BOWLING GREEN — Come Saturday, Bowling Green will have a definitive starting quarterback.
For now, the Falcons just have a conjunction.
On the weekly depth chart, “or” was the keyword between quarterbacks Grant Loy and Darius Wade, the latter of whom started the first five games of the season.
But last week against Notre Dame, Bowling Green opted for a switch, replacing Wade with Loy midway through the first quarter. The Falcons saw flickers of life from an offense that has struggled most of the season, leading to questions regarding whether Loy could start this week against Toledo.
At least publicly, the Falcons aren’t making a decision just yet.
“We’ll decide that at the end of the week,” Falcons coach Scot Loeffler said.
On the other side of the rivalry, Toledo coach Jason Candle said that the Rockets will not do anything drastic just because of the Falcons’ uncertainty at quarterback.
“To sit here and say we are going to make a cut-up of every throw that each quarterback made and dissect each one and try to put two defensive game plans in place, I don't think that is realistic,” he said.
Quarterback, which looked to be one of Bowling Green’s few areas of strength during spring practice, instead became something of a carousel during the summer months.
Entrenched starter Jarret Doege went through all of spring practice and then transferred to West Virginia — a move that caught BGSU by surprise — opening up a competition during training camp.
Boston College transfer Matt McDonald won the job, but the NCAA rejected his application for a waiver to be immediately eligible this season. The decision, coupled with the transfer of redshirt freshman Bryce Veasley shortly before the start of training camp, left BG with two available scholarship quarterbacks this season.
The Falcons then started Wade, a sixth-year graduate transfer who also had previously played under Loeffler at Boston College. Wade threw three touchdown passes in BG’s season-opener against Morgan State, but since has completed 46 of 84 attempts (54.8 percent) for 415 yards and 3 interceptions.
The Falcons made a switch at Notre Dame, where Loy finished 13-for-25 for 106 yards and an interception on a desperation pass at the end of the first half. BG’s offense failed to score, but saw some offensive movement.
Loeffler said Loy had two instances in which he anticipated well, which had been an issue in the past.
“There was some improvement with him,” Loeffler said. “He’s got a lot of things to continue to work on. I thought he did a great job with leadership in the huddle. I thought he tried to drive the team.
“Mistake-wise, there are some things in the passing game that you’d really like to see improved, and he’s working on them really hard.”
Toledo has won nine straight games against BG and is a heavy favorite to win a 10th straight.
But regardless of who plays quarterback for Bowling Green when Toledo visits Doyt Perry Stadium, the plan remains the same for the Rockets.
“I think they'll do a good job of putting a plan together no matter who it is to give him a chance to be successful,” Candle said. “There are still only so many gaps you can create on the football field. We have to have somebody in those gaps.”
First Published October 7, 2019, 9:22 p.m.
