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.
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.
“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.
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.
Bowling Green with a brutal and futile fake field goal
This season marks 50 years since Garo Yepremian’s unfortunate attempt at a pass as the Miami Dolphins looked to finish off a perfect season against Washington in the Super Bowl.
That could have been the inspiration for Bowling Green’s brutal attempt at an actual fake field goal Saturday against Buffalo.
As a warning, the scoop and score didn’t count for Buffalo.
However, the Falcons’ futility is worth watching as a tribute to what can go wrong with the ball in the hands of the wrong people
Bowling Green’s fake field goal did not go as planned … 😳
Bowling Green College Football Preview 2022: Team breakdown, season prediction, keys to the campaign, and what you need to know
Bowling Green Falcons Preview 2022: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Bowling Green season with what you need to know and keys to the season.
Bowling Green really was good not all that long ago.
The program went to three straight MAC Championship games from 2013 to 2015, winning seasons and bowl games were expected, and …
16 wins in six years. It’s been rough. However, it’s the MAC, and Bowling Green has been through this before. It’s easy to go from nothing to champion just like that in this league, but how close it it to happening?
Head coach Scot Loeffler has managed just seven wins, his offensive style hasn’t been a differentiating factor, and the defense hasn’t been able to pick up the slack.
There’s no excuse this season. There’s experience, there’s been time to build up the depth, and …
Bowling Green Falcons Preview 2022: Offense
This offense has to work at some point. It went through a reboot last year with a ton of underclassmen playing key roles, but the running game wasn’t nearly strong enough and the downfield passing attack wasn’t there.
The Falcons finished dead last in the MAC in total offense, points were hard to come by – there was only one game without over 27 points – and …
Matt McDonald has to make the O go. The veteran quarterback who transferred in from Boston College a few years ago is accurate, and he threw 12 touchdown passes with just seven picks, but to keep hammering this home, the big plays weren’t there.
He’s got all of his top targets back – Austin Osborne caught 64 passes as the short-range guy, and Tyrone Broden was the deep threat averaging 17 yards per catch with five scores – and now they all need time to work.
Freshmen. The Bowling Green ground attack was able about the newbies – no one other than a freshman carried the ball last year. Terion Stewart was the best of the bunch, but there’s depth for a rotation.
The front five gets back four starters, but there isn’t a ton of bulk and there won’t be too much blasting away for the ground game. Like everything else on the O, though, there’s experience.
Bowling Green Falcons Preview 2022: Defense
The defense doesn’t get back as many parts as the offense does, but there’s enough there to be better. Not bad at times, the Falcons finished fourth in the MAC in total defense, was No. 1 in pass defense, and it even found a little bit of a pass rush and came up with a slew of big takeaways.
Let’s start with the negative. Defensive backs Sy Dabney and Devin Taylor were good hitters who’ll be missed. However, that’s about it for the key losses.
The rest of the secondary should be fine – Davon Ferguson is one of the MAC’s most productive corners – and it’ll get a pass rush to help.
The top playmakers behind the line are back. It would be nice to get a few more tackles for loss, but end Karl Brooks leads a good sized front that should get to the quarterback.
Leading tackler Darren Anders is a good-sized hitter on the outside who led the team and the linebacking corps with 124 tackles. Combined with second-leading tackler Brock Horne, the Falcons have big bodies to hold up against the run.
Ohio State basketball takes on Bowling Green in another in-state showdown. Here’s how to find the game.
It wasn’t a blowout that many were expecting, but Ohio State took care of Niagara this past Friday night with a 10-point victory after only leading by one at the half. The Buckeyes welcomed back Kyle Young and E.J. Lidell scored a career-best 29 points in the win.
Next up is Bowling Green who sits at 1-1 on the young season. The Falcons lost an overtime game to Western Carolina and the lone win coming against NCAA DIII Ohio Wesleyan.
The two schools are separated by just 112 miles. BGSU takes the trip to Columbus as we get ready for another in-state showdown.
NEXT … Television, streaming, and radio information
For those of you that love some in-state MACtion, the game with Bowling Green has been rescheduled.
One thing the COVID-19 pandemic canceled is back on.
Ohio State and in-state foe Bowling Green were scheduled to play in 2020, but both conferences went from canceling the season to eventually playing abbreviated, conference-only schedules. So, the game scheduled for Sept. 5 between the Falcons and Buckeyes was scrapped for the greater good.
