I Got A Bad Feeling About This, Chapter 4 of 7

When I found out that BGSU was playing this game at 3 p.m. on a weekday, I had a feeling I wouldn't be available to watch it, and I was correct. It may be for the best. I still have night tremors over some of BGSU's previous bowls. The 2009 Humanitarian Bowl, where Idaho just went balls out and earned a 43-42 victory. Two years before that, they were just demolished by Tulsa 63-7, a game so painful and unnecessary Todd Graham rankled me before it was cool. Hey, just keep throwing it.

And now the Falcons earn a game against a ranked opponent. Grr.

I've never seen a Falcons team as Baltimoreravensy as this one; terrific defense punctuated by excellent interior linemen and linebackers, a good running game, and a passing game that occasionally does things. Anthon Samuel (and his emotional story) and Chris Jones are the obvious two players to watch, and there could be a sensational play by BooBoo Gates or one of those thunderpunts by Brian Schmiedebusch.

The problem is that SJSU is even better, with a perfectly sound defense of their own and a better offense. Their only losses came to Stanford and Utah State, who beat Toledo, who beat BGSU. Nothing about this adds up, except that perhaps the Spartans try some weird things under interim head coach Kent Baer.

What I've seen over the weeks is that the Falcons defense has consistently made teams' offenses play below their average (save for Virginia Tech). It's just a matter of what the offense does. Chris Gallon had what's safe to call a breakthrough game against Kent State, and who knows, maybe hometown boy Ryan Burbrink gets some big catches too. It's a bowl game; anything could happen. Hopefully Dave Clawson remembers that; try to have fun, and if they lose, it's no big deal.