BGSU football heads up to Ypsilanti, Michigan, to face off against the Eastern Michigan Eagles for the final Saturday game of the year before converting to midweek games.
Matchup History
The Falcons and Eagles have faced off 40 times in program history, with BGSU holding the all-time lead at 25-14-1.
Despite only being 68 miles apart, the Falcons have made the trip up to Ypsilanti just three times in the past 18 seasons.
These two teams met for the first time in 1919; however, EMU joined the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in 1972, where most of the matchups have taken place since then.
The last time these two teams faced off was in 2021 at Doyt L. Perry Stadium, where the Eagles defeated the Falcons 55-24.
Scouting Bowling Green
The Falcons are now 3-6 overall and 1-4 in MAC play after last week’s 28-3 loss to Buffalo at home.
A lot has gone wrong for BG since defeating Toledo a month ago, which includes the offensive struggles and quarterback fiasco, which has the offence ranked ninth in the conference and 124th overall nationally out of 134 FBS teams.
These offensive struggles haven’t gone unnoticed to head coach Eddie George, as he announced this past Monday that the team will be moving on from offensive coordinator Travis Partridge.
A move he felt was needed.
“It’s unfortunate that we had just the situation at quarterback; playing four different quarterbacks is tough,” said George. “If you don’t have stability at that position, it’s tough to win ball games and to be consistent, to really build on anything offensively. There were just some things philosophically speaking that no longer aligned with what I’m trying to do, where I’m going, and the vision that I have for this football team.”
The offense had begun to look very vanilla and very predictable over these past few months, especially in MAC play.
So, what should we now expect from the offense after this change?
“Expect to see an offense that’s efficient, that can do things well. Don’t know the status of Drew [Pyne] as of right now. Of course, he tried to go last week, and he’s just not healthy right now. So we’re going to take that day by day, even week by week,” said George. “Whoever’s under center, we’re going to put a game plan around him so that he can be successful, and the goal is to put points on the board and to put drives together.”
We enter game number 10, and who’s starting at quarterback is still up for grabs, with Pyne not being fully healthy, Lucian Anderson III still questionable and Baron May looks to be out for the season. Even Hunter Najm was a bit banged up following last week’s game.
Onto the defensive side, a bit more positivity as the Falcons rank 8th in the conferences and ranks in the top 50 at 47th overall nationally for total defense.
The defense had its first takeaway since the Toledo game last week when freshman safety Preston EstoEsta intercepted a pass from Ta’Quan Roberson in the third quarter.
Both Gideon Lampron and MJ Cannon sit atop some national ranks.
Lampron ranks sixth in the nation in solo tackles (46) and eighth in total tackles (88), with Cannon being just the only defensive back in the nation with 45+ tackles (47), 1.0+ sack (1), 1+ interception (1), 1+ fumble recovery (1), and 5.0+TFLs (5.0).
Scouting Eastern Michigan
The Eagles come into this game struggling as well, as they sit with a 2-7 record overall and a 1-4 conference record, just like the Falcons.
So, both teams look to secure their second conference win this Saturday.
The Eagles are coming into the game off a bye, which George knows, they’re well rested and know they have an itch to get a victory.
“They’re rested at the right time. It’s a good time of year to have a bye week. You’ve had plenty of ball. You probably don’t have to do too much in terms of practice. You can kind of heal up and really formulate a game plan that finds the best advantages for us,” said George, “But again, it doesn’t matter for us if you’re coming off a bye week or not. We gotta go out there and play, and I’m pretty sure they’re gonna be prepared and itching to get a victory.”
The last Eagles win came on the same day as the last Falcons win as well. Oct. 11, when EMU defeated Northern Illinois 16-10.
The offense, unlike Bowling Green, has a stable quarterback, as they have the number one quarterback in the MAC in Noah Kim.
Kim has passed for a conference high 2,051 yards, as well as adding on 14 touchdowns to just six interceptions.
The rush game for EMU is also very strong as it’s led by Dontae McMillan, who ranks fourth in the conference for rushing with 723 yards and two touchdowns to his name.
An offense that ranks 6th in the MAC and 83rd nationally.
Defensively, however, it seems to be the Achilles heel for the Eagles, who rank dead last in the conference and 129th overall nationally.
If the Falcons are looking to find their footing with a new offensive scheme, they picked a good week to try it on the Eagles’ defense.
Falcon Four Players to Watch
MJ Cannon (Bowling Green No. 2)
As mentioned above, Cannon is the only defensive back in the nation with 45+ tackles (47), 1.0+ sack (1), 1+ interception (1), 1+ fumble recovery (1), and 5.0+TFLs (5.0).
Jryin Johnson (Bowling Green No. 7)
Johnson has been the most reliable pass catcher this season for the Falcons. Johnson ranks first in the nation with an active reception streak of 42 games. Johnson has 347 yards and a touchdown this season.
Noah Kim (Eastern Michigan No. 13)
Kim, as mentioned, is the conference’s best at the quarterback position. Kim has thrown for 2,051 yards, 14 touchdowns and six interceptions. Kim has been a bright spot for this Eagles team and can break a game open in the blink of an eye.
Bryce Llewellyn (Eastern Michigan No. 6)
On the defensive side, despite being ranked last in the conference, they still have one of the conference’s best in Llewellyn. He ranks fourth in the conference for total tackles with 80. He adds on two interceptions and four pass deflections as well.
