BOWLING GREEN — College football training camps are planned to begin later this week, with Bowling Green set to start its camp on Friday.

The coronavirus pandemic is the story for universities and their football teams, although it appears nearly all of them, as of Tuesday, will at least attempt to start the fall season.

If the Falcons can play the season, the five biggest on-field storylines going into training camp:

1. Can Bowling Green be the MAC's surprise team?

In a league with this much parity — since 2012, 10 of the 12 current MAC teams have won their division at least once — there is bound to be a surprise team or two. Last year, it was Central Michigan, which won the West Division after a 1-11 season the year prior, and Kent State, which ended a streak of five straight seasons with three or fewer wins by becoming a surprise contender and winning its first-ever bowl game.

Bowling Green is coming off its worst-ever four-year stretch as a program, but mobility is always possible in the MAC East, especially, where five different teams have claimed a division title in the past five years.

The Falcons will trend very young, but they have a handful of All-MAC candidates and added their best recruiting class in years.

2. Matt McDonald's time to shine

The redshirt junior quarterback would have a nearly unimpeachable claim to the starting job for the Falcons. McDonald originally committed to run Scot Loeffler's offense at Boston College — where Loeffler was the offensive coordinator before accepting the head coaching job at BG — and has, by far, the most experience on the roster.

McDonald redshirted his first season at Boston College, played sparingly during the second, and won the starting job after transferring to BG in his third, but was denied immediate eligibility by the NCAA.

Although he hasn't appeared in any games for Bowling Green, McDonald has three full years in this offense and no one ahead of him on the depth chart.

3. The Freshman Horde's impact

Of all the scholarship players on Bowling Green's full projected roster, nearly 49 percent of them would have freshman eligibility in 2020. That's a massive chunk of the roster, and an unavoidable part of the Falcons' efforts to revamp the overall state of the team.

Loeffler has said previously that freshmen will have to play — but when and where will be an ongoing theme. The Falcons' backup quarterback will be a freshman, they'll need freshmen to step into the rotations at running back, receiver, cornerback, and on the defensive line, and special teams roles will be up for grabs.

4. Replacing the offensive line

BG's two most veteran linemen are gone, as center Jack Kramer graduated and left tackle Caleb Bright retired after several substantial injuries. Matt Tanner, BG's top reserve who started multiple games at guard last year, also graduated.

But there just aren't many veteran options for Bowling Green. The Falcons have only three scholarship offensive linemen who are juniors or seniors, and all of them already were starters.

The Falcons likely will try out Cameron Stage at either guard or center, but one of the tackle positions will be a very open competition.

5. Quintin Morris' emergence as one of the MAC's top targets

Loeffler's offense emphasizes tight ends, and Morris showed tremendous potential in a new role last year. He caught 55 passes for 649 yards and four touchdowns, all team highs and among the top marks for a tight end nationally.

Morris came to Bowling Green as a wide receiver, but has a bigger build (6-foot-4, 248 pounds) that often makes him a matchup problem for opposing defenses.

Given good health, Morris could again be on the shortlist of the country's most productive tight ends.

First Published August 4, 2020, 6:26 p.m.