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March 28, 2024

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Battle in Boise

The Falcon football team’s season isn’t over yet, as BG has accepted an at-large invitation to play in this year’s Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl.

BG will face the University of Idaho (7-5) on Dec. 30 in Boise, Idaho, and were invited to the game because the Mountain West Conference did not have enough bowl eligible teams to fill their tie-in with the game.

In coach Dave Clawson’s first year at the helm, the Falcons finished 7-5, despite a slow start that left the team at 1-4 through the first five games.

‘We’re very, very excited about the way we ended our football season,’ Clawson said last Thursday. ‘We’re really excited how our football team performed this year, especially after getting off to a 1-4 start.’

Athletic Director Greg Christopher was excited that the regular season ended with him being able to accept a bowl invitation.

‘We are excited to accept the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl invitation and look forward to the trip to Boise,’ he said in a press release. ‘I am most excited for Dave, our coaches and players. The bowl game is a great reward for the commitment our players and coaching staff put into this season.

‘Our fans will have fun turning Boise into ‘Bowling Green West’ and I’m sure we’ll paint the town orange and brown in late December.’

Idaho has a balanced offense led by junior quarterback Nathan Enderle, senior receiver Max Komar and two running backs; senior DeMaundray Woolridge and sophomore Princeton McCarty.

The Vandals’ passing attack is No. 11 among Division I programs (290.6 yards per game). Enderle started 10 games this season, passing for 2,666 yards and 16 touchdowns. Komar has been on the receiving end of 1,036 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Woolridge and McCarty combined for 258 carries for 1,478 yards and 19 touchdowns.

Those runners are helped by AFCA All-American guard Mike Iupati. The senior played 807 snaps this season without letting a defender get around him to make a sack in helping the team score 31.8 points per game.

Idaho finished the season with three straight losses, including a hard-fought 52-49 loss to Utah State to close out the regular season on Nov. 28 to finish fourth in the Western Athletic Conference. BG, on the other hand, closed out the season winning six of seven.

Defensively, the Vandals are led by junior safety Shiloh Keo with 109 tackles, three interceptions and a forced fumble.

But despite Keo’s play, the Idaho defense as a whole has struggled this season, allowing 35.5 points per game. The Vandals allowed more than 50 points three times, including 70 to Nevada.

Many projections had the Falcons traveling to Washington D.C. for the EagleBank Bowl for a rematch against Marshall – which beat BG 17-10 the third week of the season.

However, Temple earned the bid to that game and will play either UCLA or Army. Army will replace UCLA if they beat Navy on Dec. 12 during their final regular season game.

Because there was a strong possibility of a BG-Marshall matchup, Clawson said on Thursday, he didn’t expect his team to be selected for the game.

‘I think the bowls really try to avoid rematches,’ Clawson said. ‘If it turns out to be Boise, we know there’s not a rematch.’

That also helped sort out which bowls BG and NIU were invited to because Idaho already played the Huskies this season, beating them 34-31. The only common opponent between BG and Idaho was No. 6 Boise State, with the Falcons losing 56-14 and Idaho falling 63-25.

For the Falcons, their flashy offensive attack led by the senior quarterback-receiver combo of Tyler Sheehan and Freddie Barnes made them an attractive at-large team, but it was improved play from the defense at the end of the season that allowed them to get to this point.

‘That’s one of the reasons I’m proud of our football team, is we did not have a lot of guys back [on defense],’ Clawson said. ‘Arguably our best defensive lineman [Michael Ream], we threw off the team. Maybe our best defensive player [P.J. Mahone] didn’t play half the season, and this is a team that still fought and found a way to win seven games, go 6-2 in the conference and get to a bowl.’

Sheehan and Barnes are just two of the 20 seniors on the team, and Clawson said in a press release that giving his seniors another chance to play is the most exciting part of earning a bowl bid.

‘We’re excited and honored to have the opportunity to play in the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl,’ Clawson said. ‘I think it is a great reward for our football team and we are looking forward to continuing our season. This is a special way for our seniors to finish their careers. We anticipate a great game with the University of Idaho.’

Four other Mid-American Conference schools are playing in bowl games (see fact box above), marking the second straight season that five MAC teams made the postseason.

The Falcons were bowl eligible last season at 6-6 but were not invited to a game, as 6-6 NIU earned an at-large bid instead while BG handled the firing of then-coach Gregg Brandon.’

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