Falcons Welcome Ball State To Town For Senior Day

Friday, November 28

Bowling Green, Ohio

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Ball State

November 24, 2014 | Football

By: by Scott Swegan, BGSU Athletic Communications

BGSU Falcons (7-4, 5-2 MAC)
vs.
Ball State Cardinals (4-7, 3-4 MAC)
ESPN3
Falcon Radio Network (Todd Walker, John Gibson)
Complete Game Notes (.pdf)
Live Stats | Live Audio

Television
* Friday's game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.
* Bob Picozzi will handle the play-by-play descriptions while Bob Chmeil will provide analysis throughout the contest.

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/WWSR 93.1 FM (Lima, Ohio), WLQR 106.5 FM/1470 AM (Toledo, Ohio), WONW 1280 AM (Defiance, Ohio), and WHKW 1220 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 Ball State University athletics can be found at BallStateSports.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 BGSUFalcons.com under the football schedule page
* 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 MAC East champions for the second straight season after clinching with a 30-20 win over Kent State on Nov. 12. The last time out, BGSU was defeated by Toledo, 27-20. Following the game against the Cardinals, BGSU will travel to Ford Field for the MAC Championship Game on Dec. 5.
* Ball State comes into the regular season finale at 4-7 on the season. The Cardinals will be looking to finish the season at .500 in MAC play with a win on Friday. BSU is 3-4 in the MAC following a 45-30 win over Eastern Michigan on Nov. 22.

Series Info
* Bowling Green leads the all-time series with Ball State, owning a record of 20-8-1. The Falcons and Cardinals last met in 2009, with BGSU winning 31-17. In fact, the Falcons have won six straight in the all-time series. Ball State's last win against Bowling Green came in 1996.

Bowling Green Hosts Ball State For Senior Day
• The Bowling Green State University football team (7-4, 5-2 MAC) will host Ball State University in the regular season finale on Friday afternoon. The game will be Senior Day for the Orange and Brown, as the Falcons will honor the senior class on the field prior to kickoff.
• Following today's game, BGSU will turn its attention towards the Mid-American Conference Championship Game. The Falcons will take on the West Division champion on Dec. 5 inside of Ford Field in Detroit, Mich.
• Bowling Green was early to clinch the MAC East Division this season, doing so after just six conference games, and 10 total games. Only one other team - Oregon - clinched their trip to a conference championship game before the Falcons.
• The Falcons come into the game off a loss to arch-rival Toledo, 27-20, last Wednesday (Nov. 19) at the Glass Bowl.
• Ball State comes into the game after defeating Eastern Michigan 45-30 on Saturday (Nov. 22). The Cardinals have an overall record of 4-7 on the year and are 3-4 in the MAC.

A Win Against Ball State Would...
• Give the Falcons their eighth regular season win, which would mark the second straight season in which BGSU has won at least eight games in the regular season.
• Make the Falcons 8-4 to finish the regular season, including a 6-2 record in MAC play.
• Mark Bowling Green's eighth 8-win season since 2001, including their third straight.
• Send the Falcons to the MAC Championship Game coming off of a win.
• Be Bowling Green's first win against a West Division team in 2014 and first since Nov. 23, 2013 when BGSU defeated Eastern Michigan on the road.
• Improve Bowling Green's record to 5-1 at Doyt L. Perry Stadium this season. The Falcons are 13-3 at home since the beginning of the 2012 season.

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 7-4 record at Bowling Green, but holds a career record of 26-11. 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.
• 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.

Falcons Have Won The East By Beating The East
• Since the beginning of the 2012 season, Bowling Green has been dominant against competition from the East Division. It is no coincidence, that for the third straight season, the Falcons were once again in position to win the East Division in November.
• Bowling Green has gone 16-1 against East Division competition since the start of the 2012 campaign. The Falcons' lone loss proved costly, as a 2012 loss vs. Kent State decided the MAC East division.
• Last season, the Falcons went 6-0 against teams from the East to win the division, and this year the Falcons finished 5-0 against teams from their division.
• The Orange and Brown have now won 12 consecutive games against teams from the MAC East.

