Intensity carrying Falcons into game against Kent State

Coach Dave Clawson credits his senior class for the energy and team spirit on the field and the sidelines. THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON Enlarge | Photo Reprints

BOWLING GREEN -- When college coaches watch film of their next opponent, they look for formations, plays, tendencies -- things that will help them stop the other team.

When Kent State football coach Darrell Hazell watched film of the Bowling Green State University football team's home win over Temple last Saturday, he saw something else.

"When you watch the film, you watch their energy jump off the tape," Hazell said of the Falcons, who will play Kent State this weekend. "They played with a lot of energy Saturday against Temple.

"When [your team] makes a play, usually the guys on the field erupt. When they made a play, the sideline was high-fiving and chest-bumping. You look for a team to have tremendous energy, and they had it."

BGSU's schedule

What makes that display of energy even more impressive is that the Falcons managed it despite entering the game as underdogs. What's more, BG had lost three games in a row, including an emotional setback against it archrivals, Toledo, the previous week.

Bowling Green coach Dave Clawson said the credit for his team's spirit goes to a small but involved senior class.

"They are very unselfish -- they are about the team," Clawson said of the seniors. "Even through that three-game losing streak, their attitude and effort in practice was excellent.

"They are pushing their agenda on the rest of the team. They want to finish strong and have a successful senior season."

The Falcon coaching staff did more than just see that emotion: The game tapes included views of the sidelines reacting to big plays.

"We would show what happened on the field, then show what happened on the sideline," Clawson said. "Our whole football team was engaged.

"Any time you get a football team that makes an investment -- including the 'look' team guys and the backups as well as the starters -- they are all a part of making the team a winner."

The obvious challenge for the Falcons, who are 4-4 overall and 2-2 in the Mid-American Conference, is to make sure they bring that intensity again Saturday when they face a Kent State squad that is 1-6 and 0-3.

"For a good football program, preparation means [meeting] a standard," Clawson said. "Our focus each week is on getting better.

"If [the energy] changes from week to week and depends on who you play, you're never going to have a good football team or a good program."

DEPTH CHANGES: There are few changes to the BG depth chart entering the week.

The most noticeable is at one cornerback spot, where there is an "OR" between redshirt freshman DeVon McKoy and true freshman Darrell Hunter as the starter. Hunter did not play Saturday against Temple because of a stinger suffered the previous week, while McKoy finished with seven tackles.

There was no change at the nose guard position, where sophomore Ted Ouellet remains listed as the backup to sophomore Jairus Campbell despite not playing against the Owls. True freshman Hunter Maynard saw action as the backup to Campbell.

The only other change on the two-deep is as the backup to Kyle Bryant at left tackle. True freshman Fahn Cooper has been removed from that spot, and redshirt freshman Nicholas Hager now is the backup as the Falcons hope to redshirt Cooper this season.

JONES HONORED: Junior defensive tackle Chris Jones was named the MAC East Division defensive player of the week.

Jones, a native of Brownsburg, Ind., had three sacks among his six tackles in the Falcons' win over Temple.

Jones, a third-team All-MAC pick last year, has 32 tackles this season, including 10.5 tackles for loss and 7.0 sacks. His sack total is the eighth-most in school history and currently leads the MAC.

Kauth, Dunn honored

BOWLING GREEN -- Two BG volleyball players swept the weekly awards from the MAC office.

Senior middle Emily Kauth was the East Division offensive player of the week, while sophomore libero Ashley Dunn was the defensive player of the week.

Kauth had 33 kills last week, an average of 3.30 per set, and hit at a .476 rate. She had 16 kills in a four-set win over rival Toledo.

Dunn, a Bowling Green High School graduate, had 48 digs on the week, averaging 4.80 per set. She had 11 digs against Oakland, 19 at Toledo, and 18 at Ball State.

Contact John Wagner at: jwagner@theblade.com or 419-724-6481 or on Twitter @jwagnerblade.