BOWLING GREEN — When Austin Osborne was in the transfer portal out of the University of Washington, he turned to an old friend.

Bowling Green State University’s star wide receiver wanted opportunity, and that is exactly what he has found in northwest Ohio. He entered the portal in April, and his former high-school teammate began to court his friend to join his team.

That teammate is Falcons quarterback Matt McDonald.

“When Matt reached out to me and encouraged me to join this program, he just told me how special it is here, and how I could come over to Bowling Green and be a part of a program that’s building something really special and being able to contribute to a culture in the locker room that is in an upward, trending direction,” Osborne said this week.

“That’s what it came down to, it was playing with my old high school buddy again and being a part of a program that’s building something special, and looking back I know I made such a good decision.”

Osborne graduated from Mission Viejo High School in California in 2018, one year after McDonald did so in 2017. In Osborne’s junior and McDonald’s senior year, the duo connected 36 times for 961 yards and 16 touchdowns. McDonald committed to Boston College on Feb. 1, 2017, and Osborne made his commitment to Washington nine days later.

McDonald was a three-star recruit, according to 247Sports, and Osborne was a four-star recruit. McDonald was recruited by Falcons head coach Scot Loeffler, who at the time was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Boston College.

When Loeffler left Boston College to become the head coach at BGSU prior the 2019 season, McDonald followed suit a handful of months later by transferring to BGSU to play for the coach who recruited him.

Now, the Falcons have an elite connection in McDonald and Osborne, with Loeffler’s offensive savvy captaining the ship. 

“[Osborne’s] been an immediate impact player, just not for his ability, but for that wide receiver room in general,” Loeffler said earlier in September. “He knows how to do it. I mean, he walked in here, he learned the offense in two months. This offense, it takes a little time to pick up, and he picked it up immediately. The urgency that he has in that receiver room, that leadership quality. He's making Tyrone Broden much better, making the whole room better, and him having, you know, obviously ability, but having those leadership qualities is going to make that wide receiver room even better.”

Osborne and McDonald did not waste time in renewing their chemistry. Through BGSU’s first two games, the pair has hooked up 15 times — nearly double the next receiver’s reception total — for 84 yards. 

“That’s my guy,” McDonald said this season. “He was my go-to receiver; we threw all the time when I was at home, so we’ve had great chemistry for years now. I know where he’s going to be, and he trusts me to put the ball where it needs to be.”

In Saturday’s 27-10 victory over Football Championship Subdivision team Murray State, Osborne recorded six catches for a game-high 69 yards, including 32 yards after the catch and a long grab of 33 yards.

Osborne is not just creating and seizing opportunities for himself. He said one of his main goals at BGSU is to elevate the play of the receivers room as a whole.

“It’s kind of funny because [wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator Erik Campbell] emphasizes it to the receivers every day that if you can just catch — we run so many routes in practice, we run so many reps in the team period — and it just comes down to pitching and catching,” Osborne said. “Same thing from me and Matt in high school is the same thing you see with all the receivers on the field.”

Osborne preached about polishing the standards at which the Falcons operate.

“The standard, in my opinion, is just doing the small details and how you do all things,” he said. “It just comes down to running crisp routes, catching the football, always knowing your assignment, doing your job every single play. And the biggest thing is doing your assignment and executing your assignment. It doesn’t really matter if you run a good route and you drop the ball. You didn’t execute. So it’s just making sure that as receivers we know what our job is and  we’re expected to execute our job on every single play.”

First Published September 19, 2021, 12:41 a.m.