BG men’s hoops team could have gotten his 3-ball to fall, BG could have wrapped up one of the busiest days in their athletic history with perfect results. Of course, it’s silly to blame Hamblet completely, and the three would have only forced overtime — with no guarantees — but it would have been fun. Number 21’s 11 points and seven assists cushions the blow a little, but getting Coach Orr a win in his debut would have worked in nicely with the rest of the day.

To recap:

Earlier in the afternoon, the women’s soccer team beat top-seeded Ball State, 3-0 in penalty kicks, to advance to the MAC Championship against Toledo, who they beat a little more than a week ago with two late goals. Momentum, check. Confidence, check. BEAT TOLEDO!

(And for reference, here’s how I know I’ve got BG in my blood… when I saw that they play the championship Sunday at 1 p.m. in Muncie, I quickly did the math to see if I could make it to the game and back in time for work. If gas weren’t $3.18 a gallon right now among a few other minor details, I’d probably make the drive.)

The unfortunate men’s loss to Western Carolina evened BG’s record up for the day, but it seems there are some good things and some of the same old eye-rollers with this team. Hopefully as they work in Coach Orr’s system, they’ll start clicking and do some damage in the MAC. After all, they don’t really have to know what they’re doing until they get to Cleveland, right? Hats off to Chris Knight, who threw up a double-double in his return home to Cincinnati, and to Otis Polk for his three blocks, double-digit points, and not picking up his third and fourth fouls until late in the game.

Also, if you thought the new brown unis looked sharp in the team picture, they look even better in action.

Next up, the women’s basketball team collected some jewelry for another MAC title last season (apparently with a surprise visit from Ali Mann, jetting in from Luxembourg to pick up her ring), and dropping a banner commemorating the Sweet 16 appearance, the current version of the Falcons did little to disappoint. Lauren Prochaska showed off her scoring touch and Lindsey Goldsberry did a little bit of everything as BG rolled to an 81-56 win over Valparaiso. Who knows what kind of team Valparaiso may have this year, or what kind of adrenaline rush the Falcons may have gotten from the home opener along with the other festivities, but if this is the “more of the same” that it appears to be, this season could be ridiculous.

(And, even though peeking ahead to next year with one game gone in this season might be a bit pretentious, the only two seniors on the team, Achter and Taylor, combined for 11 points. That collective shudder you just felt was the rest of the MAC.)

Staying with the ladies, the Falcon volleyball team is winding down it’s regular season, sweeping Buffalo for the second time this season, putting the tough loss to Ohio U. this past Sunday behind them for the moment, and heading to Akron to wrap up the season this weekend.

On the ice, the BG hockey team doubled up Ferris State 6-3 behind FOUR powerplay goals, two by James Perkin, and freshman Nick Eno moved to 3-0 on the season/his career (Shhh! Them hockey types are the superstitious sort!). The Falcons have now scored nine powerplay goals in six games, after scoring a total of 23 all of last year.

Finally, there’s the football team. This post probably doesn’t do any of tonight’s game justice, either from the “pro” side or the “con” side, but in the end, it was good to see BG come together and pull out a win in a game they probably didn’t deserve to win. Mental errors and more poor tackling put their backs against the wall, but Tyler Sheehan and the offense pulled out of it, putting together a late touchdown drive to beat Eastern Michigan 39-32.

And from the “How In The Hell Did That Happen Department”… the winning touchdown drive covered 61 yards in seven plays, and even though Anthony Turner had rushed for 49 yards and two scores in the game from the “Slash” role he’s excelled at in recent weeks, he didn’t touch the ball once on the drive. Instead, Chris Bullock, who hadn’t touched the ball until that point, ran for 49 yards on the drive, Sheehan ran for the other 12 and the score (he led the Falcons with 65 yards on the ground, too, though he only scored as many touchdowns as offensive lineman Shane Steffy on the night). None of the plays on the drive were passes.

Oh, and Sinisa Vrvilo hit a 41-yarder in what was reported to be kinda windy conditions. MORE FREE DINNER!

In a rather long-winded nutshell, that was the day in Falcon athletics. 5-1 on the day, the men’s team has a shot at redemption Saturday night against Belmont (who looks like they know how to score some points, putting up 86 on tourney host Cincinnati). Hockey’s back at it, looking for their second sweep in as many weeks, volleyball wraps things up at Akron, and we all get to look toward Sunday when that women’s soccer team tries to BEAT TOLEDO!

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With 203 yards rushing Saturday at Kent State, Willie Geter became the tenth BG Falcon to rush for 200 or more yards in a game. Darryl Story holds the record with 225 against Ball State on November 5, 1983, and P.J. Pope was the last when he ran for 205 (on 12 carries) against Western Michigan in 2003.

