BOWLING GREEN – A trip to The Big House and a lot of unfamiliar faces on the opposing sideline will be in store for Bowling Green State University’s football team when the Falcons compete in their nonconference schedule for the 2023 season.
BGSU will be road warriors to start the campaign, with three of its four contests being away from Doyt L. Perry Stadium. It’s the first time since 2017 that the Falcons have had the majority of their nonleague games on the road.
In three of the past four seasons — not including the coronavirus-impacted 2020 campaign in which the Falcons played a handful of Mid-American Conference teams — BGSU has posted a 1-3 record in nonleague play. The Falcons’ lone victory in 2022 was a thrilling 34-31 overtime win at home against Marshall.
Here is an early look at BGSU’s 2023 nonconference schedule:
Sept. 2: at Liberty
BGSU’s season-opening opponent will ring a bell for those who followed bowl games featuring northwest Ohio teams to end the 2022 season.
The Falcons will hit the road to face Liberty, which lost to Toledo 21-19 in the Boca Raton Bowl on Dec. 20.
BGSU and Liberty have squared off just once before on the gridiron. The Falcons rolled to a 62-3 win at home during a memorable 2003 season when BGSU went 11-3 overall and edged Northwestern 28-24 in the Motor City Bowl.
The Flames burst out of the gate with wins in eight of their first nine games to begin the 2022 season, but they lost their final four contests to finish 8-5 for the second straight year. One of those losses was to New Mexico State, which beat BGSU 24-19 in the Quick Lane Bowl.
Since joining the FBS in 2018, Liberty has posted a 40-22 record, including a 3-1 mark in bowl games. Jamey Chadwell, who took over as Liberty’s head coach in early December, has had success guiding programs, as well: He has a 99-57 overall record, including a 31-6 mark the past three seasons at Coastal Carolina.
Sept. 9: Eastern Illinois
BGSU’s lone home nonconference game will be against FCS opponent Eastern Illinois. The two schools will be meeting for the first time.
Eastern Illinois, a member of the Ohio Valley Conference, went 2-9 a year ago and has compiled just eight wins in the past five seasons.
A recent connection between the Falcons and Panthers is a noteworthy one. Dino Babers, who has coached at Syracuse for the past seven seasons, previously spent two years apiece at BGSU and Eastern Illinois.
Babers guided the Panthers to a 19-7 record in the 2012 and 2013 seasons, then led the Falcons to an 18-9 mark the next two years.
Sept. 16: at Michigan
The trip to Michigan Stadium is certainly the most glamorous aspect of BGSU’s nonleague slate.
The Falcons and Wolverines have met twice before in Ann Arbor. Michigan rolled in both matchups, including a 42-7 win in 2000 and a 65-21 victory in 2010.
BGSU has a 4-6 record against Big Ten programs in the past decade. The Falcons stunned 31½-point favorite Minnesota 14-10 on the road in 2021, beat Maryland 48-27 and Purdue 35-28 in 2015, and topped Indiana 45-42 in 2014.
Michigan, however, has returned to national prominence with back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances, Big Ten championships, and wins over Ohio State. The Wolverines have a 25-3 record the past two seasons, with two of those losses coming to Georgia 34-11 in the 2021 Orange Bowl and Texas Christian 51-45 in Saturday’s Fiesta Bowl.
Sept. 30: at Georgia Tech
A second matchup against a Power Five team will conclude the Falcons’ non-MAC schedule.
BGSU and Georgia Tech have met just once, with the Yellow Jackets rolling to a 63-17 home win in 2018 behind eight rushing touchdowns in former coach Paul Johnson’s run-heavy offense.
Johnson retired following the 2018 season with an 82-61 record at Georgia Tech, and the Yellow Jackets have struggled since.
Georgia Tech went 5-7 in 2022 after notching just three wins in each of the three previous seasons. Geoff Collins, who took over as head coach in 2019, was relieved of his duties in late September.
Brent Key, who was named the interim coach, directed the Yellow Jackets to a 4-4 record in their final eight games and was named head coach in late November. Two of those wins were over ranked opponents in No. 24 Pittsburgh on Oct. 1 and No. 11 North Carolina on Nov. 19.
First Published January 4, 2023, 10:17 p.m.
