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BG defense getting used to new system

BG defense getting used to new system

Falcons have ambitious to-do list this spring with many moving parts

BOWLING GREEN — The defense for the Bowling Green State University football team has an ambitious “to-do” list this spring.

The Falcons have added a new defensive coordinator, Brian Ward, so one task is to install a new defense.

“We’re trying to get the kids on tape, so they can see certain calls,” BG coach Dino Babers said. “This spring it’s more about getting our playbook in, making sure guys get all the calls so they have the experience and the knowledge to carry the work into the summertime.”

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Linebacker Austin Valdez said the biggest difference he has seen is a focus on communication.

“There’s an emphasis on linebackers knowing the calls and communicating,” he said. “On every single play there’s something the linebackers have to know — and have to communicate to the safeties and the defensive linemen.”

Defensive tackle Zach Colvin feels this year’s defense is more complex than last season.

“There are a lot of moving parts,” Colvin said. “We’re all kind of swimming with a lot of things going through our heads: Trying to get lined up, trying to play the new techniques. I think we’re making strides, but there’s a lot to come.”

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Valdez agreed, adding, “Six practices in, I think it’s going well. There’s a lot of things to learn, and we have to erase everything in our minds from last year’s defense.

“There’s a lot to learn, but it’s getting easier and easier as more practices go on.”

At the same time the Falcons install a new defense, the program also has a second task: looking for replacements for seven starters lost to graduation.

“We’re trying to get the right guys in the right spots,” Babers said. “We want to make sure we don’t have a really, really good guy behind another really, really good guy.

“We’re trying to do a good job of analyzing [players], so when we break we have our best players on the field.”

Among the players who have changed positions this spring are freshman Nilijah Ballew, who has shifted from safety to linebacker, and senior Nolan Dieter, a quarterback who has moved to safety.

“Just like Valdez moved to linebacker so he didn’t get lost in our quarterback depth, we want to make sure we don’t have good players standing next to me on the sidelines when we’re trying to win football games,” Babers said.

Valdez, a Southview High School product, said some of the switches are more subtle.

“At the start of practices I was playing outside linebacker, but now they’ve switched me and [Aaron] Banks so that I’m playing middle linebacker and he’s playing outside linebacker,” Valdez said. “There are a lot of opportunities to play right now. …

“I’m pretty excited about [the opportunity] and I’m just trying to take advantage of it.”

While the Falcons have set platoons for the defense, the coaching staff has made a point of playing a number of different players to see who is best learning the new system.

“For everyone it’s kind of a fresh start,” Colvin said. “Whoever can learn the fastest is going to play right now.”

The Falcons will hold their first scrimmage of the spring Saturday, and Babers said so far his defense has adapted well.

“I think they have taken to the speed of practice, and the amount of reps we get [in a short time],” Babers said. “Once we get into two-a-days, and increase our depth [with our freshman class], we will be even faster.

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

First Published March 27, 2015, 5:00 a.m.

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