Babers, Falcons Know How To Bounce Back
• Since becoming a head coach, Dino Babers has not lost many games. Not coincidentally, he has a strong record in games after a loss. Babers is 6-2 in his young head coaching career after a loss, including 3-0 this season. In that same time period, BGSU is also 6-2 after a loss.
Top True Freshman In The Nation
• Just four freshman have three-or-more interceptions in FBS football, and two of them don the Orange and Brown of Bowling Green.
• Nick Johnson (5) and Clint Stephens (3) are the only two true freshman in the entire country to have three-or-more interceptions in 2014.
• Freshmen in FBS football with three-or-more interceptions in 2014:

   Player   School   INT
1. Parry Nickerson (RFr.)   Tulane   6
2. Nick Johnson (Fr.)   Bowling Green   5
T3. Clint Stephens (Fr.)   Bowling Green   3
T3. Godwin Igwebuike (RFr.)   Northwestern   3

Pick Johnson
• True freshman Nick Johnson (Canton, Ohio) has five interceptions through his first 10 career games, after intercepting Toledo's Logan Woodside in the Falcons' last game and returning it 40 yards into Rockets' territory.
• With the interception, Johnson became just the second true freshman in school history to have five interceptions during his inaugural campaign.
• He is the first Falcon since P.J. Mahone in 2007 to have at least five interceptions. In that 2007 season, Mahone had seven picks.
• The only other Falcon freshman to ever record five interceptions in a season was Martin Bayless in 1980.
• With one more interception, Johnson will set the all-time record for interceptions by a freshman at Bowling Green.
• Most interceptions by true freshmen in BGSU program history:

   Player   Year   INT
T1. Nick Johnson   2014   5
T1. Martin Bayless   1980   5

The Ohio Difference
• After playing games in four different states during the first five weeks of the season, Bowling Green will have played the final seven games of the regular season inside the state of Ohio -- including four at the Doyt -- after Friday's game against Ball State.
• The Falcons have a combined record of 13-3 in games played inside the state of Ohio since the start of the 2013 season.

Making Things Happen
• The Bowling Green defense has turned up the pressure during the last three games, forcing 13 turnovers in three November games.
• With 27 total turnovers created this season, that means Bowling Green forced just 14 turnovers during the first eight weeks of the season.
• In wins against Kent State and Akron, the Falcons forced five turnovers in each win. The Orange and Brown had a plus-7 turnover margin in those two victories.
• In their last game against Toledo, BGSU forced three turnovers and did not commit one themselves. Bowling Green has a turnover margin of plus-10 during the last three games.
• The Falcons are now first in the MAC and seventh nationally with 27 turnovers gained.

Defense Stifling Opponents
• Over the past 5 1/2 games, Bowling Green's defense has played up to their potential, holding opponents to 103 total points.
• Allowing just 4.7 points per quarter since halftime of the Buffalo game, the BGSU defense is a big reason why the Falcons sit 5-2 in the MAC and as East Division champions with time to spare in the regular season.

Three-Way Backfield Attack
• Bowling Green enters the final week of the regular season having started three different running backs in each of the last three weeks.
• Travis Greene, Fred Coppet, and Andre Givens have all gotten starts in the past three games. All three have at least one 100-yard rushing game this season.
• Greene is the Falcons' leading rusher this season. He has 644 yards and eight touchdowns.
• Coppet and Givens both have 98 carries this season. Coppet has rushed for 513 yards and five touchdowns in 2014, while Givens has 470 yards and eight scores.
• If Givens surpasses 500 total yards (needs 30 more) rushing, it will mark the first time in school history (dating back to 1959) that Bowling Green has had at least three players rush for 500 yards in the same season.

Babers Protecting Home Turf
• Despite losing to Western Michigan at home on Oct. 18, head coach Dino Babers has an impressive record at home.As a head coach, Babers is now 15-2 at home overall, and 14-1 in home regular season contests.

Early To Clinch Their Spot
• BGSU became just the second team in the country to clinch their spot in a conference championship game by virtue of clinching their division with a 30-20 victory over Kent State on Nov. 12.
• The Falcons are one of just five teams to date (Nov. 22) to have locked up their spot in their upcoming championship game. Oregon, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Marshall join Bowling Green in their respective championship games.