Since the original goal of BGSUsports.com was/is to bring the history of BGSU athletics to the forefront, here’s the list, chronologically, of the ten 200-yard rushing games since records started being kept in 1941. (According to the BG Media Guide.)

11/17/51 - Fred Durig - 29 carries, 206 yards in a 20-6 win at Bradley
10/28/72 - Paul Miles - 27 carries, 217 yards in a 46-7 win over Marshall
9/27/75 - Dan Saleet - 32 carries, 202 yards in a 21-14 win at Dayton
11/12/77 - Dave Windatt - 28 carries, 200 yards in a 39-27 win at Ohio
10/31/81 - Bryant Jones - 46 carries, 212 yards in a 13-7 win over Kent
11/13/82 - Chip Otten - 32 carries, 205 yards in a 24-7 win over Eastern Michigan
11/5/83 - Darryl Story - 37 carries, 225 yards in a 45-30 win over Ball State
10/24/98 - Steve Holmes - 27 carries, 220 yards in a 42-21 win over Kent
11/6/04 - P.J. Pope - 12 carries, 205 yards in a 52-0 win over Western Michigan
10/20/07 - Willie Geter - 22 carries, 203 yards in a 31-20 win over Kent

With three of the performances now coming against Kent, maybe we should have seen this one coming? (Like the school record for interceptions in a game by a single player, 3, has been achieved three times against Kent State.)

Interesting notes from the “200 Yard Club”:
-Career rushing leader Dave Preston never achieved the feat, coming closest with a 194 yard effort against Marshall on 10/26/74.
-Darryl Story rushed for 100-plus yards in three games over five weeks in 1983, including the record-setting day against Ball State, but only ran for 282 yards the rest of the season and failed to reach 1,000 yards rushing for his career.
-Chip Otten and Steve Holmes join Story with a 200-yard rushing game while not being members of the 1,000 yard club.
-Holmes’ effort in 1998 was the only time he rushed for over 100 yards in a game.

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And I’m back. It’s the stretch drive, and things feel a lot better than they did a week (and a day) ago at this time.

To recap… I get married on the 21st, finally catch the Temple game (impressive win, the defense puts it away) on DVR about six hours after it happened. I leave the country with warm, fuzzy Falcon feelings, a win at Big 10 Minnesota (who, despite a 3OT battle with Miami(OH), hadn’t quite been exposed for the JV team that they apparently are), a solid three quarters at Bigger 10 Michigan State and the home revenge win over Temple. The orange and brown side of life is good.

Fast forward eight days, a horrible sunburn and a pseudo-continent away… we’re rolling into Indianapolis International Airport around 11 pm on a Sunday, I know that the Browns won, but no BG score in sight. Call my dad and he gives me the news of a 41-21 win, only to find later that it was a much wider margin most of the way, over Western Kentucky. Things are still happy.

Then there’s a trip to Boston. Not by me, and I’m not sure how many Falcons made the trip. Not a bad start by any means (offensively, at least, as the “big play bug” bit hard on the first defensive series), it was certainly a game right until the wheels flew off. Obviously, what followed for the next six-and-a-half quarters is not for weak stomachs. A big loss at BC was tough to take, but they look like they could be for real. Fair enough. Miami(OH)? Not so real. But they’ve got a side of the woodshed in Oxford I don’t want to see again.

Everytime I peeked in on the radio stream, something bad was happening. Probably more law of probability than bad timing, because there was A LOT of bad. Tons. We’re talking Amstutz levels here.

So, BG comes to a crossroads at Kent State that they saw the year before. As close to a “must win” as you can have in October, not just for title hopes, but for the fate of the season.

And talk about your “flying colors”! I’ll admit, I only listened to the broadcast, and there are some areas that still need work, but that, my friends, was BG football. From 2001 to 2004, this team won games by throwing their junk on the table and making the other team stop ‘em. Greg Brandon coached like his balls were on fire, and the only water was the back of the endzone. All the stuff that returned the glory to BG football after the Blackney years resurfaced in one afternoon, and it felt (feels, actually) fantastic.

Fake field goals, onside kicks, throwbacks and more all over the damn field. Brandon and the Falcons didn’t miss a beat (aside, perhaps from the sudden disappearance of the Tyler Sheehan we fell in love with through four games…some claim a shoulder injury, others blame Boston College-related shell-shock), and the defense, which got shredded like a sponge on a cheese grater at Miami(OH) bent but didn’t break, stopping more than a couple Kent State drives in the red zone.

The best line of all from the game notes (okay, so Willie Geter’s 203 yards was a nice line, too) had to be the fact that BG now has three players with receiving, rushing and passing touchdowns in their career (Barnes, Sheehan, Turner), and no school in D-1A has more than ONE player with that feat. Those kinds of tidbits used to pop up all the time when BG was winning at the outset of this decade, and I’m damn glad to see them return.

Bring this effort again this Saturday, and Ohio won’t know what hit ‘em.

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