By Uncle Tom George
BOWLING GREEN QUICK LANE BOWL GUIDE
https://bgsufalcons.com/documents/2023/12/16/2023_Quick_Lane_Bowl_Guide_-_vs._Minnesota.pdf
MINNESOTA QUICK LANE BOWL GUIDE
https://bgsufalcons.com/documents/2023/12/24/Minnesota_Notes.pdf
MAC BOWL NOTES
https://bgsufalcons.com/documents/2023/12/23/Week_15_Bowl_Release_MAC_FB_121423.pdf
Falcons To Spend Holidays in the “Motor City”
• Bowling Green State University stays on I-75 as the Falcons take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the ninth annual Quick Lane Bowl on Tues., Dec. 26.
• The game will kick at 2 p.m. and be broadcast on ESPN.
Bowl Season for the Orange and Brown
• BGSU is playing in the Quick Lane Bowl for the second year in a row and will make its fourth
appearance in a bowl game at Ford Field. The Falcons also appeared in the now-defunct Motor City Bowl (2003) and the Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl (2013).
• All three of BGSU’s previous bowl games at Ford Field were also played on Dec. 26.
• The Quick Lane Bowl is BGSU’s 15th bowl all-time bowl.
Five Top Storylines
• Bowling Green is the only team in the nation to have a regular season schedule that featured at least three teams that went on to win a conference
championship, which includes Michigan (Big Ten), Miami (OH) (MAC) and Liberty (Conference USA). The teams BGSU lost to also have a combined 57-7 record entering Bowl Season.
• Bowling Green is No. 1 in the nation in takeaways (27). The Falcons are No. 6 in fumble
recoveries (11) and No. 5 in interceptions (16). BGSU is the only team in the nation in the top-10 in both categories.
• TE Harold Fannin Jr. is No. 5 in the nation among tight ends with six receiving touchdowns. His 573 receiving yards ranks No. 7 nationally among tight ends.
• OLB Cashius Howell is tied for No. 10 in the nation and No. 1 in the MAC with 9.5 sacks. He currently has 7.0 sacks over BGSU’s last five games.
• BGSU is the only program in the nation to have returned at least one blocked field goal (Liberty) and one blocked punt (Buffalo) for touchdowns.
Bowling Green vs. Minnesota
• The all-time series with Minnesota is tied 2-2 after BGSU’s upset in 2021 at Huntington Bank Stadium. BGSU’s other win came at the Metrodome in 2007. The game went to overtime at the Metrodome in 2007. It is still the last overtime game BGSU has played away from Doyt Perry Stadium. The last three were all played at the home venue of the Falcons.
• The meeting in 2008 served as the first time a Big Ten Conference team played at BGSU’s Doyt Perry Stadium.
• In BGSU’s 2007 win: After building a 21-0 halftime lead over Minnesota the Falcons trailed 24-21 with 2:12 remaining in the fourth quarter the last time BGSU traveled to Minnesota. Tyler Sheehan and the Falcons marched down the field to set up a 35-yard field goal, which Sinisa Vrvilo converted.
• After surrendering a touchdown in overtime, the Falcons answered back when Sheehan found a wide open Marques Parks for a nine-yard score. Electing to go for two instead of the extra point, Sheehan found a streaking Freddie Barnes for the score to give BGSU the 32-31 win.
• In his first career start Sheehan was 34-of-51 for 388 yards and two scores. He also caught a 24-yard touchdown from Corey Partridge. Barnes finished the game with six catches for 99 yards, while Partridge chipped in with 52 yards on six catches as well.
• The 2021 win at Minnesota’s Huntington Bank Stadium ended up being the biggest upset of the year in college football as the Falcons were 31-point pups to the Golden Gophers.
• Matt McDonald scored two rushing touchdowns as the BGSU defense forced two late interceptions and locked down the Gophers in a 14-10 victory.
• Twenty current Falcons appeared in the 2021 game, including Broke Horne who had a game-high nine tackles, 1.0 sack and forced a fumble.
• Darren Anders was tied for second on the team with seven tackles, while Davon Ferguson had five stops and 2.0 key sacks. Anthony Hawkins and Billie Roberts also picked up 1.0 tackles for loss. Austin Osborne had four catches for 28 yards. Osborne’s four receptions was tied for second-most in the game and nearly matched the five overall receptions Minnesota had in the game.
Bowling Green vs. B1G
• Bowling Green is 9-21 all-time against current members of the Big Ten Conference, which includes games against Indiana (1-1), Maryland (1-1), Michigan (0-3), Michigan State (0-3), Minnesota (2-2), Northwestern (2-1), Ohio State (0-5), Penn State (0-2), Purdue (3-0) and Wisconsin (0-3).
