BGSU defense does its job again with 26-14 win at Ohio

What did I tell ya? The defense! I was right about something! They held the Bobcats to just 14 points, more than 20 points below their MAC offensive average, and other than those two impressive drives — and their last-gasp one — the Bobcats were fully neutralized. The Falcons defense accounted for four sacks, including a backbreaker by Aaron Foster to set up a hopeless 4th and 19 play, which fell well short of the first down.

Anthon Samuel salted the game away with a touchdown to start the fourth quarter and also had a nifty cutback to seal the game at the end. He had 181 yards on 29 carries. Matt Schilz wasn't very effective passing, but he did have two terrific ball fakes in the game, one which set up a 55-yard touchdown and one, a fake handoff to Samuel, he kept for a first down run.

The MAC East suddenly becomes decided next Saturday in Bowling Green when Kent State visits town. This is what we all saw, correct?

As for Ohio, three games in 12 days finally caught up to them and they fall to 8-2. A trip to Ball State in seven days awaits them. Yay?

BGSU stays ahead 19-14 after three quarters, Ohio still can't punt

So, about the punting ... yeah, they're still working on it. Ohio had another punt blocked and also muffed a punt return, but that latter gaffe set up a 95-yard touchdown drive that really swung the momentum. So there's a silver lining in everything. Maybe they should just score ALL their touchdowns from 90 yards out rather than punting! Yeah, that's the ticket!

Also with Tyler Tettleton's pass to Chase Cochran, he became the all-time passing yards leader in Bobcats history. Again, he's just taking the Ohio passing record book and throwin' "TT" all over it.

Anthon Samuel has 124 yards on 19 carries and Beau Blankenship is also creeping up on 100 yards. He's got 18 carries for 97 yards.

BGSU takes 19-7 lead after good defense, disastrous Ohio punting

And there's that crushing Falcons defense we've been reading about in our textbooks. The Bobcats accrued just 21 yards on 17 plays, including field position lost on a botched punt (although Grant Venham was able to turn that into positive yards somehow!) and Matt Weller, who was back to punt, missed the snap and that resulted in a safety.

On the BGSU side, Anthon Samuel brought half of Athens with him into the end zone for one score, Matt Schilz executed a glorious play-fake to the extremely-vacant Chris Gallon for a 55-yard touchdown, and then that one safety play. They had a decent chance at a Hail Mary pass that fell incomplete, but that's the kind of quarter it's been for the Bobcats.

Anthon Samuel has 76 yards on 11 carries and if the Falcons want to win this game, they need him to move the chains and drain time.

Ohio takes 7-0 lead vs. Bowling Green after first quarter

Ohio began the game with an impressive drive, going 72 yards on 11 plays, mostly on the ground, ending with a keeper by Tyler Tettleton. It was the first touchdown/PAT combo allowed by Bowling Green since the second quarter against Akron, which was four games ago. A tough Beau Blankenship run also seemed to knock BooBoo Gates out of the game, who was taken to the locker room with an unknown injury.

Offensively BGSU had some nice runs by Anthon Samuel but Matt Schilz has looked completely out-of-sync. He almost threw an interception to Ian Wells on an awful erratic wobbly pass, who tried to balance the ball against his helmet but it touched the ground. He also threw a short pass into the ground. He also threw a pass to himself. That kind of game for him so far.

A Grant Venham punt was blocked by the Falcons' Brian Sutton and set up terrific field position for the Falcons as the quarter neared its end. Other than that opening drive, it's been all defense all the time.

Ohio-Bowling Green: How Good Is That Falcons Defense?

The BGSU defense has not been challenged by many great offenses in the conference, but crunching some numbers shows just how well they've performed against them compared to their averages.