Bowling Green Offseason Guide

[PoopyRhinoPickle]

2021 Review

 

2021 Schedule

 

Week	Opponent	Result
1	at Ohio State	L 7-20
2	at Nevada	W 19-10
3	Cincinnati	L 10-13
4	at Kent State	L 15-24
6	Eastern Michigan	W 23-7
7	at Northern Illinois	W 26-0
8	Hawaii	L 34-42
9	Akron	L 27-29
10	at Miami (OH)	W 47-13
11	at Buffalo	W 31-10
12	Ohio	L 23-35
13	Toledo	W 22-0
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl	New Mexico	W 13-10

MAC Standings

 

West Team	Conf Record	Overall Record		East Team	Conf Record	Overall Record
Western Michigan	5-3	8-5		Ohio	8-1	12-3
Central Michigan	5-3	8-5		Akron	6-2	9-4
Ball State	5-4	5-8		Bowling Green	5-3	7-6
Northern Illinois	3-5	5-7		Kent State	3-5	5-7
Eastern Michigan	3-5	5-7		Buffalo	3-5	4-8
Toledo	1-7	2-10		Miami (OH)	2-6	5-7

Honors

MAC All-Conference

1st Team

-DT Chris LaDouceur

-OLB Sandy Rankin

 

2nd Team

-DE Trayce Alvarez

 

Team Awards

 

 

Offensive MVP - QB/RB Jurickson Elflein - 363 carries, 1935 rush yards, 18 rush TDs, 17 catches, 183 receiving yards, 2 rec TDs

Jurickson Elflein began the season as the starting Quarterback, and after leading the team to a 1-3 record Dexter Reed took the reins at QB and Elflein moved to the RB position. The rest is history. Elflein had games against Hawaii, Northern Illinois and Buffalo where he ran for over 200 yards and averaged over 7 yards per carry and finished the season with 9 100 yard games.

 

Defensive MVP - DT Chris LaDouceur - 62 tackles, 15 TFLs, 7.5 sacks, 1 FF

Chris LaDouceur was a statline filler all season long for the Bowling Green Falcons. He finished 2nd on the team in Tackles, TFLs and Sacks and was 2nd in the MAC in Sacks (behind teammate OLB Sandy Rankin). The Senior was a monster in the middle and was selected as a 1st team All-Conference Defensive Lineman at the conclusion of the season.

Offseason

 

NFL Draft

 

Round	Pick	Overall	Player	Team	Position
3	10	74	Matt Brown	Detroit Lions	WR
8	30	254	Jurickson Elflein	Carolina Panthers	QB

Undrafted Free Agents

C Abdel Crowder - Chicago Bears

CB Sam Barbato - Houston Texans

FS David Smith - Los Angeles Chargers

 

 

2022 Preview

 

Incoming Class

247 rank: 3

Rivals rank: 2

ESPN rank: 2

Composite rank: 2

 

Position	Name	Stars	Hometown
CB	Donald Dingus	5	Bowling Green, OH
QB	Melvin Velasquez	4	Miami, FL
RB	Taylor Brinkley	4	Muskegon, MI
WR	Kenneth De Jesus	4	Florence, AL
TE	Caleb Sierra	4	Bethesda, MD
OT	Whitney Johnson	4	El Dorado Hills, CA
OG	Bam Lamp	4	Indianapolis, IN
C	Khalid Davis	4	Ocilla, GA
DE	Ty Ivie	4	Arcadia, FL
OLB	Zach Guzman	4	White Lake, MI
OLB	Raffy Kahnle	4	Girard, OH
CB	Richie O'Malley	4	Monroe, MI
FS	Michael Puig	4	Folkston, GA
FS	Spencer Taylor	4	Riverdale, GA
SS	Austin Pena	4	Stow, OH
WR	Shake Hamilton	3	St. Petersburg, FL
WR	Chris Young	3	Raleigh, NC
TE	Bunmi Paulino	3	New Albany, OH
OT	Oscar Norman	3	Marion, IN
OG	Andrew Nieve	3	Batesville, MS
OG	Stefan Gordon	3	Helena, AL
DT	Gil DeLuca	3	Clarksdale, MS
DT	Eli Bedrosian	3	Russellville, AL
DT	Luis Seumalo	3	Gaithersburg, MD
K	Evan Carter	3	Pleasant Hill, MO

State Breakdown:

 

2022 Schedule

 

Week	Opponent	All-time Record Against
1	at Tennessee	Never played
2	Ohio State	0-1
3	at Northwestern	Never played
4	Kent State	0-1
5	Miami (OH)	1-0
6	at Central Michigan	Never played
7	Cincinnati	0-1
9	at Akron	0-1
10	Western Michigan	Never played
11	Buffalo	1-0
12	at Ohio	0-1
13	at Toledo	1-0

State of the Program

Offense

Quarterback will be a position of interest for Bowling Green this season. Returning starter Dexter Reed went 6-3 under center last season, but he didn't light up defenses, completing only 56% of his passes. The Quarterback room has plenty of talent as redshirt Freshman Travis Kingery is eligible to play and Elite 11 true Freshman Big Melvin Velasquez graduated a semester early to become an early enrollee and get a good grasp on the playbook. The feeling around campus is that the starting position is available to fight for during preseason scrimmages and any Quarterback will have a short leash once the season starts.

