BOWLING GREEN — Altering set routines to accommodate midweek games sometimes can be a chore for teams in the Mid-American Conference, but Bowling Green believes its schedule switch is arriving at exactly the right time.
The Falcons played their final Saturday game of the season last week, and now find themselves with a much-needed opportunity to recuperate. Bowling Green won’t play again until Nov. 13 at Miami, which means four extra days of recovery.
Five starters and backup running back Davon Jones did not play in BG’s 35-6 win against Akron last week, and starter Andrew Clair played but continues to battle a foot injury.
“I think that these little, extra 10-day breaks are beneficial for all MAC teams, but especially for us,” Falcons center Jack Kramer said. “I know we’ve got a couple guys banged up, so we’ll get those guys back this week and it’ll be huge for us as a team.”
While Ohio and Miami play in a key game in the MAC East Division on Wednesday — the Falcons play both teams six days apart this month — BG will have a chance to rest.
Before playing Akron last week, Bowling Green coach Scot Loeffler said the Falcons were so beaten up that they had to cut back on drills that have winners and losers, which he said is valuable part of practice time.
“The one thing that I’ve learned from those great coaches [who] I’ve been around: You have to have competitive drills against your own team constantly to maintain the speed and improve your football team,” Loeffler said.
Three opening-day starters in the secondary did not play against Akron, nor did offensive lineman Caleb Bright or defensive tackle DeMontae Haigler.
Loeffler said BG plans to return to its standard practice routine, but at the same time be mindful of the current situation.
“We’re going to take these next couple days, [and] we’re going to do a lot of competitive drills against us to improve our football team, yet be smart with the guys who’ve played a bunch,” Loeffler said. “We want to get them healthy and get the young guys involved as much as we can so they can help us in the latter half of the season.”
Even in the face of injuries, BG’s defense was able to overrun Akron for the Falcons’ biggest FBS win in two years. In addition to holding the Zips to just 100 total yards, the Falcons’ defense forced four turnovers that gave their offense the ball inside Akron territory, three of which turned into touchdowns and one that allowed them to run out the clock in the fourth quarter.
Added to a victory against Toledo, BG is now 2-2 in its last four games.
“Now, we just have to be more consistent with our approach,” BG defensive end David Konowalski said. “If we play every game with the emotion of Akron and Toledo, we’ll be better off. [We’re] just trying to find that consistency.”
BG still has to play the top teams in the MAC East, although the Falcons believe their last game plus a break can lead to good things.
“That win was huge for us,” Kramer said. “We’re sitting at 3-6 right now, and that definitely gave us a little momentum going into the end of the year.”
First Published November 4, 2019, 9:36 p.m.
