Bowling Green football is back in action as they are gearing up to start midweek MACtion this upcoming Wednesday.

With a bye week in session right now, Scot Loeffler and his team have to get used to the difference between waking up on a Saturday and playing football and waking up on a Wednesday and playing football.

For Loeffler, he wants to challenge his team these next four weeks to play their best football all year.

“We’re hoping to have four really good weeks, and we’ve got some challenges ahead of us. This first challenge in MACtion is very similar to what I said last week about Akron, I think this is a very, very dangerous football team,” Said Loeffler at Friday’s press conference “It’s our job to try to focus them on handling the now if you handle the now, our team is going to have a great four weeks. If we handle the now our players are going to benefit from it.”

These next four weeks will look and feel a lot different than a regular week, the transition between playing on a Saturday to midweek is tough and a little confusing to get used to.

“Today is a Monday so Saturday’s practice will be a Tuesday practice and Sunday will be a Wednesday’s practice. I know that sounds confusing, but that’s our world right now. I love that we’re able to keep our routine in the morning, we practice, be able to get our guys off our feet, be able to feed them properly, and get them ready to play a night game on national TV against a good Ball State team.”

This year will be sophomore cornerback Jalen Huskey’s second year playing in midweek MACtion, he preaches his coaches for getting him and his players to get their minds in the correct spot.

“I think it’s a pretty tough transition actually, trying to shift your whole schedule around is pretty hard, but I think our coaches have done a really good job taking care of us this past week and allowing us to get ready for our matchup”

Sixth-year senior wide receiver Austin Osborne has played his fair share of MACtion games over his career.

Even being a sixth-year senior, he believes it’s still a tough transition to overcome, however, Osborne is just looking forward to having fun these final few weeks of the season.

“It’s very interesting, it’s uncommon but I feel like that’s what’s so cool about MACtion, the televised games on ESPN but it is an adjustment and I think it’s a fun adjustment,” said Osborne on Friday “I feel like it’s just enjoying these last couple weeks together, you know, really having fun. Coach Loeffler has been preaching a lot about just worry about today, don’t worry about tomorrow, don’t worry about next week, just worry about today. Control what you can control today.”

The Falcon’s first test in the midweek schedule is against Ball State, a team that enters the game 2-6 on the year and 1-3 in conference play.

However, like last week, that record does not mean anything to Loeffler and how he will approach his game plan.

“I just got a lot of respect for Mike. I think he is a really, really good football coach. He runs a good program. Just like I said, we’ve got good guys in this conference. Good coaches, they do things the right way. So I just got a lot of respect for Mike,” said Loeffler when asked about Ball State “The message that I set is our goal is to try to play the best football that we’ve ever played here these next four weeks. For that to occur we’ve got to protect the ball. If you look at when we’ve won games, we’ve won the turnover battle, our defense is getting the ball back, and offensively when we take care of it, we win.”

Loeffler expected a bit of rust from these Falcons coming off of a break, but he was very pleased to see that wasn’t the case in today’s practice.

“It starts with our preparation for Ball State, which I was happy with today’s practice coming off of a bye. Normally that first day of really getting back into it stinks and it didn’t today, so that was positive. We gave a bunch of time off to the guys to get their bodies, right. I expected today to be somewhat of a clown show and it wasn’t”

You can’t go to a press conference without Loeffler talking about consistency. It’s been his motive since day one for this team.

Now entering week 10, consistency is still his top priority.

“That’s the whole goal is the consistency that’s all we’ve been harping on is being consistent, being consistent day in and day out. It’s fascinating to me, the kids that have been able to battle and do a great job with the noise are playing really, really well right now.” Said Loeffler “What we’ve got to do is focus on these next four weeks about doing our job, shutting out the noise, positive or negative, and find a way just to concentrate on that game and play for each other and do the right things and focus. If we do that, you know, we could have a really good four weeks here.”

Huskey’s approach was much of the same when it finally came to seeing the consistency that Loeffler has wanted.

“I think what’s so special is that we’ve been able to come together as a unit, really communicating. Everybody trusts each other and does their jobs to the best that they can. I think that is what’s the main separator from what camp was and what it is now.”

As for Osborne, he thinks that this team is peaking at the right time.

“I think we’re peaking at the right time in all three phases. I feel like we’re finding our identity on offense as well. Our defense is playing lights out and I think we’re gonna surprise a lot of people with these last four games, but yeah, we’re peaking at the right time”

This peak could not have come at a better time. The Falcons have won back-to-back games for the first time in a year.

The November schedule has the Falcons welcoming the Ball State Cardinals to the Doyt and then travel to Kent State before welcoming in their rivals up I-75 in Toledo before closing out the season at Western Michigan.

To this point record-wise, Bowling Green is favored in three of the final four remaining matchups. However, this is MAC play, and anything can happen in November in the Mid-American conference.

So take a seat, buckle up, and enjoy the ride.

This is the beginning of MACtion.