Falcons Ready For Showdown At Wisconsin Saturday

Saturday, September 20

Madison, WI

12 PM ET

Bowling Green State University

Wisconsin

Buy Tickets

September 15, 2014 | Football

BGSU and UW will play in front of a national TV audience on ESPN2

By: by Scott Swegan, BGSU Athletic Communications

Bowling Green State University Falcons (2-1)
vs.
University of Wisconsin Badgers (1-1)
ESPN2 (Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway, Paul Carcaterra)
BGSU Radio Network (Todd Walker, John Gibson)
Complete Game Notes (.pdf)
Live Stats | Live Audio

Television
* Saturday's game will be available live on ESPN2 and the WatchESPN app
* Beth Mowins (play-by-play), Joey Galloway (analyst), and Paul Carcaterra (sideline) will be on the call

Radio
* Falcon Radio Network with Todd Walker (PxP) and John Gibson (analyst)
* Radio coverage can be heard on the flagship station for BGSU Football WFRO 99.1 FM in Fremont, Ohio as well as WCIT 940 AM (Lima, Ohio), WXKR 100.7 FM (Toledo, Ohio), WONW 1280 AM (Defiance, Ohio), WHKW 1220 AM (Cleveland, Ohio), and WHKW 1420 AM (Cleveland, Ohio).
* The Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO) broadcasts home games and select road games on 88.1 FM in Bowling Green.

Websites
* BGSUFalcons.com is the internet home of Bowling Green State University athletics
* Coverage of University of Wisconsin athletics is available at UWBadgers.com

Social Media
* Falcon fans can follow Falcon football all season long through several social media outlets which will provide in-game updates throughout the year.
* On Twitter, fans can follow @BGAthletics or @BG_Football (in-game updates), while on Instagram Falcon Athletics can be found at bgfalcons.

Online Coverage
* Live stats can be found at UWBadgers.com
* Live audio can be heard via the Falcon Radio Network on BGSUFalcons.com
* Live video can be accessed online via WatchESPN.com

The Teams
* Bowling Green is 2-1 on the season, coming off a 45-42 victory against the Indiana Hoosiers last week. The Falcons, after starting the season with a loss, have won two straight games.
* Wisconsin enters Saturday's game with a record of 1-1 on the season. The Badgers had a bye week this past weekend. UW started the season with a hard-fought loss to LSU, before defeating Western Illinois in their home opener.

Series Info
* Saturday's matchup will be the fourth ever meeting between the Falcons and Badgers. Wisconsin has won all three of the previous contests. The series began in 1992 with a 39-18 Wisconsin victory. In 2005, Wisconsin beat the Falcons 56-42, and followed it up with a 34-14 win in 2006. Saturday's game at Camp Randall Stadium will mark the third time that the Falcons have played at Wisconsin in the all-time series.

Falcons Head To Wisconsin For Another Big Ten/MAC Showdown
• For the second consecutive week, Bowling Green will take on a Big Ten Conference opponent when they travel to Wisconsin for a Saturday afternoon showdown with the Badgers.
• Last weekend, the Falcons defeated Indiana 45-42 inside of Doyt L. Perry Stadium.
• The win over a Big Ten Conference foe marked the first time that the Falcons have defeated a Big Ten team since downing Minnesota in 2007 to open the season.

Bowling Green Knocks Off Indiana
• In front of 23, 717 fans on Saturday (Sept. 13) afternoon inside of Doyt L. Perry Stadium, Bowling Green defeated Indiana 45-42 to move to 2-1 on the season.
• With 14 seconds left, James Knapke threw a perfect fade route to Roger Lewis for the game-winning touchdown.
• The second half featured nine lead changes between the two teams, with five of those (and most importantly, the final one) belonging to the Falcons.
• Bowling Green's 113 plays from scrimmage were a school record. The previous school record was 100 plays from scrimmage (Kent State, 2001)
• Roger Lewis' 16 receptions for 149 yards were both career highs and Doyt L. Perry Stadium records
• Bowling Green had five scoring drives of 75-or-more yards against Indiana. The Falcons had had just three such drives in their first two games of the season
• The Falcons had seven scoring drives of 10-or-more plays on Saturday afternoon; they had just one such drive during the first two games of the season.