But fret not, lovers of some Maction, according to a release from Bowling Green Wednesday, it appears both schools have agreed to reschedule the contest for Sept. 18, 2027, in Ohio Stadium.
This makes the second nonconference matchup that has found its way back on the calendar after last year’s unprecedented season. OSU and Oregon have already agreed to a new home-and-home series for 2032 and 2033 despite the Ducks still planning to fly into the ‘Shoe this fall as well. We’re still waiting to see if the other nonconference contest against Buffalo will be rescheduled.
The game between OSU and Bowling Green will be the sixth game between the two. All of them have been played at Ohio Stadium with the Buckeyes owning a 5-0 record. Ohio State won the last meeting 77-10 in 2016.
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Penn State has had little problems dealing with #MACTION, but two MAC schools own active winning streaks against the Nittany Lions.
Historically speaking, Penn State has been very good against teams currently residing in the MAC. That should be expected given Penn State’s place in college football history compared to most of the programs in the MAC. But two schools in the MAC will enter the 2021 season with active winning streaks against the Nittany Lions with no future game son the schedule lined up to give Penn State an upcoming chance of breaking those streaks.
The Toledo Rockets are the only non-power conference program in college football to own a 100 percent winning percentage against the Nittany Lions (excluding teams from the Ivy League), putting Toledo in some very elite company with programs like Clemson, Oklahoma, and Florida (and Vanderbilt!).
Penn State’s brief run under former head coach Bill O’Brien got off on the wrong foot with a home loss to the Ohio Bobcats in Beaver Stadium. Ohio is the only other MAC team with an active winning streak against the Nittany Lions. In fact, those are the only two games Penn State has ever lost to a team in the MAC to this day.
Here is a look at how Penn State fares all-time against schools currently in the MAC.
All data referenced is credited to College Football Reference. Rankings referenced are AP Top 25 where available.
Check out Draft Wire’s exclusive interview with Bowling Green tight end prospect Quintin Morris
In the unprecedented circumstances surrounding the 2020 college football season, Quintin Morris was able to make the most of his opportunity to shine.
With Bowling Green only being able to play five games this year due to the MAC significantly shortening their college football season, Morris didn’t have much time to further prove himself to NFL teams. However, he managed to impress in that short amount of time, playing well enough in a shortened schedule to warrant an invitation to the 2021 Senior Bowl.
Draft Wire spoke exclusively with Morris about his draft preparations, his transition from wide receiver to tight end, his background in basketball, and more.
JI: Congratulations on your invitation to the Senior Bowl. What does that invitation mean to you?
QM: It means everything. I think, for the most part, coming from the MAC and getting feedback from scouts, the biggest question is, “can he do it [against] higher competition?” So, it’s everything I wanted, and I just want the opportunity to go out there and show I could do it against the top athletes in the country.
JI: You’ve been able to excel as both a wide receiver and a tight end at Bowling Green. What was the hardest part about changing positions?
QM: Mostly from the blocking standpoint, just understanding some of the terminology, the techniques and stuff, how to block. At the end of the day, I was a receiver, and running routes is going to be running routes. Just learning stuff from a new perspective – almost like an [offensive] linemen’s perspective – and getting a hold of that part of the game.
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JI: Bowling Green only got to play five games this year. How have you and your teammates been adjusting to this unprecedented season?
QM: It’s been pretty difficult. We have 42 . . . almost more than half our team was [made up of] freshmen this year, so I couldn’t even imagine how hard it was for them, especially with coming straight for high school, not really getting a true summer to be able to truly work, develop with the team with everything being Zoom calls. I’m sure it was hard for a lot of our young guys on my team. As an older guy – a senior – you can really navigate and help him as much [as you can], because it’s something that we’ve all never been through. You could only imagine leaving, coming from high school straight to college, and this is the first experience you get. Overall, it’s been trying to keep guys focused, and even though the season wasn’t what we wanted it to be, just remembering that, “Hey, we’re young, we still got some developing to do,” and just knowing that the team will have to be able to go into the next season and the offseason and just be able to attack.
JI: With you being a senior and the rest of your team being pretty young, how have you embraced this new role on your team?
