Last season, it was common to see BG quarterbacks Andy Sahm and Josh Harris buried under a swarm of opponent’s bodies. The Falcons offensive line gave up a league leading 53 sacks for a total of 320 yards. Times do change for the two quarterbacks.
Against the Tigers, the offensive line protected their offensive leaders. The O-line was flawless, leaving Missouri without a sack. The only other MAC team to go without giving up a sack was Central Michigan in their season debut against Eastern Kentucky.
Kicking bombs
BG punter [Rat-ti-tat] Pat Fleming has made it his personal goal to be the best punter in the MAC. After a strong showing against Missouri, the red-shirt junior is on his way to obtaining his goal. The Ottawa, Canada native’s seven punts combined for 302 yards. His 43.1 yards per punt average is second best in the MAC through game one. Reggie Hodges of ball state leads the league averaging 45.7 yards per kick.
Revenge ready
Think starting Falcon safety Chad Long is counting the hours until BG’s saturday matchup with Buffalo? Long, who played in last season’s embarrassing 20-17 loss on the road against the Bulls has revenge on his mind.
“I’m really looking forward to playing Buffalo,” Long said. “We owe them a big favor because I think that game last year kind of cost our head coach’s job. I’m going to take this game personally.”
Bumps and bruises
His team nickname is ghost. Ironically senior runningback Godfrey Lewis shared the same characteristics as a ghost during the Missouri game he was nowhere to be found on the game field. Lewis is still healing from a knee injury he suffered during a preseason practice.
BG coach Urban Meyer said that the Falcons active career leading rusher is close to full recovery and could be back in the lineup for the Buffalo game. Meyer said that starting tight end D’Monn Baker wasn’t at 100 percent last week, but should be at full strength for Saturday’s game. Another tight end, sophomore Jason Van Dam is not as fortunate. Van Dam, who suffered a concussion during a preseason practice, will likely have to sit out the Buffalo game.
Making the grade
Urban Meyer is handing out grades for his team. After the Missouri game, he gave a grade to each one of his players based on their performance. During a Tuesday press conference, the question was posed to Meyer on what grade he gave himself.
“Oh boy … I don’t know,” Meyer said. “There were a couple of things I would do differently, some game-management things that I’ve got to keep control of. I thought the communication was good between the coordinators and myself. I think when you develop trust in your coaches, I’m finding out that you can spend a lot of time on things that need to be done. If I didn’t trust Gregg Brandon, then all my time would be spent with the offense. If I didn’t trust Tim Beckman, then all my time would be spent with defense. And I really trust them. I really like their work ethic and believe they’re very knowledgeable of the game. We’ve got a fine coaching staff.”
Then one reporter asked Meyer, “So, would you give them an A?”
“I’d probably give them a good, solid B,” Meyer answered. “There are no A’s handed out yet.”
