SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Grant Loy is simultaneously one of Bowling Green’s most veteran and least experienced players.
The redshirt junior has been around more than most Falcons, but the quarterback has not played many meaningful snaps — or at least not before Saturday.
With 100 visitors from his hometown of New Washington, Ohio, in attendance at Notre Dame Stadium, Loy received the call for which he had been patiently waiting.
After three full years, four games, and two series, BGSU replaced starter Darius Wade with Loy, and the Falcons were able to see some movement against the No. 9 ranked team.
“Obviously, I haven’t played a whole lot,” Loy said, smiling. “I’m a redshirt junior and have played here and there, not a whole lot. It was just so much fun to get out there and be able to get into a flow.”
Falcons coach Scot Loeffler said the coaching staff determined Loy had earned playing time during the two weeks the Falcons had to prepare for Notre Dame.
“We decided that Grant was going to get an opportunity to play. He deserves it,” he said. “I thought he had a very good week of practice”
After throwing a self-described “awful” first pass that missed an open target, Loy finished 13-of-25 for 106 yards and an interception that came on a Hail Mary pass at the end of the first half.
Loy converted five third-downs — four through the air and one on the ground — to help a BG offense that had been converting less than 30 percent of the time before Saturday. The Falcons finished 8-for-17 on third downs when he was in the game.
“He did some good things out there today,” Loeffler said. “There were a couple times he had some missed opportunities, but there were some things he did today that were positive.”
Loy worked in tandem with a running game that saw two backs, Bryson Denley and Davon Jones, combine for 106 yards on 29 carries without starter Andrew Clair.
“It’s tough when you’re [in] third-and-long all the time and you’ve got to drop back,” Loy said. “Running the ball, that just changes everything. I think if we carry that over to Toledo [next week], we’re going to have some success doing it.”
Whether the Falcons found something in Loy for future weeks is to be determined.
Loeffler would not commit to either quarterback, saying that decision will be made in the coming days.
“We’ll find out,” Loeffler said. “I’ll never make a comment about a quarterback, good, bad, or indifferent, right after the game. We’ll decide where we’re going to go with that in the near future.
“We’ve got two guys on scholarship right now, and I know we’re going to need them both.”
MISSING SATURDAY: Clair, the starting running back, made the trip but did not play after re-aggravating a foot injury.
“We sent him to the doctor on Thursday to get him more medication, but he’s struggling right now,” Loeffler said. “He’s struggling to keep that foot healthy.”
Two other Bowling Green starters did not travel with the team to South Bend. Strong safety Jerry McBride III and left guard Sam Neverov, both who had started the first four games of the season, were ruled out with shoulder injuries.
Loeffler said he did not know when either would return.
First Published October 6, 2019, 1:03 a.m.
