Bowling Green Football is eager to get their first win of the season, and they’ll look to do so this Saturday as they welcome the Eastern Illinois Panthers to the Doyt.
The Panthers are coming off a big win versus Indiana State in which they won 27-0, picking off the Sycamore offense four times.
That’s a problem the Falcon offense had last weekend when they threw a combined five interceptions between the two quarterbacks.
However, head coach Scot Loeffler’s approach will continue to be about his team and not the opponent.
“Our approach last week wasn’t about our opponent, it was about us and it’s the same thing this week. It doesn’t matter who you play. In college football, you never know who you’re playing anymore,” said Loeffler at Monday’s press conference. “You could walk into a circumstance where you’re playing 10 new dudes who have gelled over the last nine months and the next thing you know you’re playing a heck of a defense or a heck of an offense. So it’s about us and we need to clean up our mistakes”
Sophomore inside linebacker Joseph Sipp Jr. echoed the sentiments of Loeffler.
“We just focus on ourselves right now. We’re not too worried about the opponent right now. We just came off a loss so focusing on ourselves getting the mental errors right and focusing on the little things and we’ll be ready to go,” said Sipp.
Loeffler’s comments about the mentality being about his team are right on; The run game last week was electric, running the ball for 191 yards and that figures to be a big part of the game plan this week.
“It was one of our better efforts in running the ball. I’m very encouraged by that. I think we can finally have a team that can run the ball,” said Loeffler.
A big part of last week’s run game success was due to blocking, and senior wide receiver Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim was a big part of the blocking.
“I just see it as me doing my job; Tight ends block for me, running backs block for me and it wouldn’t be right for me if I don’t block for them as well. So it’s just part of me doing my job,” said Ibrahim.
Loeffler had big praise to say about Ibrahim being an old-school wide receiver.
“Don’t watch his catches, don’t watch his route running, go watch him block,” said Loeffler. “He is a savage and I mean a savage on the perimeter. He is an old-school wide receiver. And he is tough as nails”
But through all of that, what Loeffler is eager to see are the fans, and how his players will feed off the student section and fans.
“The one thing that I loved was last year when we played Marshall. That was an unbelievable atmosphere. It’s amazing how much our kids enjoy having people in the stands and it’s an advantage. Let’s get everyone out and we’re gonna play winning football this year”
Kick-off between the Falcons and Panthers is at 2 p.m.
For more information about the team, follow Falcon Media Sports Network on X (@bg_fmsn).