What The Indiana Win Means For BGSU
• The victory against Indiana was Bowling Green's first against a Power Five conference team since 2008 (at Pittsburgh).
• The win over a Big Ten Conference foe was the Falcons' first since a road victory at Minnesota (2007).
• BGSU had not won a game against a Power Five conference school at Doyt L. Perry Stadium since Missouri in 2002.

What A Win At Wisconsin Would Mean
• A win on Saturday at Wisconsin would mark Bowling Green's third consecutive victory, after starting the season with a loss.
• A victory against the Badgers would be the Falcons' second win in as many weeks against a Big Ten Conference opponent.
• Coming out victorious on Saturday at Wisconsin would be Bowling Green's first road win against a Big Ten Conference team since 2007 at Minnesota.
• Defeating Wisconsin on Saturday would mark the first time in over a decade that the Falcons would have defeated consecutive Power Five conference opponents. That feat hasn't been accomplished at Bowling Green since winning at Kansas in 2002 and following that up with a 2003 victory at Purdue.
• 2002 marked the last season that the Falcons have defeated two Power Five schools in the same season. In the 2002 season, the Falcons defeated Missouri at Doyt Perry Stadium before going on the road to beat Kansas.

Falcons Continue Two-Game Stretch Versus Big Ten Opponents
• Bowling Green travels to Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon for their second consecutive matchup against a Big Ten foe. The Falcons defeated Indiana on Saturday afternoon to begin their two-game stretch, scoring in the game's final seconds to knock off the Hoosiers.
• The back-to-back games against Big Ten foes marks the first time since 2007 that Bowling Green has played opponents from the Big Ten Conference in consecutive weeks. In 2007, the Falcons defeated Minnesota to open the season before losing to Michigan State.
• All-time, the Falcons have a 6-16 record against Big Ten opponents. Bowling Green has defeated Indiana, Minnesota, Northwestern (twice), and Purdue (twice).

Head Coach Dino Babers
• Dino Babers is in his first season at Bowling Green in 2014, and his third as a head coach overall.
• He has a 2-1 record at Bowling Green, but holds a career record of 21-8. Babers has won a conference title in each of his first two seasons as a head coach.
• Babers has also been named conference coach of the year in both seasons as a head coach, after taking a last-place team and winning two Ohio Valley Conference crowns at EIU.
• Babers has an impressive pedigree of mentoring NFL-caliber players. His quarterback at EIU, Jimmy Garoppolo, was drafted in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. In total, Babers has coached more than 30 NFL players.
• On top of individual player success, Babers knows how to get the most out of his teams. Babers' teams have been to the postseason eight times in the past 10 seasons.

Knapke Given Keys To Offense
• Quarterback James Knapke (Fort Wayne, Ind.) has taken over the offense following a season-ending injury to opening game starter Matt Johnson.
• Knapke has been nothing short of outstanding, completing 68-of-104 passes for 632 yards in two games.
• In Saturday's win over Indiana, Knapke completed 46 passes on 73 attempts for 395 yards and three touchdowns -- all career highs.
• His 46 completions and 73 passing attempts were both school records.
• With his 46-of-73 day passing, Knapke became just the third player to ever complete more than 40 passes in a game at BGSU.
• The previous school record for pass attempts in a game was 63, set by Tyler Sheehan in 2009. Knapke's 73 attempts shattered that mark.
• In his debut as a starter, Knapke completed 22-of-31 passes for 237 yards.
• His 22 completions were the most for a first career start in a Bowling Green uniform since quarterback Matt Schilz went 22-of-43 at Troy on Sept. 4, 2010.
• Omar Jacobs was the last quarterback at BGSU to complete more passes than Knapke during a first career start. Jacobs completed 24-of-41 passes in a loss at Oklahoma on Sept. 4, 2004.

