Tag: Bowling Green Falcons

Chiefs scouting report: Bowling Green Falcons TE Harold Fannin Jr.

The Kansas City #Chiefs should consider selecting Bowling Green #Falcons tight end Harold Fannin Jr. in the 2025 NFL draft.

Andy Reid is one of the NFL’s most creative play callers, but his offense hasn’t found its rhythm through the air this season. Age and injuries are hounding Kansas City’s pass catchers. It’s time for the Chiefs to land some significant contributors in the NFL draft to keep their championship window open.

Bowling Green tight end Harold Fannin Jr. isn’t a typical prospect at his position. He lacks the mass to provide consistent help as an in-line blocker in the NFL but takes snaps for the Falcons in-line, in the slot, out wide, at H-back and in the gun for wildcat plays. Fannin is a mismatch creator. Linebackers can’t match his acceleration and speed, and defensive backs struggle to bring him down in space.

Fannin flies past linebackers in zone and finds the soft spot between the defense’s second and third levels. He’s an impressive route runner with quick feet and bend to sink his hips at the top of the stem and make sharp cuts. That lower body fluidity and agility help him elude defenders in space and generate yards after the catch.

Fannin’s explosiveness and dynamic athleticism take over after the catch. He uses euro steps, dead legs and jump cuts to avoid would-be tacklers and drives his legs through contact for extra yardage. Bowling Green gives Fannin a mix of schemed touches and traditional routes.

Fannin enters Week 9 of the college season with 60 receptions for 873 yards and five touchdowns. He’s third among all FBS players in both receptions and receiving yards. For context, only seven players have more than 700 receiving yards this season. Penn State’s Tyler Warren and Ball State’s Tanner Koziol are the only other tight ends with more than 500 receiving yards this year.

Bowling Green plays on the road against Toledo at 2:30 p.m. CST on Oct. 26. The Rockets’ defense features several NFL prospects, including safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren.

Penn State defensive coordinator reunites with former QB

A former Indiana head coach and quarterback caught up after Penn State’s win over Bowling Green.

The world of college football sees more and more players and coaches taking alternate routes on their respective journeys, and sometimes those paths find a way to cross one more time. This was the case on Saturday in Beaver Stadium as Penn State hosted Bowling Green for a non-conference matchup.

Following a 34-27 victory over the Falcons, Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen made sure to catch up with Bowling Green quarterback Connor Bazelak. Bazelak was a quarterback for Allen during their time together at Indiana.

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The embrace between the former head coach and quarterback is a reminder of the importance and value of relationships built in the sport of college football. Allen recruited Bazelak to Indiana from Missouri out of the transfer portal in 2022 and he was a part of Allen’s program in Bloomington for two seasons. The results may not have panned out the way each would have hoped, of course. Indiana removed Allen as head coach following the 2023 season and Bazelak decided to transfer once again to Bowling Green following the coaching change with Indiana.

Bazelak must have been frustrating his former head coach at Indiana in the first half. Bazelak was slicing up the Penn State defense for much of the first half of the game as Bowling Green opened up a 17-7 lead and took a 24-20 lead into halftime. Fortunately for Penn State, Allen had his defense ready to make some stops and big plays in the second half.

Bowling Green was held to just a late field goal in the second half as Penn State’s defense picked off Bazelak twice in the fourth quarter en route to a 34-27 victory in the home opener.

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Penn State overcomes surprising challenge vs. Bowling Green in 34-27 win

Penn State’s defense played a much better second half to help avoid an upset to Bowling Green.

Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen each had 100-yard games and tight end Tyler Warren led all players with 146 receiving yards, but Penn State’s 34-27 over Bowling Green was anything but easy. The Nittany Lions came from behind with a strong second-half effort by the defense to improve to 2-0 on the season. Despite being a five-touchdown favorite, Penn State had a lot to tighten up at halftime to find a way to put Bowling Green away for good, and it was not until late in the fourth quarter they finally did,

Bowling Green opened the game with a stunning touchdown drive, marching 75 yards on six plays to put the first points of the day on the board with a six-yard from Connor Bazelak to Harold Fannin Jr. Fannin Jr. was just setting the stage for a massive day against the Penn State defense, which struggled to contain him all afternoon.