Lewis Chasing 1,000
• Bowling Green true freshman wideout Roger Lewis is looking to become the first freshman in school history to surpass 1,000 yards receiving in a season.
• Just six players have had seasons of 1,000 yards receiving in program history.
• The Pickerington, Ohio native currently has 874 yards on the year. He leads the team with 62 receptions.

An Experienced Group
• Through the first 11 games of the season, Bowling Green has had 10 players start every game thus far.
• On the offensive side of the ball, 6-of-11 players have started all 11 games, while 4-of-11 defensive players have made the start in every game thus far.
• 11 current players have started 20-or-more games in their career. Ryland Ward (45), Alex Huettel (38), Bryan Thomas (34), Charlie Walker (32), Gabe Martin (30), Jacob Bennett (25), Logan Dietz (25), Darrell Hunter (24), Ryan Burbrink (22), D.J. Lynch (22) and Travis Greene (20) have all started at least 20 games during their Falcon careers.

Winning The Turnover Margin
• The Falcons have won the turnover margin seven times this season, which is no surprise given that the defense has forced 27 turnovers to date.
• BGSU is 5-2 when winning the turnover battle. The Falcons have a plus-10 turnover margin during the last three games.

Spreading It Around
• Bowling Green is one of just 10 FBS programs to have at least six receivers with 20-or-more receptions this season.
• BGSU is one of just six teams, however, to have at least three players with 40-or-more receptions on the season.
• Roger Lewis (62), Ryan Burbrink (52) and Ronnie Moore (43) all have more than 40 receptions this season. That trio has combined for 13 receiving touchdowns this season and 16 total touchdowns.
• The Falcons are one of just three programs in FBS football to have at least three receivers with 40-or-more receptions and six receivers with at least 20 catches. The Falcons join Texas A&M and Washington State in that elite group.

Tate Is Great
• Tyler Tate (Carroll, Ohio) has put up numbers over the past two seasons which rival Shaun Suisham, a current member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, in Bowling Green's all-time record books.
• Tate has converted 19-of-23 field goals this season, which is second-most for a single season in school history. Tate trails just Brian Leaver, who made 21 field goals in 1994. With his two makes against Toledo, Tate surpassed his 18 field goals made from 2013.
• For his career, Tate has converted 44 field goals, which puts him in a three-way tie for second-most all-time. He trails Suisham (2001-04) by just one field goal make for the all-time record, which currently stands at 45.
• Tate has been named MAC East Special Teams Player of the Week on three different occasions this season.

Bringing The Heat
• The Falcons' defense has been tough to crack over the past few years, and this year the aggressive style has made it difficult as of late for opponents to produce offensively.
• Four Falcons have recorded at least 6.0 tackles for loss this season, led by Gabe Martin's 12.0. Bryan Thomas (11.5), Gus Schwieterman (6.5) and Brian Sutton (6.0) all join Martin in leading the Falcons' attack.
• Five Falcons -- Taylor Royster, Paul Senn, James Sanford, Bryan Baird and Jude Adjei-Barimah -- have at least 4.0.

Royster In The Right Place
• Taylor Royster has stepped up all season on the defensive line, proving his worth to the Falcons with his nose for the ball. A native of Lima, Ohio, Royster is a redshirt junior this season.
• Through 11 games, Royster has recovered four fumbles and also recorded an interception. He has 4.5 tackles for loss and one quarterback hurry.
• The four fumble recoveries are first in the Mid-American Conference and also first in the country.
• Royster's interception against Kent State earned him the No. 1 play on SportsCenter's Top Ten plays (Nov. 12). On the play, Royster peeled back after rushing the passer, hustling back to make a diving interception off of a tipped pass before the ball hit the ground.

BT In The Backfield
• Bryan Thomas (Washington, Pa.) has been disruptive, to say the least, in the opponent's backfield this season. Thomas is currently leading the Falcons with 6.0 sacks this season (4th MAC) and is second with 11.5 tackles for loss (4th MAC).
• The redshirt senior currently is first in the MAC in forced fumbles with five. His five forced fumbles ranks sixth in the country.

