Bowling Green head coach Scot Loeffler gets tossed from Buffalo game

A coaching ejection is commonplace in the sport of basketball and managers get tossed from baseball games on occasion. On the gridiron, it’s standard to have your coach manning the sideline from kickoff until the clock reaches triple zeros.

But Saturday afternoon at UB Stadium, the atypical instance of a college football coach facing ejection finally transpired. Bowling Green head coach Scot Loeffler picked up two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the third quarter which ultimately resulted in his expulsion from the game.

The first unsportsmanlike foul occurred while Buffalo was inside Bowling Green’s red zone. The Falcons were holding onto a 28-10 lead at that point, marking their largest advantage of the season. Loeffler’s penalty allowed Buffalo to inch closer to the goal line where Bulls’ running back Dylan McDuffie punched in a short touchdown to close the gap to two scores.

On the ensuing kickoff, Loeffler continued to have a word with the officials.

College football head coaches were immune to head coaching ejections prior to a 2016 rule change, so Loeffler’s ejection is believed to be the first since the passage of Rule 9-2-6.

a. Any coach, player, or identified squad member in uniform who commits two unsportsmanlike conduct fouls in the same game shall be disqualified.

b. A player disqualified from the game must leave the playing enclosure under team supervision within a reasonable amount of time after his disqualification. He must remain out of view of the field of play under team supervision for the duration of the game.

c. A coach disqualified from the game must leave the playing enclosure within a reasonable amount of time after the disqualification and must remain out of view of the field of play for the remainder of the game.

Loeffler is not only Bowling Green’s head coach, but he also serves as the primary offensive play-caller. The Falcons managed to score a touchdown without their main play-caller’s presence, as quarterback Matt McDonald connected on a 30-yard touchdown pass with Tyrone Broden in the early fourth quarter.