Over the next few weeks, BleedTechBlue.com will preview each of Tech’s 12 opponents for the upcoming season.
Up next, Bowling Green.
Louisiana Tech will travel to Bowling Green on September 14th. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. on ESPN+.
Head Coach: Scott Loeffler (0-0, First season as a HC)
2018 Record: 3-9 (2-6)
Key Returners: RB Andrew Clair (702 yds, 5 TDs) WR Quintin Morris (42 catches, 516 yds, 7 TDs), DB Jerry McBride III (106 tackles), LB Kholbe Coleman (70 tackles)
Key Losses: QB Jarret Doege (2,660 yds, 27 TDs), WR Scott Miller (71 catches, 1,148 yards, 9 TDs), DB Brandon Harris (131 tackles)
2019 Bowling Green Schedule:
August 29th – Morgan State
September 7th -- @ Kansas State
September 14th – Louisiana Tech
September 21st -- @ Kent State
October 5th -- @ Notre Dame
October 12th – Toledo
October 19th – Central Michigan
October 26th @ Western Michigan
November 2nd – Akron
November 13th -- @ Miami
November 19th – Ohio
November 29th -- @ Buffalo
BleedTechBlue.com caught up with Bowling Green beat writer, Nicholas Piotrowicz, of The Blade to preview the 2019 Falcons.
La Tech and Bowling Green last squared off on the gridiron in 1997 and have only met twice in the two programs history. What can you tell us about the Bowling Green program from a broad perspective since the teams last met over 20 years ago?
Bowling Green's history has full of peaks and valleys, which has been especially true since '97. After hitting a lull in the late 90s, they hired some unknown Notre Dame assistant named Urban Meyer in 2001, became very good very quickly, bottomed out by the end of the decade, rebuilt under Dave Clawson, rallied to win the MAC in 2013, then again under Dino Babers in 2015. But since then, they've won nine games and they're now in the earliest stages of a rebuild.
Bowling Green finished 3-9 a season ago. Scott Loeffler was hired in November to be the new head coach for the Falcons. What were the top priorities for Loeffler once he took over?
Recruiting was his big selling point and the single biggest reason he won the job. This region has a lot of players, and he knows the region very well. Right now, though, their roster is really, really thin — they had four healthy defensive linemen during one game last season — and rebuilding it is going to take a lot of work. They want to build long-term, but they had to apply a few band-aids to the upcoming roster with transfers.
With Jarret Doege entering the transfer portal, that’s a huge blow for the Falcons offensively. What does the QB spot look like entering the 2019 season?
That's the question that will define the summer. They're not sure if Matt McDonald, their Boston College transfer, will be eligible this season or will have to sit out. If he can't play, they have two eligible scholarship QBs in Grant Loy and Bryce Veasley. Loy was almost exclusively a Wildcat-like runner last year and Veasley redshirted. So, to say the least, they're not quite sure how it will play it out yet. In any case, they weren't expecting Doege to leave after he stayed through spring ball, so that put a pretty serious dent in what looked to be a pretty good offense.
Defensively, Bowling Green allowed 40 points per game in 2018. What will that unit need to do to improve in 2019?
In short, tackling and the weight room. Their defensive front got pushed around a lot last year, particularly in the first half. Opposing teams ran on them at will, though they did turn a corner toward the end of the season. However, they're now on their third defensive coordinator in three years and their three best cornerbacks from last season all graduated. If BG can at least be serviceable against the run, that's a start.
The 2019 Bowling Green season will be a success if…..???
They find long-term answers. They'll play who I think are the five best teams in the MAC plus Notre Dame and Louisiana Tech, so bowl eligibility might be a tough sell. But I do think it's reasonable that, by the end of the year, they've improved across the board, found a handful of freshmen and sophomores ready to have big roles in 2020, and signed a top-three class in the MAC. This is a multi-year project, so I think BG fans are hoping for signs that this is finally headed in the right direction again.
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