Among The Top Of The MAC
• Four Falcons defensive players are at, or near, the top of the statistical rankings among players in the Mid-American Conference.
• Nick Johnson is currently tied for the MAC lead with five interceptions this season. Both him and Miami's Quinten Rollins have intercepted five passes through 11 games.
• Taylor Royster leads the MAC, and nation, with four fumbles recovered. Royster has also added an interception this season.
• Bryan Thomas is first in the MAC with five fumbles forced. He is also fourth in both sacks and tackles for loss.
• Gabe Martin's 12.0 tackles for loss currently ranks third among all MAC players.

Martin Menacing The Opposition
• Senior Gabe Martin (Grand Blanc, Mich.) is taking advantage of his final season in the Orange and Brown, leading the team in tackles (91) and tackles for loss (12.0).
• A two-time All-MAC performer, Martin is tracking towards his third consecutive season on the All-MAC team. In his last game at Toledo, Martin had 12 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and a blocked field goal.

#FalconFast Scores At A Frenetic Pace
• Bowling Green's offense is the fastest in the country, based on the amount of time between each offensive snap.
• The Falcons have had 24 touchdown drives which have been two minutes or less this season, including both of their touchdown-scoring drives in their last game against Toledo.
• Of their 39 touchdown drives this season, 24 of them (62-percent) have taken less than 120 seconds.
• BGSU has eight touchdown drives of less than a minute this year.

Winning The Close Games
• One sign of a winning football team is when that program can win the close games - the games that come down to the team that can make one more play than the opponent.
• The Falcons, who have done exactly that this season, are 4-1 in games decided by 10 points or less.
• Three of the four wins have come at home, while the Orange and Brown defeated UMass on the road in the game's final minutes.
• BGSU defeated Indiana in the game's final seconds on Sept. 13 at home, 45-42. The Orange and Brown have also won close games at home against Buffalo (W, 36-35) and Kent State (W, 30-20).

Falcons In The NFL
• The Falcons currently have four former players on NFL rosters.
• Shaun Suisham signed a long-term contract extension with the Pittsburgh Steelers during the offseason. He will remain their placekicker through the 2018 season. Suisham is 18-for-20 on field goal attempts, and a perfect 32-of-32 on extra point attempts.
• Kory Lichtensteiger, a member of the Washington Redskins, made the move to center for the 2014 season. He has started every game over the past three seasons. The Redskins currently sit 3-7 overall on the season and will play at San Francisco this weekend.
• 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. So far this season, Jones has recorded 15 tackles and 1.5 sacks in nine games played.
• Alex Bayer, an undrafted free agent, made the St. Louis Rams' 53-man roster. He led the Rams during preseason play with 10 catches.

Several Falcons See First Action
• So far this season, 14 Falcons have made their first career start and 15 others have played for the first time in their careers.
• Gehrig Dieter (WR), Roger Lewis (WR), Tim McAuliffe (C), Nate Locke (LB), James Knapke (QB), Gus Schwieterman (DL), Jhalil Croley (DL), Paul Senn (LB), Austin Valdez (LB), James Sanford (LB), Dernard Turner (DB), Nick Johnson (DB), Fred Coppet (RB) and Andre Givens (RB) have all started games for the Falcons this season.
• 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), Trevor Roop (WR), Brandon English (RB), Nilijah Ballew (DB), and Ben Hale (DB) have all made appearances during the first 10 weeks of the season.

Falcons In The Spotlight
• Falcon fans all around the country will have the chance to watch every BGSU Football game in 2014. All 12 regular season games will appear via national broadcast on various platforms.
• The games against Western Kentucky (CBS Sports Network), Indiana (ESPNU), Wisconsin (ESPN2), Buffalo (ESPN GamePlan), Western Michigan (ESPN GamePlan), Akron (ESPN2), Kent State (ESPN2) and Toledo (ESPN2) have all appeared on National TV.
• ESPN3 has broadcast games versus VMI, UMass, and Ohio thus far, and will broadcast this week's game at home against Ball State.