Struggling to a 1-4 record, the Falcon football team hasn’t drawn the most positive of headlines this season.
But after dropping their Mid-American Conference opener to Ohio Saturday, the team still has seven more conference games to make good on their preseason goal of playing for the MAC championship.
The next chance to make a dent in the standings comes this weekend at Kent State, but the process began yesterday at the team’s first practice of the week.
‘We will see what kind of team we have by how we practice and how we come out against Kent,’ said senior quarterback Tyler Sheehan after the Ohio game.
From a statistical standpoint, the Falcons are a team allowing 390 yards of offense and more than 30 points per game, both stats ranking in the bottom half of the MAC. From a mental standpoint, they are a team looking ahead and remembering their preseason goal of bringing BG its first MAC title since 1992.
But it’s more than just being focused on a goal that gets a team to it. They have to execute plays successfully, the Achilles’ heel of the Falcons during the past few games.
‘We need to make more plays, myself included,’ said Sheehan, who had a career-high 390 passing yards against Ohio.
Specifically, the defense has been giving up too many big plays, conceding five plays of more than 35 yards and a 72-yard punt return to Ohio and a 71-yard touchdown to Boise State two weeks ago.
With nine first-year starters on defense, senior captain Jahmal Brown has been busy making sure the younger players don’t get too down on themselves, even if they make a mistake or two.
‘You just have to tell them to keep their head up,’ Brown said. ‘It’s natural for somebody to give up a big play and want to put their head down. But as a senior leader and a captain, I have to make sure to go over to them and tell them it’s a long season.’
Brown said that positive reinforcement has been a success, both during games and over the course of the season.
‘In the game, a few guys gave up big plays and they came back and prohibited big plays from happening later on,’ Brown said. ‘I think there’s a pretty positive reaction to the approach we’re taking.’
While the players are encouraging each other, coach Dave Clawson has the task of righting the ship before it’s too late.
His philosophy to do so is a simple one.
‘It’s a one-game season for us,’ Clawson said yesterday during the MAC teleconference. ‘The Ohio game was extremely important, this game is very important and the next game will be important.’
The players share the same mindset, knowing for a MAC championship to happen, they will probably need to win all seven remaining games.
‘We know the season’s not over,’ Sheehan said. ‘Being 1-4 in the MAC pretty much ensures that we have to at least win the rest of our games probably. That’s possible and I think we have the team mindset that that’s possible.’
It will be a tough road if that is to happen, as BG is scheduled to face Central Michigan (4-1) and Toledo (3-2) at home, while also having to travel to Buffalo on a Tuesday and Miami on a Thursday in November.
But so long as the players continue to encourage each other after they make a miss an assignment or allow a big play, Sheehan believes the season may pan out better than it has thus far.
‘If we get down on each other and we don’t support each other, then those plays aren’t going to be made and our season’s not going to turn out like we want it,’ Sheehan said.’
