Bowling Green Falcons

Head Coach

Gregg Brandon	6th year
07-08	8-5
MAC	6-2
FCR	62

Previous Season Wins

Head Coach - Entering his 6th year at the helm Gregg Brandon led the Falcons to 8 wins and a bowl game in what was believed to be a rebuilding year. They return 16 starters but there are questions on both sides of the ball upfront. They finished 96th rushing the ball and 109th against the run so there must be contributions from unproven players for Bowling Green to contend for the MAC title in 08'.

Quarterback - At quarterback the Falcons have junior Tyler Sheehan who threw for 3,274 yards and 23 TD’s and 11 picks, he also a capable runner who had 366 yards rushing. Incoming JUCO Andrew Bean could push for time and redshirt freshman Nate Brown is also in the mix.

Running Backs - Look for senior Anthony Turner to start at tailback, he had 519 yards with 9 TD’s last season. Sophomore Willie Geter saw significant time and had 432 yards rushing and caught 37 passes; Turner is more of banger and Geter the speed guy. When they go with the fullback junior Jimmy Scheider will get the call.

Receivers - The Falcons are extremely deep and experienced at wide receiver as nearly everyone returns led by junior Freddie Barnes at the outside X, he had 82 receptions for 962 yards and 9 TD’s. Junior Chris Wright will be outside at the Z, senior Corey Partridge at the inside H slot and senior Jeremiah Kelly will man the E slot. Also returning will be Eric Ransom who missed nearly the entire season due to a knee injury.

Offensive Line - Upfront only the guards return, senior Brandon Curtis will be on the right side and on the left, junior Shane Steffy. New faces include at left tackle senior Jeff Fink, at right tackle sophomore Tyler and at center redshirt freshman Ben Bojicic. They’ll need to be solid in pass protection and give the skill players time to perform; if they can contribute in the run game if will go along way towards another winning season.

Defensive Line - The leader on the D-Line will be defensive end Diyral Briggs, the senior had 54 tackles and 5 sacks in a 1st team All-MAC campaign. Also returning are sophomore Angelo Magnone who will also be on the outside, at the nose guard will be junior Michael Ream and at tackle junior Jacob Hardwick. Lots of experience but they’re undersized and have yet to show they can stop the run, if the unit steps up it will take some pressure off the offense to score nearly every possession.

Linebackers - The linebackers are solid and led by senior Erique Dozier in the middle and on the weakside senior John Haneline. The duo combined 208 tackles and will receive All-MAC accolades at seasons end. At the strongside will be another returning starter, junior Jerett Sanderson.

Defensive Backs - All four starters return, at the corners are a pair of seniors Antonio Smith and Kenny Lewis and at strong safety will be junior P.J. Mahone and junior Jahmal Brown will be the free safety. Mahone was 2nd team All-MAC and had 7 interceptions while Smith had 80 tackles and Lewis forced five fumbles.

Special Teams - The placekicking is in excellent hands as senior Sinisa Vrvilo was outstanding, he was 15 of 19 and displayed great leg strength. At punter junior Nick Iovinelli returns and his 34.8 yard average isn’t great he did display good positional punting skills. Handling the punt returns will be senior Antonio Smith and on the kickoff returns will be junior Roger Williams and senior Kenny Lewis.

Schedule - This is a much too typical MAC schedule, only five home dates and opening the season with road games at Pittsburgh, Boise and Wyoming and throwing in a home game with Minnesota. They do avoid Central Michigan and Ball St so that’s a plus, if they can win one game before October then they could get 8+ wins this year.