Lewis Leading Falcons
• Roger Lewis (Pickerington, Ohio) has been impressive to begin his career, recording 30 catches in his first three career games.
• Lewis has 362 receiving yards and two touchdowns through the first three weeks of the season.
• On Saturday against Indiana, Lewis set a Doyt Perry Stadium record with 16 receptions, and a career-high with 149 yards.
• His two yard reception with nine seconds left proved to be the game-winner, and his most important catch, giving the Falcons the victory over the Hoosiers.
• Lewis is first in the MAC (and inside the top 10 nationally) for receiving yards and receptions per game.

How Fast Can They Go
• While Bowling Green's offense only ran 71 plays in each of the first two games in 2014, they kicked it into a higher gear on Saturday against Indiana.
• The Falcons ran a school record-breaking 113 plays in the victory, surpassing the previous record of 100 plays.
• Bowling Green ran more plays than they had in the previous quarter during all four quarters on Saturday.
• In the first quarter the Falcons ran just 23 plays, before running 27 in the second quarter for a first-half total of 50.
• In the third quarter BGSU came out of halftime and ran 30 plays, before running 33 in the fourth quarter for a four-quarter total of 113.

Knapke Connects With Nine Receivers
• In Saturday's win over Indiana, quarterback James Knapke spread his 46 completions around to nine different receivers.
• Roger Lewis led the way with 16 receptions, while Heath Jackson, Ryan Burbrink, and Ronnie Moore all had six-or-more.
• Travis Greene (3), Gehrig Dieter (3), Herve Coby (2), Chris Pohlman (1), and Fred Coppet (1) also recorded catches in the game.
• Knapke found three different receivers for touchdowns in the game. Ronnie Moore, Ryan Burbrink and Roger Lewis all caught TD passes in the game.

Greene Means Go
• Travis Greene (Carol City, Fla.) surpassed 100 yards rushing for the 11th time in his career on Saturday against Indiana.
• Greene has 1,947 rushing yards in his career following his 123-yard performance against the Hoosiers.
• He is 13th all-time in career rushing, and just 53 yards away from becoming the 12th player in school history to rush for 2,000 yards.
• Greene set a school record in 2013 with 1,594 rushing yards.
• He also set a school record last season with nine games of 100-plus rushing yards.
• A versatile back, Greene scored touchdowns in eight games, including three multi-rushing touchdown contests.
• Of the five games that Greene did not reach 100 yards, he recorded more than 88 yards in three of those games.
• Eight of Greene's performances over the century mark saw him rush for 125-plus yards.
• Greene also recorded 18 receptions and two touchdowns in 2013. He had a season-high four catches for 71 yards and a score against Akron.

Coppet Finds Paydirt
• Fred Coppet (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) has been an integral part of Bowling Green's up-tempo attack in 2014.
• During the first three weeks of the season, the true sophomore has rushed for 154 yards on 23 touches. He has not been dropped for a loss on any carry.
• Coppet has also found the end zone in each of the first three games, his first three career touchdowns.

Special Teams Do Special Things
• Over the last several years, BGSU's special teams unit has proved to be one of the best in the Mid-American Conference.
• That trend has continued throughout the first three games of the season.
• Bowling Green scored two special teams touchdowns against VMI, after scoring just three during the entire 2013 season.
• Tyler Tate is averaging nearly 10 points per game thus far. He has made five field goals and 13 PATs. His four field goals versus IU were a new career high.
• Tate's four field goal makes set a new Doyt L. Perry Stadium record, and were tied for second-most in school history.

Falcons In The Spotlight
• All but one BGSU football game will air on the ESPN family of networks in 2014, with the recently announced MAC television contract extension with ESPN.
• This week's game at Wisconsin will be aired on ESPN2. It is already the third national TV appearance for the Falcons in 2014. All four games have been available via national broacasts.
• The season opener at WKU aired nationally on CBS Sports Network.
• The week two contest against VMI was aired to a national audience on ESPN3.
• Last Saturday's game against Indiana was live on ESPNU.

