There has been a common theme coming out of the football team since Omar Jacobs went down in the first quarter of Bowling Green’s devastating 45-14 defeat to Western Michigan.
It’s a one game season.
That’s not a good sign for a team that has been a work in progress all season – whether it be the running game, special teams, secondary or run defense.
Pieces seem to come together from game to game, but rarely is everything clicking on all cylinders.
There is no more margin for error. No room to work on things next week. It is now or never for the Falcons.
BG coach Gregg Brandon has talked many times after games this season about areas that need to be improved before the next game.
We have to shore that up, he says.
We definitely need to work on that, he says.
But after every acknowledgment of a team weakness there was one thing that was constant – an assurance that it would get done.
Well it all better be done before the Falcons step onto the field on Saturday against Akron.
If there is anything to work on afterward it may be too late.
Luckily for the Falcons, they play in a weak MAC East division and have only one challenger for the top spot – the similarly inconsistent Miami RedHawks.
They currently have a one game lead over the RedHawks and face the Akron Zips and the Kent State Golden Flashes.
Both games are winnable with either Anthony Turner or Omar Jacobs at quarterback.
But here is the rub – both games are loseable with either Turner or Jacobs at quarterback.
Although all of the anxiety has been centered on who is under center for Saturday’s game, it might be an afterthought if the other elements of the team don’t finally come together and step up.
They need to stop the run, they need to contain the receivers, they need to pin the other team deep in their own territory with solid punts and tackles on special teams.
It is a tall order to be sure, but the Falcons have always had enough talent to succeed. They just haven’t come together like they’ve been expected to.
Jacobs is a great football player, perhaps the best in the MAC, but there are a lot of players on the field that don’t have the number four on their jerseys and this is their time to step up.
If the Falcons don’t, then it might not have been the injury to Omar that prevented them from becoming MAC Champions, it might just be the thing that exposed the team as fool’s gold.
It’s a one game season, they say.
Here’s hoping the Falcons play like it.
