After almost a month on the road, the end of this trip is in sight for BGSU Football.
Currently sitting at a split on the trip, a win this week could prove monumental for Bowling Green (2-4, 0-2 MAC), as it would give them a 2-1 record on their road trip, and it would also be their first conference win this season.
The last leg takes place out east in Buffalo, New York against a Buffalo Bulls team that will force the Falcons to channel their inner matador.
“This’ll be a challenge on the road, they’re a good football team, well coached, good scheme. Very similar to us, you watch them, they played fantastic football last week, but I’ve watched them play poor football too,” head coach Scot Loeffler said. “They’re fighting the inconsistent battle just like we are, but they’re well-coached, they’re a good team, but we need to show up and if we do what we are capable of doing, we’ll be just fine.”
After going 0-4 in their out-of-conference schedule, Buffalo (2-4, 2-0 MAC) has knocked out two wins in a row since Mid-American Conference play started two weeks ago. The Bulls grinded out a 13-10 overtime road victory in Akron and followed that up with a dominating 37-13 victory against Central Michigan.
“We’re in the thick of things, we’re in the middle of it. Just like the other Mid-American Conference teams in trying to find ways to continue to improve, continue to get better, continue to make certain things true about our program and our identity and who we want to be from an on-the-field standpoint,” Buffalo Head Coach Maurice Linguist said on Tuesday. “We certainly have a really good Bowling Green team coming in this Saturday, this is the same team that just knocked off Georgia Tech, same Georgia Tech team that just beat Miami (FL), and they’re very capable and able. Coach Scot Loeffler does a phenomenal job with his guys, they have long, athletic players, an experienced quarterback that’s made a ton of plays, and they’re leaning on him pretty heavy. Defensively, I think they’re playing really well in their back seven, I think they’re eliminating big plays. I know they’re scratching; they’re clawing just like we are.”
Bowling Green has a 1-1 record in that same span: knocking off Georgia Tech 38-27 in Atlanta, then getting blanked 27-0 down in the Ohio Valley at the hands of the Miami RedHawks.
Linguist is in his third season at the helm of the Bulls, and he’s 7-3 in the month of October.
Looking at Buffalo, their offense is stronger than their defense. Neither unit is statistically elite – but neither is to be slept on.
Reigning MAC Defensive Player of the Week and Pro Football Writers of America DPOW winner Devin Grant spearheads the defensive unit.
Grant is coming off a week in which he had three interceptions. He returned two of those back for touchdowns, and he could be licking his chops against a Bowling Green quarterback room that has thrown a combined 10 interceptions this season.
“We could talk for an hour about the ball and about the emphasis we put on the ball, about the ball is the program, about how much we practice, and we preach it, we emphasize it, we drill it, we highlight it, we publicly praise those that get the ball,” Linguist said. “We do everything we can to fully be a dominant ball team. Players have to do it and they’re doing what I’ve seen them do in practice for a good amount of time in terms of really having a ball mindset.”
The defense ranks eighth in the conference in scoring defense, allowing 33.5 points/game. They rank last in the conference in total yards per game, allowing opponents to average over 440 yards.
They struggle defending both the run and the pass, but they’re slightly worse against the ground game. They let up 192.5 rush yards/game, which ranks second-to-last in the MAC. The pass defense is third-to-last, allowing 251.2 air yards/game.
Buffalo might, however, be without one of their best defensive players, and one of the best defensive players in the MAC.
Linebacker Shaun Dolac missed last week’s game against Central Michigan with a lower-body injury, and his status is in the air for Saturday.
“We’re going to find out, we’re going to take it a week at a time and see what he looks like. A lot of scooters are about not having weight on a leg, so it can heal as quickly as possible. So, we’ll see what he looks like when we get closer to Saturday,” Linguist said, declining to talk on the extent of the injury.
In his place, two underclassmen have stepped up big time: true freshman Dion Crawford and redshirt freshman Khalil “Red” Murdock.
“Everything starts with ownership. You guys are up, ‘What’s the vision?’ ‘What’s this thing going to look like with you guys?’ Getting them to take ownership in their job responsibilities. We’ve spent a lot of time with them off the field, it’s so much more than just, ‘Hey, we’re going to get you in practice and run some plays,” Linguist said. “There’s a real deep commitment that has to go into going out there and playing 40 plays, 50 plays really well on Saturday. So much credit to those players because of the ownership they’ve taken. They’re tremendous young people, tremendous young players, but they’re putting in the work.”
The offense ranks middle of the pack in the conference, despite having one of the MAC’s best players.
Quarterback Cole Snyder leads the charge for the Bulls’ offense. The senior field general leads the MAC in passing yards (1,307) and is second in passing touchdowns (11). Don’t expect him to run unless he has to – this season Snyder has 41 carries for 41 yards.
He’s led the Bulls passing offense to the second best in the conference by yards and carries the offense – Buffalo has nearly two times more passing yards than they do rushing yards.
“We want to pride ourselves in being as balanced as we can in terms of can we move the ball in multiple ways, can we score the ball multiple ways. We have very capable running backs, Ron Cook does a phenomenal job, Mike Washington is very good, [Jacquez] Barksdale is getting in there. I like our core of receivers, DJ Harding is a good player, Marlyn Johnson is a good player, we have guys that we feel like are capable,” Linguist said. “Sometimes, just through the swing and the course of the game, some teams might be giving you something that opens up, you’ve got to take what people are giving you at times. We’re certainly not a team that’s going to rush the ball 60 times in a game or throw the ball 60 times in a game. We believe in balance and playing complimentary football. We know that to continue to be successful through the months of October and November, we’re going to have to run the ball.”
Their specialty is special teams.
Led by one of the best kickers in the conference and the reigning MAC Special Teams Player of the Year, Alex McNulty. Buffalo is 7-for-11 on field goals and a perfect 18-for-18 on extra points. He’s fifth in the conference with 39 points scored this season.
Bowling Green is looking to avenge last year’s 38-7 loss at the Doyt, but the last time the Falcons played at UB Stadium, they hung 50 on Buffalo and left with a double-digit victory.
Terion Stewart ran wild that day, hitting 170 yards on just 11 carries, scoring twice. However, he’s the only key offensive player from that game that remains on the team.
Tyrone Broden (4 catches, 110 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Christian Sims (5/103/2) led the team in receiving that day. Broden now plays for the Arkansas Razorbacks and Sims was last with the Los Angeles Rams this past August.
The quarterback that day was Matt McDonald, who competed 13 of 19 passes for 263 yards and four touchdowns.
With almost an entirely different core, the Falcons look to repeat the success of two years ago and not what happened last year.
Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. on October 14.
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