Sure-Handed Heath
• Heath Jackson (Ada, Ohio) has become one of Bowling Green's most reliable targets since the latter half of 2013.
• Jackson has continued as one of BGSU's top receivers to start the season, recording 19 receptions for 165 yards through three games.
• The redshirt senior ranks fourth in the MAC, averaging 6.3 receptions per game.

How #FalconFast Was Born
• After the departure of Dave Clawson for Wake Forest following the 2013 season, Director of Athletics Chris Kingston announced the hiring of Dino Babers on Dec. 18, 2013.
• A protege of Art Briles at Baylor, Babers brings with him an up-tempo and exciting brand of football to Bowling Green and Doyt L. Perry Stadium.
• Inheriting a team that averaged 34.8 points per game last season, Babers and his staff will have the opportunity to use a talented and deep roster to elevate the Falcon offense to greater heights in 2014.
• What can fans expect to see out of Bowling Green this season? Well, last year at Eastern Illinois, Babers' team outscored opponents by an average of 48.2 to 22.8.
• Quarterback Matt Johnson, who started the final 13 games of the 2013 season, has a veritable plethora of weapons to choose from in 2014. Among those weapons are running back Travis Greene, who set the school record with 1,594 rushing yards in 2013.

Offensive Line Clearing Way
• Through the first three games of the season, Bowling Green's offensive line has cleared the way for the Falcons to average more than 500 yards of offense per game.
• The Falcons also lead the MAC in passing offense and first down offense. They are also second in scoring offense, averaging 41.3 points per game.
• The offensive line features three returning starters from the 2013 team, and two others who made their first career starts against WKU to begin the 2014 season.
• Alex Huettel leads the way with 30 consecutive starts. He has started every game during his career.
• Both tackles - Jacob Bennett and Logan Dietz - have started 17 conseuctive games.
• Center Tim McAuliffe and right guard Ben Steward have started all three games this season for the Orange and Brown.

The Falcons By Class
• While the Falcons return a lot of experience in 2014, they are still fairly young. 63% of the roster enters the year with at least three years of eligibility remaining.
• 43 players enter the season with four years of eligibility remaining. The Falcons have 21 true freshmen and 22 redshirt freshmen.
• 20 players enter the year as sophomores eligibility-wise. The Falcons have just five true sophomores and 15 redshirt sophomores.
• The junior class has just 21 players, with 14 of them having redshirted.
• The 2014 senior class will consist of 16 players, while only four of them have not redshirted during their careers.

The Falcons By State
• Bowling Green has done a great job of recruiting their backyard in recent years. 70% of the roster hails from Ohio or states that immediately border the state of Ohio.
• 45 players on the 2014 roster are from Ohio. Florida (15) and Michigan (14) have the most student-athletes on the roster besides Ohio.
• The Falcons also have players from Illinois (6), Indiana (6), Pennsylvania (5), Texas (2), California (2), Massachusetts (1), Wisconsin (1), New York (1), Maryland (1), and Canada (1).

Falcons In The NFL
• The Falcons currently have four former players on NFL rosters.
• Shaun Suisham recently signed a long-term contract extension with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He will remain their placekicker through the 2018 season. On Sunday (Sept. 7), Suisham made three field goals and was a perfect 3-for-3 on extra point attempts. Suisham's 41-yarder as time expired gave the Steelers a 30-27 win over the Cleveland Browns.
• Kory Lichtensteiger, a member of the Washington Redskins, made the move to center for the 2014 season. Last year, Lichtensteiger started every game at guard.
• Chris Jones is in his second season in the NFL as a member of the New England Patriots. Jones was named the Patriots Defensive MVP following last season.
• Alex Bayer, an undrafted free agent, made the St. Louis Rams' 53-man roster. He led the Rams during preseason play with 10 catches.

Back-To-Back In The MAC
• Bowling Green will look to become the first team in the Mid-American Conference to repeat as champion since Miami University in 2003 and 2004.
• In fact, no team from the MAC East Division has even appeared in the Marathon MAC Championship Game in back-to-back seasons since Miami in '03 and '04.