QM: I think this season really tested a lot of guys’ leadership. Like I said, it’s a hard season. We got all the COVID things going on, the stop-and-start: you might have a season, you might not, you start again. Then, you got people you’re testing every week. Some days, you got all your team there, other days you don’t. Sometimes you got all your coaches, sometimes you don’t. It really just tested that lead role. With the season [ending] up being the way it was being, you only got, what, six games, and unfortunately, we got the last one (against Miami of Ohio) cancelled, and then not being able to win any games this year. It really just tested your leadership skills, being able to keep your team up in spirit and being able to say, “hey, we lost this one, we have our opportunities every week to come back and change the narrative and get a win”.
JI: How have you managed to keep your speed while adding on muscle in your transition to the tight end position?
QM: The biggest thing is trying to put on weight, and you want to make sure it’s healthy weight at the end of the day, so being able to eat and eat correctly, and at the same time, being able to develop your conditioning and speed with it to make sure you don’t lose a step. It’s a process. It takes having a good group of people around you: coaches, trainers, and things like that.
Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports
JI: You were a really good basketball player in high school. How has that background helped you as you’ve been preparing for the NFL draft?
QM: It definitely helps a lot. I played basketball since first grade, almost the same time I started playing football at a young age. I feel like basketball teaches you a lot of movements with your body that otherwise you probably wouldn’t get, just playing football. Just being able to play basketball for a major of my life allows me to move and jump, and you use some of those techniques, especially when you’re going up for a ball, whether it’s boxing out and understanding depth perception. Going up for a ball is almost like rebounding. It really helps, and I think that’s why you think of a lot of good tight ends these days, they almost all have a basketball background, and it helps them with their footwork and attacking the ball.
JI: All those things considered, what do you think is the most important trait to have for the tight end position?
QM: I would say, the way the league is moving today, just being a secure catcher, having the ability to secure the ball. Of course, you want to be able to block. I think, the way the game is moving, it’s almost like having a big receiver on the field. At the end of the day, you still want to be able to help in the run game. That’s the one thing George Kittle does really [well] that I think helps him in the play-action. I just want to be one of those tight ends that’s able to do both. When I’m on the field, it’s not like you could guess what’s going on. You have to sit there and definitely read the whole play out. You don’t want to have just one part of your game.
JI: How do you like to spend your free time outside of football?
QM: If I’m not working out or doing anything football, I love playing basketball. Of course, this year, with everything going on, especially with COVID, it’s been hard to be able to go somewhere and play some games. On top of that, just getting ready for this NFL process, it’s probably in my best interest to stay off a basketball court and not risk getting hurt, as much as I do love it. It’s hard to stay away. I like to play cards and board games, especially with my family and hanging out with friends. [I’m a] big video gamer.
JI: Who do you model your game after when you’re playing football? What about when you’re playing basketball?
QM: I’d probably say Travis Kelce, just as far as his game and size-wise. I know a lot of our offense mimics what the Kansas City Chiefs do with their tight ends, and I pretty much end up doing the same stuff. I watch a lot of film on him, and I see them run plays, and I see us doing it the next week in practice. It’s pretty cool. I like his game, and I think he probably best suits me because he gets used a lot in the pass game. When he’s out there, it’s just like having another receiver out there, and you’ve got to treat it the same. His run blocking and things like that are good. I think mine [is] good – it’s probably not the strongest part of my game. Like I said, I think that’s like what we have in common, but I think my game is more so flexing out and causing problems in the secondary.
It’s hard to think of a basketball [player]. I’d probably say Russell Westbrook. I can still shoot the ball, but at the end of the day, I like to attack the basket and really go up and try and dunk on people (laughs). Any athletic point guard that likes to attack the rim. It’s hard to navigate with basketball.
JI: Let’s say I’m an NFL general manager. What would I be getting if I drafted you to my team?
QM: One, you’ll be getting a good guy. I think that’s a common thing that’s been told to me – not trying to gas myself up – but I feel like I’m a guy you wouldn’t have to worry about getting in trouble, who’s going to do the right thing. I’m going to work hard, and the field will handle itself. I’m a confident player, especially going into the draft. I can really care less about where I get drafted or if I get drafted, because I’m confident in my game enough that, whenever I get on the field, I’m going to do whatever it takes to stand out.