Penn State answered on the next possession with a quick touchdown drive with [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] capping a 75-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run. But the Falcons took a 10-7 lead before the end of the second quarter and led by a score of 17-7 just minutes into the second quarter. Penn State battled back to tie things up at 17-17, but Bowling Green retook the lead on a 41-yard touchdown run by Jamal Johnson, and Bowling Green held on to a 24-20 lead at halftime.

It was not until just past the midway point of the third quarter that Penn State took its first lead of the game. Allar completed a 14-yard pass to a streaking [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] over the middle of the defense for the go-ahead score. The drive was highlighted by a hefty dose of passes to tight end Tyler Warren.

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Penn State had a chance to create a little breathing room late in the third quarter but a Drew Allar pass was picked off in the end zone by Jacorey Benjamin. Fortunately for Penn State, Benjamin made a poor decision to try returning the interception out of the end zone and was knocked out of bounds at the three-yard line as the third quarter came to a close. That led to a needed defensive stop at the start of the fourth quarter by the Penn State defense, which gave the Nittany Lions another chance to go up by two scores.

But Penn State was forced to punt the football away on the ensuing drive after a deep pass from Allar to Harrison Wallace III, one of the offensive stars in Week 1, was broken up.

Penn State’s defense cleaned things up after halftime and came up with interceptions on back-to-back Bowling Green possessions in the fourth quarter, one by linebacker [autotag]Tony Rojas[/autotag] and the other by safety [autotag]Zakee Wheatley[/autotag]. Shortly after Wheatley’s pick, Singleton ripped off his third touchdown run of 40+ yards this season to put Penn State up 34-24.

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Singleton ended the day with 133 total offensive yards and two touchdowns. Allen had his first 100-yard game of the season. Wide receiver Julian Fleming had his first catch in a Penn State uniform, although for a small three-yard gain.

Jaylen Reed led the Penn State defense with 10 tackles and [autotag]Abdul Carter[/autotag] came up with some big plays along with his 7 tackles. Kobe King added 7 tackles and came down with a football on a late Bowling Green onside kick attempt to allow Penn State to run out the clock once and for all.

Penn State will be off next week. The Nittany Lions return to action on Saturday, Sept. 21 with a home game against Kent State.

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Backup QB listed as questionable for Penn State vs. Bowling Green

Penn State will be without these players today against Bowling Green.

Penn State is hours away from welcoming fans back to Beaver Stadium for this season’s home opener. After putting on an impressive showing on the road at West Virginia last week, the Nittany Lions look to improve to 2-0 with ease as they host Bowling Green on Saturday afternoon for an early kickoff.

Penn State will be without a handful of players available according to this week’s updated player availability report, which was just released by the Big Ten football office, per conference policy.

The following players have been ruled out for Penn State in week 2:

In addition, quarterback [autotag]Ethan Grunkemeyer[/autotag] has been listed as questionable.

Big Ten schools are required to provide a player availability report no later than two hours prior to a scheduled kickoff. The policy was put into effect in 2023 and has seen a few conferences follow that idea in 2024.

MAC schools are also now required to release player availability reports beginning this season under a similar policy. We were still waiting for the player availability report for Bowling Green at the time of this posting.

Penn State and Bowling Green are scheduled to kick things off at noon Eastern on Big Ten Network.

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How to watch or stream Penn State vs. Bowling Green in Week 2

Penn State hosts Bowling Green for the home opener in Beaver Stadium today. Here is how to watch the game.

