BOWLING GREEN — It was a long, winding road of a first season for Scot Loeffler at Bowling Green, which concluded the season with a 49-7 loss Friday at Buffalo.
The Falcons now enter a critical offseason for the future of the program, as 2019 was their fourth straight losing season.
Three questions as BG puts a bow on 3-9 season:
1. Can the Falcons recruit their way back into competition?
This is the single biggest question facing the program, and a topic that Loeffler candidly has said will make or break what comes next at Bowling Green. The Falcons need three productive classes in a row to restock the roster, and that starts with a 2020 group that will be critically important. Bowling Green plans to sign 25 high-school players and simply cannot afford to miss with many of them. There is no such thing as batting 1.000 in recruiting, but the Falcons desperately need to rebuild both lines, they need all-MAC-caliber skill position players, and they need to find a long-term answer at quarterback. They’re trying quite hard to accomplish all three in this class.
2. Can BG develop what was a young roster?
If there is a silver lining for Bowling Green, it’s that 80 percent of its scholarship players have eligibility remaining. All-MAC running back Andrew Clair will have two years of eligibility remaining because of a foot injury this season, a very green secondary saw tons of game action, four of five offensive linemen plus three of the top four pass catchers are on track to return, and quarterback Matt McDonald can play next season. The key now is developing a host of freshmen and sophomores — more than half the roster — to the point where they can take on bigger roles in 2020.
3. What’s realistic for 2020?
The Falcons need a significant overhaul to win again, but turnarounds in the MAC can happen quickly and unexpectedly. Kent State was glued to the bottom of the standings for years, but went from 2-10 to bowl eligible in the second season for coach Sean Lewis. Central Michigan went 1-11 in 2018 and won the MAC West in 2019. Eastern Michigan went to a bowl game in 2016 after finishing 1-11 in 2015. In this league, it happens frequently, and the Falcons should be more equipped to handle a full season next year than they were in 2019.
First Published December 1, 2019, 3:30 p.m.
