Offensive line play a concern for Bowling Green's Clawson

Bowling Green football coach Dave Clawson paces the sideline during the fourth quarter of the Falcons game with Idaho at Doyt Perry Stadium in Bowling Green.

BOWLING GREEN -- Bowling Green State University football coach Dave Clawson didn't mince words when talking about the play of his offensive line Saturday night.

"We looked very undisciplined, and at times our offensive line was almost dysfunctional," he said following the Falcons' 21-13 win over Idaho. "We certainly have a lot of work to do to get ready for next week."

The BG offense did finish with 373 yards of total offense and scored three times. But the offense also committed 10 penalties -- seven by offensive linemen -- that set them back 74 yards, beginning with a second-quarter sequence of four consecutive penalties that resulted in a mind-boggling 1st-and-40 situation for the Falcons.

"We just self-destructed too often up front," Clawson said Monday. "We had way too many procedure penalties that really set us back and kept us from having a more productive offensive day in terms of points and yards."

Of those 10 offensive penalties, six were illegal procedure penalties, which Clawson found especially disappointing.

"We haven't had a lot of procedure issues all through camp, and we went down into The Swamp and played in front of 85,000 people and didn't have any of those issues," he said. "Then all of a sudden we were at home -- and we had six procedure [penalties].

"And it wasn't just one guy; if we would have fired all of the guys who had a procedure, we wouldn't have had anyone left to play."

When asked if there was a specific cause of the penalties, Clawson said, "I think there is a bunch of reasons, but they're just bad excuses.

"There's just no reason to jump offsides or have procedure [penalties]. The greatest advantage you have on offense is that you know when the ball is being snapped. To some degree we gave that up and put ourselves in long-yardage situations."

Freshman left tackle Fahn Cooper was whistled for three of the penalties, including two false starts, that set BG back 24 yards. Senior Jordon Roussos was hit with a hold and a procedure call, while freshman Alex Huettel was called for illegal procedure twice.

When Cooper was called for a personal foul in the third quarter, the Falcons shifted junior Dominic Flewellyn from guard to Cooper's tackle spot and inserted senior Chip Robinson in Flewellyn's place at guard.

"Personal fouls are the most selfish penalties a guy can make," Clawson said after Saturday's game. "[Cooper] had struggled in the first half, and when he made that [penalty], I just didn't want to play him any more."

The two-deep for this week's game at Toledo shows Cooper returning to tackle and Flewellyn shifting back to guard.

"We have six guys who are getting the bulk of the snaps, and all six guys will play," Clawson said. "As Dominique Wharton continues to get healthy, I think he could play himself into a role."

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

Jones finished with five tackles, four of which resulted in no gain or a loss, against the Vandals. Jones was credited with 2.5 tackles for loss, including 1.5 sacks, that resulted in 22 yards in losses.

THANKS, FANS: Clawson praised the support of the 16,591 fans at Saturday's home opener.

"Before the game they were loud -- they were pushing me to run in the presidential election," he said. "In the fourth quarter they weren't saying that, and I don't blame them.

"But the student crowd and the home stands were awesome."

TIME SET: Virginia Tech announced Monday that kickoff for the Falcons' contest there Sept. 22 will be at noon.

The game with the Hokies, who are ranked No. 13 in the country, will be televised by ESPNU.

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