BGSU football (2-3, 1-0 MAC) is back in the win column after a 27-20 thriller against the Akron Zips to open conference play.
The win snaps the Falcons’ three-game skid and extends their win streak over Akron to three as well.
But celebration time is over.
It’s a new week with a new opponent looming: The Northern Illinois Huskies (3-2, 0-1 MAC) come to Doyt Perry Stadium for the first time since the 2017 season.
“We need to make a great emphasis on having a great week of practice,” head coach Scot Loeffler said Monday. “We’re playing one of the better teams, in my opinion, in the Mid-American Conference.”
Northern Illinois comes into this game after a win of their own against a future MAC opponent, a 34-20 victory over the UMass Minutemen, and is just over a month removed from upsetting #5 Notre Dame in South Bend.
“I think they’re extremely well-coached, my hat’s off to [NIU Head Coach] Thomas [Hammock], Thomas is a great guy, great coach, he’s built a great program, he’s built it on the right stuff. Very similar to what we’ve done,” Loeffler continued. “They play great defense. Their defensive front is as good as we’ve played. It reminds me of Texas A&M. They’re tenth in the nation in overall defense, they’re 35th in scoring. They stop the run, they’re averaging less than 100 yards per game, they stop the pass, they’re 23rd in passing [defense].”
On offense, they’re a run-first team. They possess the number one rushing attack in the conference at over 230 rushing yards per game.
Coach Loeffler even says not to be surprised if it’s only a two-hour contest.
With Terion Stewart having been on the mend since the Fordham game, the offense has had to rely more on quarterback Connor Bazelak than they likely intended going into the season. But with Bazelak now on a four-game streak of throwing for 250 yards or more, he’s delivered when his number has been called.
“I think he’s done a wonderful job in the offseason making sure he knows the offense like the coaches,” said Loeffler. “Any time you have that type of feel for the system you’re going to play well. Traditionally, in this system, everyone plays better in year two, and then in year three you normally dominate.”
Though Coach expects Stewart to play this week, they might have to continue to rely on Bazelak to drive the offense down the field. As previously mentioned, the Huskies’ run defense ranks second in the conference behind only Toledo at 94.2 rushing yards per game.
“We’ve got to do a better job at protecting him this week. This front is excellent. They hit the quarterback, and they play great team defense in my opinion,” Loeffler said. “So, we’ve got to do a great job at protecting the passer, a great job at establishing the run game, and be really balanced. You go one way or the other with these guys, you’ll be in trouble quick.”
Stewart, who missed his second contest of the season last week against Akron, was expected to play last week but was a last-second scratch.
“He should play in this game, I was disappointed he didn’t play in the Akron game to be quite honest with you,” Loeffler said. “Everything at the beginning of the week, there was an indication that he should’ve played, ended up not working out that way. I was disappointed he didn’t play last week. Hopefully, he has a great week of practice, and we can get him in the fold.”
This weekend will also be a family reunion of sorts. Bowling Green starting safety (and leading tackler) CJ Brown spent the last four seasons as a member of the Huskies, earning all-MAC honors twice (2021, and 2022) and helping lead his Huskies to a 2021 conference championship win.
“It meant a lot. We won championships, and we were kind of in the rebuilding phase too when I was there,” he said. “Personnel-wise, I know what they’re going to do because I played with the majority of the players for a little bit.”
Bowling Green is looking for its first 2-0 conference start since 2015 – the last time they won the MAC title.
The only thing standing in their way? Northern Illinois.
Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 12 from the Doyt.
