Bowling Green football coach Urban Meyer has answered an endless list of questions since coming to the University in December. Saturday he will get to take a breath and finally let his players do the talking.
The Meyer regime will officially be christened tomorrow in the 2001 opener on the road against Missouri. In front of an expected 68,000 people, the Falcons will unveil their new look-offense and an even stronger defense, which was fourth in the MAC last year.
The odds are still against the Falcons. As of Thursday, Missouri was considered the favorite with a 15-point spread. Meyer is less concerned about the point spread and more concerned with his players showing the solid fundamentals the coaching staff has taught throughout the spring.
“I’m concerned with getting our guys ready,” Meyer said. “We have not set our season around beating Missouri. What we’ve set our season around is playing extremely hard, learning the offense, playing team defense, taking care of the football and playing good special teams.”
On the opposing sidelines, Gary Pinkel begins his first season as head coach of Missouri. Like Meyer, Pinkel will also be taking a breath as he shows off his multiple offense and 4-4 defense.
Ironically, it was Pinkel’s game plan that crushed the Falcons 51-17 on the last game of the 2000 season. Only Pinkel was head coach of BG’s arch rival, the Toledo Rockets. Pinkel is 5-5 all-time against the Falcons and has a lot of respect for a team he is very familiar with.
“Anytime you play a team with a new staff you are very concerned offensively and defensively from a preparation standpoint, because we’re not sure what we’re going to see,” Pinkel said. “Playing Bowling Green over the years, I have a lot of respect for them. I always have, I always will. In this business if you don’t respect your opponent, you’re stupid. We’ve got a lot to prove here at Missouri.”
The Tigers are returning from a 3-8 campaign. They lost eight starters overall, including Justin Smith, NFL First Round Draft Pick. Despite the loss of a giant like Smith, Missouri does return some key players from last year’s squad.
The Falcon secondary will have to be especially weary of MU’s offensive most valuable player, Justin Gage. The junior wide receiver had 44 receptions last season for 709 yards. It was the first time the 6-foot 4-inch playmaker had ever played the wide receiver position. The rest of the receiver corps for Missouri lacks experience with four sophomores and four freshman.
Junior quarterback Darius Outlaw will return to lead the Tiger’s offensive attack. Outlaw passed for 1391 yards last season, throwing 9 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
“On offense, they are just huge,” Meyer said. “They’ve got an athletic quarterback like Toledo ran last year, so I think you could fire up the Toledo tape from last year, you’re going to see what you’ll see the team from Columbia, Mo. run.”
Meyer said defensively he is concerned with their free safety Clarence Jones and inside linebackers Sean Doyle and Jamonte Robinson.
“They’re not very big, but they’re fast,” Meyer said. “And from everything I’ve read and seen, they are quality guys.”
BG will be without two of their offensive weapons for the game. Senior runningback Godfrey Lewis is recovering from a knee injury and will be out another two weeks. Suffering from a concussion is sophomore tight end Jason Van Dam.
While a win at Columbia could be considered one of the best wins for the program in recent history, the Falcons have done it before. In 1995, BG traveled to Missouri and shocked the Tigers with a 17-10 victory over the Big 12 school. Missouri returned the favor in 1998 with a 37-0 stomping of the Falcons at Memorial Stadium.
