BGSU has some big shoes to fill

BOWLING GREEN - The Mid-American Conference football media day will take place Friday at Ford Field.

Dave Clawson attended the MAC media football meet-and-greet for the first time a year ago as Bowling Green State University's coach. Clawson is looking at season two with plenty more questions last year when the Falcons had many seasoned seniors. Gone are All-MAC quarterback Tyler Sheehan and wide receiver Freddie Barnes.

The primary outlook for 2010 appears obvious: finding replacements for several key positions.

The Falcons depth chart reveals running back Willie Geter (5-foot-7, 175, Sr.), center Ben Bojicic (6-4, 294, Jr.) and right tackle Tyler Donahue (6-6, 300, Sr.) as the only returning starters on offense. Defensive tackle Kevin Alvarado (6-2, 274, Jr.), nose tackle Chris Jones (6-2, 274, So.), defensive end Angelo Magnone (6-3, 252, Sr.) and defensive back Adrien Spencer (6-0, 185, Jr.) make up the returning starters on defense.

More significantly, redshirt freshmen Matt Schilz (6-2, 184) and Kellen Pagel (6-3, 201) are listed as 1-2, respectively, in the quarterback spot. Redshirt sophomore Aaron Pankratz (6-6, 221) is No. 3 on the depth chart.

Other notables on the Falcons depth chart include Tyrone Pronty (6-0, 189, Sr.), Kamar Jorden (6-3, 189, Jr.) and Calvin Wiley (5-11, 207, Sr.) listed as the top receiving corps among a deep group of wideouts. Of the three, only Pronty saw any action last season. He played in one game before suffering an injury while Wiley missed the entire season with a season-ending injury. Jorden was a redshirt last fall.

Defensively, senior linebacker Eugene Fells (6-1, 228) and sophomore linebacker Dwayne Woods (6-1, 217) are projected as first-year starters looking to lead a promising defensive unit that figures to be more aggressive and physical than last season's group that struggled against run-oriented offenses.

Also, what a difference a year has made training in the Falcons system for a pair of sophomores; defensive tackle Jordon Roussos and Schilz. Roussos, who stands 6-foot-4, entered BGSU as a freshman weighing 255 pounds and has bulked up to 294 pounds. Schilz, who arrived at BGSU as an incoming freshman from California weighing 184 pounds, has gained 28 pounds in the past year and is up to 212 pounds.

MAKING THE GRADES: The BGSU women's basketball team, winners of six straight MAC regular season championships, also proved successful in the classroom.

The Falcons, whose combined team grade point average was 3.50, ranked sixth nationally among NCAA Division I programs for the 2009-10 campaign, according to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). Utah Valley University ranked No. 1 with a team GPA of 3.63.

"I'm so proud of my players," BGSU coach Curt Miller said. "They take pride in not only excelling on the court, but also in the classroom. This honor is a true credit to their hard work, dedication and commitment to their fields of study."

The Falcons, who ranked fifth in the WBCA's Top 25 Team Honor Roll for the 2008-09 school year, earned the distinction of becoming the only MAC program to make the list the past two years, as well as the only team in Ohio to make the list the past two years.

TRUAX HIRED: Jermaine Truax has recently been named BGSU's director of compliance and certification.

Truax, who previously worked at St. Bonaventure, will be responsible for "monitoring all areas of compliance with NCAA, MAC, and CCHA rules and regulations" for BGSU athletics.

Contact Donald Emmons at:

demmons@theblade.com

or 419-724-6302.