Nowadays, greatness tends to go unnoticed more than ever before.
However, BGSU football senior cornerback Jordan Oladokun was front-and-center, making an impact in BG’s 41-26 win over Toledo on Saturday.
Although Oladokun had four interceptions last season and has continued to play at an elite level, he entered the Battle of I-75 without a takeaway in 2024.
“Interceptions with a guy that’s been around a long time, you can’t get frustrated with that because not a lot of balls are being thrown at him, and that’s a good thing,” BGSU head coach Scot Loeffler said postgame.
However, the Tampa, Florida, native finally broke through, picking off two passes in the win.
“Jordan is an unbelievable corner. He was he due; he hadn’t had an interception all year, he was due,” Bowling Green starting quarterback Connor Bazelak said. “Really happy for him; he’s one of my good friends on the team, and I’m sure he’s really excited about it.”
Oladokun also recorded two pass breakups and three tackles at the Glass Bowl.
To put a cherry on top of the sundae, Oladokun returned his first interception 61 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter, a pivotal turning point in the game.
“He (Oladokun) drove down on the ball; it was an out-route, and he was sitting in zone coverage and just made a play, drove on the ball and picked it off, and there was nobody between him and the endzone,” Toledo junior quarterback Tucker Gleason said.
Oladokun had his eyes set on the endzone immediately after grabbing the pigskin out of the brisk Toledo air.
“Right when I caught it, I knew I was going to score. I’m not slow, so I wasn’t letting any of them catch me,” Oladokun said. “We practice it a lot; every time you pick off a ball, you have to run and score. So, I was super confident when I picked the ball off that I was going to score.”
Loeffler praised Oladokun and his defense for holding the Rocket’s offense to just 26 points.
“I think their wide receivers (Jerjuan Newton and Junior Vandeross III) are as good as good as they have in the league; they’re fast. I thought our defense did a great job of constantly mixing up coverages,” he said. “We just had to try to keep them as off-balance as they can because if they get you dialed in to what you’re doing, he’s (Toledo head coach Jason Candle) going to make you pay pretty quick. So, we were able to mix things up, and I thought Jordan did a great job of breaking on the ball.”
Oladokun detailed that Bowling Green’s plan was to stop Toledo’s lethal rushing offense and force them to throw the ball, which the Falcons executed.
“We knew that Toledo had a good offensive line; they’ve been running the ball well. So, coming into the week, we had to stop the run; that’s always the main goal, to stop the run,” Oladokun said. “Make them pass the ball, basically, because we know we can do good things back in the secondary.”
Bazelak explained that facing Oladokun every day in practice helps the Orange and Brown offense get better and vice-versa.
“The old saying, iron sharpens iron; I mean, that’s Jordan against our receivers, man-coverage, zone-coverage,” he said. “He makes us better, he makes me better, and I’m sure we make him better as an offense with all the different stuff we do. So, he’s a great player, and he definitely makes us better in practice.”
Next, Oladokun and the Falcons will head north to Mount Pleasant, Michigan, to battle the Central Michigan Chippewas on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 7:30 p.m.