• BGSU’s most recent game against a Big Ten Conference foe was this season at Michigan on Sept. 16.
• A win against Minnesota in the Quick Lane Bowl would make three Big Ten teams the Falcons have a winning record against, joining Purdue (3-0) and Northwestern (2-1).
• BGSU has faced a Big Ten team only one other time in a bowl game when the Falcons topped Northwestern in the 2003 Motor City Bowl, 28-24, which was also played at Ford Field.
• BGSU was scheduled to return to Minnesota in 2025, but that game has been moved back to 2028.
• Bowling Green is also scheduled to play at Penn State in 2024 and at Ohio State in 2027. The 2027 Ohio State game is a reschedule from the game canceled due to the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic.
Bowling Green – UMN connections
• DE Ali Saad spent the 2020 season at Minnesota but didn’t appear in any games. He traveled with BGSU in 2021 for the Minnesota game but did not appear in the game.
• Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck is no stranger to Bowling Green and the MAC. He coached four years at Western Michigan and played at Northern Illinois. While at NIU, he threw an interception in Bowling Green’s 34-18 win over then-No. 12 NIU in 2003. ESPN’s College GameDay was on the BGSU’s campus for that day.
• Minnesota cornerbacks coach and co-defensive coordinator Nick Monroe spent six years (2010-15) on staff at Bowling Green, serving as the secondary coach for both Dave Clawson and Dino Babers.
• Minnesota’s offensive line coach and run game coordinator Brian Callahan has coached in the MAC at Akron and Western Michigan.
• Minnesota defensive line coach Winston DeLattiboudere III also has coached in the MAC, including last year at Akron.
• Minnesota co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Matt Simon played at NIU and coached in the MAC at NIU and at Western Michigan.
• Minnesota running backs coach Nic McKissic-Luke also has MAC experience after spending three seasons at NIU (2020-22). While at NIU he worked with current BGSU secondary coach Derrick Jackson.
BG Quick Lane Bowl Nuggets
• Bowling Green is the first school to play in consecutive Quick Lane Bowls. Minnesota is making its third appearance in the game, which is more than any other school.
• With the 2023 game Bowling Green joins Minnesota as the only other school with multiple appearances in the Quick Lane Bowl.
• Bowling Green heads to a bowl game in back-to-back years for the first time since going to four-straight from 2012-15.
• This current bowl streak marks the fifth time in program history the Falcons had consecutive bowl streak.
• BGSU is 1-2 all-time in bowl games at Ford Field, highlighted by a 28-24 win over Northwestern in the 2003 Motor City Bowl, which is the only other time the Falcons faced a Big Ten foe in a bowl game.
Bowling Green and Venues off I-75 in 2023
• With Bowling Green’s appearance in the 2023 Quick Lane Bowl, Ford Field becomes the third-different venue the Falcons will play in this season that can be seen easily from I-75.
• BGSU’s Doyt Perry Stadium can be seen prominently on the west side if I-75. On Sept. 30 the Falcons played at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium, which can be seen from I-75 in Atlanta where I-75 and I-85 run together in the Downtown Connector.
• Ford Field is just east of I-75 in downtown Detroit and 82 miles north of BGSU’s Doyt Perry
Stadium.
BGSU One of Nation’s Most Improved Defensive Teams in 2023
• Bowling Green enters Bowl Season No. 29 in the nation in total defense, allowing 329.8 yards per game. That is an improvement from 2022 when they allowed 419.6 yards per game and ranked No. 102 in the nation.
• BGSU’s improvement of 89.8 yards per game is the sixth-best improvement in 2023.
• BGSU held Liberty, the nation’s No. 5 team in total offense at 498.5 yards per game, to 389 yards of total offense. It is the only time this season Liberty was held under 400 yards of total offense.
A Program on the Rise
• BGSU is 10-6 in MAC play since the start of the 2022 season.
• Only Toledo. Miami (OH) and Ohio have better records in conference play over that period. Miami (OH) is 11-5 during that span. Toledo is 13-3 and Ohio is 13-3.
• The previous 16-game MAC window for BGSU was 2-14.
• The gains during Scot Loeffler‘s tenure started to take root in 2021 and by 2022 Bowling Green was back in a bowl game for the first time since 2015 as the Falcons took part in the Quick Lane Bowl.
• Bowling Green became one of four FBS programs in 2022 whose win totals improved 4+ games from 2020 to 2021 and then improved 2+ more games from 2021 to 2022. Joining BGSU on the list were Kansas State, Oregon State and Tennessee.
• With seven wins this season, the Falcons are the only program in the nation that improved its wins 4+ games from 2020 to 2021, followed by +2 wins from 2021 to 2022 and then again improved +1 from 2022 to 2023.
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