Penn State opens up the home portion of its 2024 schedule on Saturday afternoon. The Nittany Lions host Bowling Green for an early afternoon kickoff and look to improve to 2-0 with relative ease. Penn State is a massive favorite in the game and should be able to get a number of players involved throughout the afternoon if everything goes according to plan.

Penn State is 2-0 al-time against Bowling Green with each of the previous two wins in the series owning some historic significance in program history. It was Bowling Green that Penn State defeated for the 200th all-time and 300th all-time wins by former head coach Joe Paterno.

A win by Penn State today won’t be a milestone victory for James Franklin. It will be just the 114th of Franklin’s career.

Here is how to watch today’s game if you are unable to be inside Beaver Stadium for all the action.

  • Date: September 7, 2024
  • Time: 12 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: Big Ten Network
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch here)
  • Listen: Streaming on the Varsity App

More: Nittany Lions Wire staff predictions for Penn State vs. Bowling Green

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Staff predictions for Penn State vs. Bowling Green

Our staff picks are in for this weekend’s contest between Penn State and Bowling Green.

Penn State opens up the home schedule this weekend when it hosts Bowling Green in Beaver Stadium for Week 2. By all accounts, it looks to be a fairly easy weekend for the Nittany Lions, who are fresh off a solid showing on the road at West Virginia in Week 1.

Penn State comes into this weekend’s home opener as a big favorite against the Falcons, which is not surprising to see. Penn State holds a consensus top-10 ranking in the polls and showed off a new and improved offense last week in Morgantown. Penn State is expected to put up plenty of points this week, and Bowling Green keeping pace is unlikely.

And our staff here seems to agree that Penn State is in great shape this weekend.

Here are our official Penn State Week 2 predictions.

Brad: Penn State has dominated inferior opponents under James Franklin when they are massive favorites. That’s going to continue on Saturday coming off a great opening victory as this offense wants to keep things rolling. The Nittany Lions win 49-10.

Penn State 49, Bowling Green 10

Kevin: Penn State will enjoy showing off its offense a bit more in Week 2 in front of the home crowd as the Nittany Lions pile on early and often. This will give a few more players some opportunities to get on the field on both sides of the football. Nick Singleton gets his second straight 100-yard game and Kaytron Allen gets some good production as well, and Julian Fleming makes his first catch in a Penn State uniform as the Nittany Lions rout the Falcons.

Penn State 52, Bowling Green 13

Charlie: There is much to worry about Penn State coming into its home opener against an easy MAC opponent. The Nittany Lions played a very impressive game last weekend in Morgantown and the environment will only get easier this weekend in Happy Valley.

Penn State 41, Bowling Green 10

Shayne: Penn State gets a relatively easy matchup in their home opener after a strong road win at West Virginia in week one. Bowling Green is a quality program on the rise, but they simply don’t have the talent to compete with Penn State for 60 minutes. The Nittany Lions should win comfortably in front of the home crowd.

Penn State 42, Bowling Green 14

Check out our Week 2 picks around the Big Ten.

Bowling Green opened its season with a brilliant 100-yard kickoff return touchdown

Now THAT’s how you start a season!

College football has the best sense of humor of any sport, really.

Consider a team like Bowling Green, which went 7-6 last year and lost the Quick Lane Bowl for the second consecutive year.

You know the team just couldn’t wait to get back on the field and show how much they’d improved. You know they were pumped to receive the ball first against Fordham on Thursday night and run out the drive they’d scripted out for weeks now.

So you can only imagine how it felt to watch the Falcons take the opening kickoff and run it back 100 yards for a touchdown before the offense even got to touch the ball.

That’s Justin Pegues on the return but let’s give a massive shoutout to his blocker who absolutely leveled two Fordham defenders to ensure the return made it to the end zone. He’s going to really enjoy reviewing film this week after Bowling Green finished up a 41-17 victory to open the year.

