The Falcons will be down a receiver when they face No. 25 Missouri this weekend as senior Tyrone Pronty will miss the next four to six weeks with a broken right foot.
He becomes the third wide receiver to be injured since the start of fall camp, joining junior Derek Brighton and senior Calvin Wiley on the sidelines.
Pronty started last Thursday against Troy and caught six passes for 30 yards in BG’s 31-14 win but had been experiencing back spasms before and practiced sparingly.
Because of that, the transition to a new starter shouldn’t be that painful of a process. As of now, senior Ray Hutson is penciled in as the next starter, but there are plenty of other options capable of filling in.
‘We hate losing Tyrone because he’s a good player, a good person and one of our senior leaders, but the well’s not dry,’ said coach Dave Clawson. ‘There are other guys that can make plays for us, and they’re going to have their opportunity.’
Top target Freddie Barnes – who led the receiving corps with 15 receptions for 157 yards against Troy – said that as a captain, he is expecting players to step up.
‘It hurts us but at the same time, we have guys here that are ready to step up and make plays for the team,’ Barnes said. ‘Everybody that hasn’t had the opportunity to play have been stepping up in practice.’
Two of those options include senior Chris Wright and sophomore Adrian Hodges who had a combined four receptions for 42 yards against Troy.
And the guy throwing the ball around the field, senior quarterback Tyler Sheehan, is also confident the team won’t miss a beat.
‘We’re going to have to have some other guys step up a little more,’ Sheehan said. ‘I think we have the capability of doing that.’
Quarterbacking Going into the Troy game last week, one of the biggest areas of concern was whether or not the Falcon offensive line could contain the Trojans’ defensive ends and keep Sheehan on his feet.
But by mixing up Sheehan’s launch point on passes, Clawson did his part in helping Sheehan avoid the pressure, something Clawson will continue to do all season long. ‘If you’re going to throw the ball a lot, which we are, you can’t sit in the same spot and throw 40 times a game,’ Clawson said.
To mix it up, Sheehan will be utilizing three, five and seven step drop-backs while the coordinators will order play action and keep blockers in the back field on some plays. All will be a must this weekend as Clawson expects Missouri to rush the passer with regularity.
Ground game Sheehan was on such a roll against Troy that he ended up with more completions than the team had rushing attempts (32 to 28) and gained 289 more yards through the air than the team did on the ground (339 to 50).
But with Barnes’ breakout game, Clawson said no one on the team should be happier than the running backs and other receivers because the Tigers will likely put more coverage on Barnes, forcing them to become the playmakers.
‘We know we’re going to have to show that we can run the ball effectively in order to have the matchups that we want to get in the perimeter,’ Clawson said.
New sight A new flag is flying by the south end zone of Doyt Perry Stadium signifying a Falcon win. The idea for the flag – which was brought forth by Athletic Director Greg Christopher – is to give players a reminder of their success as it will only be flown the week after a Falcon victory.
‘I like looking at it,’ Clawson said with a smile. ‘We’d like to keep it up as long as we can.’ Coaching connection
Missouri coach Gary Pinkel is very familiar with the Mid-American Conference. Pinkel began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Kent State from 1974-1975 after playing tight end for the Flashes from 1970-1973. He returned to the league from 1977-1978 when he served as receivers coach for the Falcons.
After leaving for a long stint with Washington, Pinkel served as Toledo’s head coach from 1991-2000, winning the MAC title in 1995.
