Bowling Green State University senior quarterback Connor Bazelak (7) looking to throw the ball to an open receiver at Doyt L. Perry Stadium. Bazelak went over the 10,000-yards passing mark for his career during the Falcons’ 30-27 loss to Old Dominion Saturday. (Drake Harlett | Sentinel-Tribune)
Despite the 1-3 start, Bowling Green State University football is within a touchdown in each of its four losses, including two losses to nationally ranked Penn State (34-27) and Texas A&M (26-20).
However, BGSU coach Scot Loeffler is not making any excuses for the 30-27 Homecoming loss to Old Dominion on Saturday at Doyt Perry Field, and he says it gives the Falcons reason to right the ship heading into Mid-American Conference play.
“We’re 16 points away from being 4-0, but that doesn’t matter,” Loeffler said. “The fact when you really look on paper (is) this team should be 2-2, but we’re not.
“We let one slip away because of mindset. Just like I said, that’s my responsibility, and we didn’t play hard on some plays, and that’s my responsibility. We didn’t do our job on some plays, and that didn’t show up Week 1 and Week 2 and Week 3.
“As much as that stinks to lose that way, I hate to say this, I’d much rather it happened right now than walking into this eight-game stretch that we’re about ready to play. I’m going to remind our team every week about the feeling and what happened and why it happened, and that’s just the facts.
“The fact that matter is we’re fighting against each other right now and coaching against each other. What I mean by that is just do our job, do what you’re supposed to do, and everything’s going to work out just fine. After that, the football gods take care of itself. The fact of the matter is we did some things that we have not done in Weeks 1, 2 and 3.”
Fannin gets another accolade
For the second week in a row Bowling Green tight end Harold Fannin Jr. has earned Mid-American Conference Offensive Player of the Week accolades.
This time he shares the honor with Ohio’s Parker Navarro (QB) for games played through Sept. 29. It is the second career MAC weekly honor for Fannin.
Fannin (Canton, Ohio) set a career high with 188 receiving yards, tied for the most by any player in the nation for the week and the top mark for a tight end this season.
Fannin caught 12 passes, also a career high and the most in a game by any tight end this season, tying for the sixth-most by any receiver. Fannin scored two touchdowns, including a 59-yarder that gave BGSU its first lead.
Fannin also set a school record for single game receiving yards by a tight end, surpassing the previous mark of 175 yards set in 1983 by Mark Dowdell. Fannin also broke BGSU’s career record for receiving touchdowns by a tight end in the game.
Despite all the hype around Fannin, which Loeffler likes to play down and make sure he and everyone else is focused on winning, he cannot help but be impressed with his recruit.
“(That) he’s going to be a pro football player. There was no question,” Loeffler said. “We’ve recruited a lot of really good players. His attributes in high school were exactly what it looked like at all the places I coached.
“He could play anywhere that I’ve coached. He’s a great player. He has to keep concentrating and doing the things that he’s doing. I said this to our team – he’s a freak show. I mean, he is a very, very good player.
“I said this to our team – I never have to worry about Harold not aligning right. His splits are impeccable. I never have to worry about his technique. I never have to worry about his depth. I never have to worry about him not getting into the right spot and causing spacing problems.”
Loeffler says all of his receivers have the same abilities.
“Then the rest of the play – those are all the things that everyone can control. Every single guy on our team can do that – every single one of them.
“Now, what happens with him is when the ball gets in his hands and he’s got great natural mitts, he has the ability to score. Not everyone has that, but everyone has the ability to get in the right split. They all have the ability to get to the right depth. They all have the ability to use the right technique. They all have the ability to catch. We have guys that can catch here.
“After that, a little bit of the good Lord takes place. Some guys are going to catch it and fall down. That’s who they are. Some guys like Harold Fannin are going to catch it and go score. Some guys are going to catch it and advance it enough.
“That’s all about ability, but we need to and in this football game (against Old Dominion), if we just simply did what we were supposed to do, we win the game and we didn’t. That’s my responsibility, and that’s my message.”
Return to flight
The Falcons return to flight on Saturday when BGSU opens MAC play at Akron. Kick is set for 3:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN+. The Zips are 1-4 overall, including 0-1 in the MAC.
Senior quarterback Connor Bazelak says this is the Falcons’ chance for redemption — the start of a “new season” for BGSU.
“I don’t think our chances on the 12-team college football playoff are looking great right now, but we’re 0-0 in the MAC,” Bazelak said.
“Our goal right now it to go 1-0 in the MAC next week. And you know the real season starts now. Played the preseason for the first four games.
“Obviously, not what we wanted in terms of what our record is right now, but we’re playing really good football. We have a really good team, really good players. I think that we’ve built a solid culture,” Bazelak continued.
“Next week we’ve got to prepare for it, but it’s nice having all the non-conference out of the way. We focus on the MAC and everything, all of our goals are still in front of us.”
Loeffler says despite Akron getting blown out in non-conference losses and a conference loss to Ohio, don’t underestimate the Zips.
“No. 1, I think (Akron coach) Joe (Moorhead) does an unbelievable job. He is a great football coach. There’s a reason that he’s won every place that he’s been,” Loeffler said.
“He is a really good offensive mind. He has a great staff. He has a very good defense. (They’re) very athletic up front. The MAC is the same. I don’t care what anyone says.
“(If) you look at their schedule, they’ve played some savages. Lord knows the effects that playing an Ohio State (or) playing a South Carolina has when you play Ohio U. I lived that life. We lived that life right out here last year whenever we didn’t practice (for the) OU (game) until Thursday, because we were so beat to hell from the Michigan game.
“So, you really can’t judge anything about the OU game, because you don’t know their health. You don’t know how banged up. They just went through an unbelievable stretch of really hard opponents. This is the Mid-American Conference.
“I don’t care who you are. I don’t care about the logo. I don’t care about any of that. Any of us can win at any time. It’s about fighting the logo. It’s about making sure that we’re prepping like a savage. It’s making sure that our habits are crystal clear, and then when we get to game day, we focus, we do our job, and we execute, and we play really, really, really hard.
“That’s what it’s going to take to win this game, plain and simple. Our four things that we’ve been following like religion around here needs to occur for us to beat Akron.”
