After a disheartening, low-scoring loss last week against Mid-American Conference (MAC) foe Northern Illinois, Bowling Green (2-4, 1-1 MAC) is looking to get back in the win column with a home matchup against Kent State (0-6, 0-2 MAC) up next on the menu.
MATCHUP HISTORY
This Saturday will mark the 92nd time that Bowling Green and Kent State have matched up since 1920.
The Falcons lead the all-time series, 64-21-6, and won their last meeting 49-19 on Nov. 8, 2023.
BG and Kent play for the Anniversary Award, created in 1985 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the two schools’ founding after the state passed the Lowry Bill in 1910.
THE LOWDOWN
This might be the matchup Bowling Green was hoping for after a brutal NIU week.
In a physical game, Bowling Green lost starting quarterback Connor Bazelak to injury just before halftime and is still feeling the loss of senior left tackle Nick Reimer, who was questionable going into the NIU game and hasn’t played since Texas A&M.
“[Connor] will be day to day. It’s better than anticipated, but I don’t know where he’s at right now. We’ll know more towards the end of the week [about] his availability. It’s unfortunate with the Cam [Orth] situation,” head coach Scot Loeffler said at his Monday press conference.
If Bazelak can’t go, Loeffler will turn to redshirt freshman Lucian Anderson III to make his first career start.
Anderson has attempted just 10 passes all season. Nine of those came against Northern Illinois.
“We’ll put him in a position to have success. He walked into a juggernaut. He walked into a championship-type of game against a championship-type of defense,” Loeffler said. “He walked in with a handful of things that he could do. He was limited, and he got put in a situation where we had to do some things that he’s not necessarily ready for. We will make sure that if Lucian [Anderson III’s] our quarterback, that we put him in a position to have success, and we’ll do that.”
The team also lost sophomore kicker Jackson Kleather to an undisclosed injury.
“He’ll be day to day also. We’ll know more about him later this afternoon on his status. That’s why Zach [Long] took over the field goal kicking,” said Loeffler.
Both head coaches, Loeffler and Kent State’s Kenni Burns, had high praise for each other.
“We have a Kent [State] team, and just like I said, you could take all those logos and all that crap and take them off. Anyone can beat anyone,” Loeffler said. “I know they’re struggling right now. They’re in a rebuild. [We’ve] been there [and] done it. [We have] the t-shirt. But also, when I was in a rebuild, we beat Minnesota. We beat Toledo the first year. So, I understand what they’re going through, and I understand that if they have the right mindset and we don’t, anything can happen.”
“We look at BG – a really good football team. The one thing I’ll say about this team; they’re extremely experienced,” Burns said. “You know you look at their defense, I think there’s nine seniors playing on their defense and a ton of juniors and seniors playing on their offense. So this is a group that’s played together for a long time. They were there through the lumps of when they were trying to flip the program and now they’re older guys and they’ve got a good established bunch of guys that play well together.”
As for Kent, they’ve had their own injury struggles. They’re down to third-string quarterback Tommy Ulatowski after season-ending injuries to Devin Kargman and JD Sherrod.
Ulatowski has matched up against Bowling Green twice.
In 2022, he relieved former Kent quarterback Dustin Crum during a blowout victory over the Falcons and did not record any stats.
In 2023, he started against Bowling Green and completed 23 of his 40 pass attempts for 284 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.
Back to Bowling Green…
For the third time in four weeks, we’re on record watch for standout tight end and projected first-round pick, Harold Fannin Jr.
A week after setting the record for the most receiving yards in a single season by a BGSU tight end, Fannin is just one receiving yard away from breaking the program’s career record for tight end receiving yards.
“Obviously, their star on offense is Harold Fannin, the tight end, slot receiver, guy they find a way to get the ball to,” Burns said. “I think he’s got five touchdowns, a terrific player. So we’ve got to be on point.”
Kent State’s marquee playmaker on offense is Chrishon McCray, who you might’ve seen as the player as the backdrop of the ‘Underdog’ archetype on Electronic Arts’ College Football 25.
McCray missed last season’s matchup between these two squads with an injury, and he looks like he’s back and better than ever.
Against Eastern Michigan on Sept. 28, the speedster caught five passes for 188 yards and two scores.
How did he top that? Eight catches for 213 yards and three touchdowns against Ball State last week.
Both defenses will have their hands full with offensive firepower. We’ll see who can control the flames the best.
Kickoff from Doyt Perry Stadium is set for 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 19.
Carter Leonard and Artie Abrego will be on the call with pregame starting at 3:15 p.m. on Falcon Radio.
