After defeating Northern Illinois 47-27 at Ford Field, the Bowling Green Falcons found themselves Mid American Conference champions for the first time since 1992.
The Falcons will resume action under new head coach Dino Babers, who previously compiled a 19-7 record at Eastern Illinois. Babers also coached Walter Payton Award winning quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. The Panthers had a 14-1 conference record while under the reigns of Babers at Eastern Illinois.
Spring practice will begin this Thursday, February 27th. The team will have several practices per week, including 15 in total. The 2014 Spring Football Game is scheduled for Saturday, April 5th at noon in the Doyt Perry Stadium.
For the 2014 season, the Falcons have 12 returning starters from their championship season. Five of the 12 starters earned All-MAC recognition including Travis Greene, Ryan Burbrink, D.J. Lynch, Gabe Martin and Alex Huettel. The Orange and Brown had a 2014 recruiting class of 17 players. 11 of the players are on the defensive side of the ball, including six defensive backs. All but four players played high school football inside the state of Ohio. Three recruits played in Michigan, and the last in Florida.
The Falcons also have quarterback Matt Johnson returning for his Junior season. Johnson has 26 touchdowns and 8 interceptions with 3,586 career passing yards heading into the 2014 season.
The Falcons will open up their season away at Bowling Green, Kentucky against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on August 28th. Bowling Green will then host games against VMI and Indiana on September 6th and 13th. Their last non-conference game will be against another Big 10 school, Wisconsin, on September 20th.