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Darius Taylor runs Minnesota to victory in Quick Lane Bowl

The Golden Gophers exchanged touchdowns with the Falcons for most of the game but held on for a 30-24 victory to close the season.

Minnesota defeated Bowling Green 30-24 in the Quick Lane Bowl on Tuesday behind a dominant day from running back Darius Taylor.

The freshman put on a show against the Falcons, amassing 208 yards on 35 carries including a 14-yard run on the team’s first play from scrimmage.

In fact, the freshman was so good that the Golden Gophers only threw 16 passes for the whole game. The team’s leading receiver? Taylor, who had 11 yards. He accounted for 77.9% of his team’s total yards of offense.

Bowling Green’s offense was productive, with Connor Bazelak throwing for 221 yards and a touchdown on 36 attempts. But a pair of Minnesota touchdowns in the third quarter stretched the lead farther than the Falcons could reach.

Taylor was only a three-star prospect in the Class of 2023, but this was the third time he’d rushed for 190 yards in a single game this season and the fourth time he cleared 130 yards. He only received multiple carries in five games.

Here are the best photos from Minnesota’s victory.

The Athletic sends the Vikings two defensive players in latest three round mock

Going defense with the first two picks is an interesting strategy that we could see play out come April

The Minnesota Vikings have their work cut out for them this offseason when it comes to the defensive side of the ball. With many aging veterans and players likely to be cut due to cap constraints, the Vikings will be looking to add depth as well as youth. Cornerback is one position that many experts have speculated the Vikings could target.

On Tuesday, Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic released his three-round mock draft and had the Vikings selecting Maryland cornerback Deonte Banks in round one.

“Physical and not afraid to play in man, Banks finished 2022 with a forced incompletion rate of 22 percent, the eighth-best number in the FBS. He’s a solid, thorough athlete and tough to beat in the air.”

Banks has all the tools to step in and become a good cornerback in Brian Flores’ scheme. He’s known for his physicality, but there are also other traits such as his patience and fluidity that make him an appealing corner.

Later in this draft, Baumgardner had the Vikings selecting Bowling Green defensive lineman Karl Brooks.

“Brooks was one of the country’s most productive pass rushers over the last four years, as a defensive lineman/outside linebacker. He has a bit of an unusual build, but he’s a very gifted athlete who could wear a few hats in the NFL.”

It’s important for the Vikings to try and obtain a player with interior pass-rushing ability this offseason, and Brooks has that. While he is unlikely to start on day one, With the right coaching and time to develop, he could turn out to be a solid addition in the third round.

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Penn State misses on another transfer wide receiver

Penn State comes up short on recruiting key transfer wide receiver

Things may be going well for Penn State on the recruiting trail, but the attempts to land a veteran wide receiver out of the transfer portal are hitting a bit of a snag for James Franklin and his staff. After seeing NC State transfer Devin Carter change up his commitment from Penn State to West Virginia, Penn State has now come up short on the attempt to secure a transfer receiver from Bowling Green.

Tyrone Broden made a visit to Penn State a week ago to see if it would be the best possible fit for him out of the transfer portal. The visit came complete with the typical photo shoot to allow the imagination to run a little bit about the possibilities of adding an established wide receiver to the offense.

But there was another stop on Broden’s schedule with the Arkansas Razorbacks, with another opportunity to try on some official gear. And that visit apparently went quite well, as a day later Broden announced his commitment to the Razorbacks of the SEC.

Broden had 32 receptions for 506 yards and seven touchdowns for Bowling Green in 2022. In 2021, Broden had 36 receptions for 596 yards and five touchdowns. He would certainly have been a veteran presence that Penn State could benefit from in 2023 with an offense that will be big on young stars at running back and quarterback and with room to grow at receiver.

Instead, Penn State will continue to search the transfer portal for any potential options still out there. Unfortunately, finding a player similar to the level of last year’s big receiver transfer addition, [autotag]Mitchell Tinsley[/autotag], is beginning to look more and more difficult.

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