Falcons Scoring At A Rapid Pace
• Bowling Green's offense has delivered as promised on quick scoring drives and up-tempo play thus far. 15 of the Falcons' 19 scoring drives have been under three minutes this year.
• The Falcons have eight scoring drives of 10-or-more plays in 2014, with seven of those coming against Indiana. BGSU has had 10 scoring drives through the first three games of the season which have covered 70 yards-or-more.
• All five of Bowling Green's touchdown drives on Saturday against Indiana were at least 10 plays and covered more than 75 yards. The Falcons had four touchdown drives of 10 plays, while the game-winning drive took 12 plays. The final two scoring drives for the Falcons covered 88 yards.

Meet The Coaching Staff
• Sterlin Gilbert (Co-Off. Coor./QB) comes with Dino Babers from EIU where he was named the FCS Coordinator of the Year in 2013. Gilbert mentored Walter Payton Award Winner (top FCS player) and second round draft pick Jimmy Garoppolo at EIU.
• Matt Mattox (Co-Off. Coor./OL) also comes to BGSU from EIU, where he was the offensive line coach last season. Mattox, who played at Houston under Art Briles, coached an offensive line which bullied defenses to the tune of over 8,000 yards last season.
• Kim McCloud (Def. Coor.) will be in his first season at BGSU, after serving as defensive coordinator at EIU the past two seasons. Prior to his stint at EIU, McCloud spent time in the MAC at Akron. He also coached with Babers at Baylor prior to that.
• Tom Kaufman (Spec. Teams Coor./LB) has plenty of Ohio ties. After graduating from John Carroll, Kaufman coached in the D3 ranks in Ohio for several years before joining up with Babers at EIU.
• Nick Monroe (Secondary) returns for his fifth season at Bowling Green. Last season, Monroe's secondary helped BGSU finish with the nation's sixth-best passing defense.
• Sean Lewis (Wide Receivers) mentored Erik Lora, the best receiver in FCS during 2013, at EIU. Lora and teammate Adam Drake both totaled over 1,300 receiving yards and combined for 32 touchdowns last season.
• Mike Lynch (Running Backs) comes to BGSU after spending the past nine seasons at Eastern Illinois. Last season, Lynch's running backs combined to rush for over 3,000 yards.
• Tom Freeman (Defensive Line) comes to BGSU with more than 30 years of collegiate coaching experience. He has coached with Babers at Pittsburgh, Purdue, EIU, and now Bowling Green.
• Mike Mickens (Cornerbacks) returns to his home state as an assistant coach under Babers in 2014. He was an All-American at Cincinnati in 2007 and 2008.
• Derek Shay (offense), Vincent Marshall (offense), Ben Olson (defense), and Kevin Anderson II (defense) will serve as graduate assistants in 2014.
• Roy Wittke (Director of Football Operations), Andrew Sowder (Director of Player Personnel/Recruiting), and Sean Edinger (Director of Strength & Conditioning) round out the football staff.

Several Falcons See First Action
• Eight Falcons have made their first career start through the first three weeks of the 2014 season.
• Gehrig Dieter (WR), Roger Lewis (WR), Tim McAuliffe (C), Nate Locke (LB), James Knapke (QB), Gus Schwieterman (DL), Jhalil Croley (DL), and Paul Senn (LB) have all started games for the Falcons this season.
• In addition to those eight 14 other Falcons have seen the first playing action of their careers during the first three games of the season.
• Nick Johnson (CB), Austin Valdez (LB), Monti Phillips (LB), Joe Davidson (P), Ryan Hunter (OL), John Klingerman (WR), Shannon Smith (DL), Cody Callaway (QB), Hunter Folkertsma (TE), Trevahn Beery (DB), Matt Robinson (DB), Dominique Carter (LB), Malik Brown (DL), and Trevor Roop (WR) have all made appearances during the first three weeks of the season.

Lewis Returning To Camp Randall
• BGSU assistant coach Sean Lewis will return to Camp Randall Stadium this weekend, a place very familiar to him as he played for the Badgers from 2004-07.
• This will be the third time that Lewis has been a part of a Bowling Green and Wisconsin game, playing the Falcons with UW in both 2005 and 2006.