 

The 2022 roster may require Running Back by committee to replace Jurickson Elflein's productivity, and even then it may not be possible. Redshirt Sophomore Ryan Cabinda is the favorite to receive the most snaps, but he'll be competing with Senior Francisco Morris and Sophomore Zach Graterol every week. Talented Freshman Taylor Brinkley will likely redshirt barring unforeseen injury issues at the position.

 

The Falcons return some experience at the Wide Receiver and Tight End positions. Junior Wide Receiver Nick Fields had over 700 yards receiving last season and will look to compliment Junior Jordan Suter, who redshirted last year. Depth was a priority in the offseason, with 3 incoming Freshman. Kenneth De Jesus is the most talented of the bunch and could push upperclassman to get on the field. Returning starter Allen Tomlinson will look to build on almost 300 yards receiving at the Tight End position last season.

 

Offensive Line will be a combination of talented experience, and new faces. All-conference candidates exist in OT Elijah Greene and OG Jared Simon, both of whom played in all 13 games last season. Who else will line up with them? Redshirt Freshman and Don Williamson and redshirt Sophomore Jordan Marte will likely battle it out for the Right Tackle spot. True Freshman Bam Lamp is a strong candidate to start at Guard, but he'll have to fight off redshirt Freshman Bennie Daniels. Center may be the most difficult to call. Junior William Matz has been in the program the longest but Freshman Khalid Davis is a highly coveted recruit who just might be able to fight him off. There's also the possibility of other lineman who lose out at the Guard or Tackle position who could slide in at Center.

 

Defense

There are some big holes to fill on the Defensive Line, as the Falcons need to replace all-conference players in DT Chris LaDouceur and DE Trayce Alvarez. The coaching staff likes who they have at DT in redshirt Junior Phillip Bell. Bell is said to live in the weightroom and has a high motor on the field. Less is established at the Defensive End position. Returning starter Damontae Lim, a Sophomore, will compete with 2 other players, Caleb Borbon and Jake Cuthbert, to try and get pressure on the QB. Lim is looking to step up production after only recording 2 sacks last season.

 

There will be some familiar names at the Linebacker position this season. Both starting ILBs return with Evan Mangen and Ryan Goodson looking to build on solid seasons last year. 1st team All-MAC player Sandy Rankin returns as well at OLB after leading the conference with 9 sacks. Who will start opposite of him is the big question of the offseason. Naz Fiers, Leyson Escobar both have time in the program but haven't played many snaps and true Freshmen Zach Guzman and Raffy Kahnle arrive on campus as high ceiling players.

 

The Falcon Secondary has a lot of people excited headed into the 2022 season. It all starts with local talent Donald Dingus, arguably the nation's top high school prospect, at Cornerback. The 5 star recruit looks to start day 1 and is hoping to shut down some of the pass happy offenses in the country. Cornerback is probably the deepest position on the roster with Kenneth Edwards, who led the defense with 3 interceptions last year, returning. Christian Minaya, Jake Bergen, and Jace Light will all compete for the Nickel Cornerback spot making it difficult for Richie O'Malley, Bowling Green's 2nd talented Freshman Cornerback to get much playing time. Greg Sprinkle looks most likely to start at Free Safety, despite 2 talented true Freshmen committing. Redshirt Sophomore Ray-Ray Williams and Freshman Austin Pena will be battling every practice up until opening day to settle who will start at Strong Safety.

 

Special Teams

Special Teams was able to improve throughout the season in 2021 once Rudy Howell replaced JJ Ryan at Kicker. Ryan was only able to go 3 for 8 before being pulled for Howell who performed well down the stretch, finishing 18 of 24 attempts. Both players return but the position will likely belong to Howell through the entire season. Talented Freshman Evan Carter will likely redshirt as Howell uses up his eligibility. Walker Leon returns as starting Punter after a solid season last year. Matt Brown is gone to the NFL, so open tryouts will be held to see who can replace him as lead return man. Don't be surprised to see RB Francisco Morris and WR Chris Allen fielding a lot of kicks leading up to the season.

Position Battles

Where are we likely to see competition throughout scrimmages and late into fall camp?

 

Quarterback

Dexter Reed - Sr, A overall, 4 stars, C+ potential

Travis Kingery - (Fr), B overall, 4 stars, A- potential

 

Running Back

Ryan Cabinda - (So), B overall, 4 stars, C potential

Francisco Morris - Sr, B overall, 3 stars, D+ potential

Zach Graterol - So, B overall, 3 stars, B potential

 

Center

William Matz - Jr, B overall, 3 stars, C potential

Khalid Davis - Fr, C overall, 4 stars, C+ potential

 

Defensive End

Caleb Borbon - Sr, B overall, 3 stars, B- potential

Jake Cuthbert - (So), B overall, 3 stars, B potential

Damontae Lim - So, B overall, 4 stars, C potential

 

Outside Linebacker

Naz Fiers - Jr, B overall, 3 stars, B- potential

Leyson Escobar - (Fr), C overall, 3 stars, A potential

 

Strong Safety

Ray-Ray Williams - (So), B overall, 3 stars, C+ potential

Austin Pena - Fr, B overall, 4 stars, C+ potential

Edited May 23, 2022 by PoopyRhinoPickle

[tsweezy]

That week 1 matchup gonna be

[PoopyRhinoPickle]

Can't come soon enough!

[Rocketcan]

This is the gold standard of team media!

[Piercewise1]

Fantastic article!

[PoopyRhinoPickle]

Thank you!

[PoopyRhinoPickle]

Thank you!