Article published November 11, 2009
BG not overconfident
Clawson says Miami can be dangerous
| BGSU AT MIAMI |
• When: Thursday, 6 p.m.
• Records: BG is 4-5, 3-2 MAC; Miami is 1-9, 1-5
• Series: Miami leads 41-19-5
• Favorite: BG by 3˝
• Radio: 99.1 |
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By DONALD EMMONS
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
BOWLING GREEN - From Dave Clawson's perspective, don't let Miami's paltry 1-9 record fool you.
Bowling Green State University's first-year coach expects the Falcons' meeting with the RedHawks tomorrow night in Oxford, Ohio, to play out as another difficult challenge, despite Miami's near-winless record.
"I expect we're going to play a very well-prepared team that is probably as confident as they've been all year," Clawson said of the RedHawks, whose lone win came two weeks ago - a 31-24 victory over the University of Toledo.
Also, Miami is coming off a game last Thursday in which it fell 34-32 to Temple - the Mid-American Conference East Division leader. The RedHawks owned a lead over the Owls late in the second half.
Since the Falcons pulled off a 30-29 come-from-behind win over Buffalo a little more than a week ago, Clawson has cautioned his team about underestimating Miami (1-9, 1-5 MAC), which, like BG (4-5, 3-2 MAC), is under the direction of a new head coach.
"You've watched us play all year, I don't know how we'd take anybody lightly," Clawson said, during his weekly press conference with the local media yesterday. "There's not one team that we've come out against and played great and put them away and not looked behind. Even Ball [State] they made it interesting in the second half."For all of the resiliency we've shown and how proud I am of that, I would love for us to start a game fast and then finish it and play four great quarters. I don't think we've done that yet."
The Falcons head into the mid-week MAC contest winners of three out of their past four games. They also have won their last five conference road games dating back to last season.
However, the Falcons will face a RedHawks team that has defeated Bowling Green the past three meetings. And Miami is playing as well as it has all year under new coach Michael Haywood.
"When it comes to November football it's really hard to even look at the records," Clawson said. "Through the course of the year, some teams get better and some teams get worse, so there are teams that have good records but they're struggling now."
Clawson looks at Miami and considers the opposite occurring with the RedHawks steadily improving with each week of the season.
"They're playing their best football of the year," he said. "In this league, when you look at a team's record it's not always indicative of how good of a team they are. In this conference, some teams play very challenging non-conference schedules and some teams don't, and obviously at the end of the year that affects their record."
The RedHawks' non-conference schedule has included two teams currently ranked in the BCS Top 10 rankings - No. 5 Cincinnati and No. 6 Boise State. They fell 37-13 to the Bearcats and 48-0 to the Broncos. They also were defeated 16-6 by Northwestern, which knocked off previously unbeaten No. 10 Iowa on Saturday.
In comparison, Boise State defeated BG 49-14 during BG's non-conference schedule.
SHEEHAN EARNS HONORS: BG quarterback Tyler Sheehan received the MAC East Offensive Player of the Week recognition for the third time this season after leading the Falcons past the Bulls a week ago in a nationally televised contest.
The senior signal-caller completed 22 of 40 passes for 313 yards, including a game-deciding 18-yard touchdown to Freddie Barnes during the final seconds. He also rushed for a four-yard touchdown during the fourth quarter.
It registered as Sheehan's fifth fourth-quarter comeback of his career and his second of the season. He has thrown for 2,990 yards this fall while completing 277 of 432 pass attempts, including 16 touchdowns and six interceptions.
FREDDIE FOR HEISMAN: Talk of Freddie Barnes being named a contender for the Heisman Trophy came up earlier this week on a nationally syndicated sports talk radio show.
Yet Barnes, who leads the nation in receptions with 107 for 1,176 yards, including 10 touchdowns, hasn't thought once about placing himself in the running for the award presented annually to the top player in college football.
"It's funny and very unrealistic," Barnes said. "I just don't believe it could happen in any sense of the word.
"It's very flattering. It's pretty cool. I know it's unrealistic, so I just laugh it off."
Clawson said if he had a vote for Heisman he'd vote for Barnes, whose receptions total for the season is a MAC single-season record.
"They're not meaningless catches," Clawson said. "How many of his catches have changed the games and where would we be without him?
"So, I think it's great [the Heisman talk]. I would love to see Freddie on the ballot and hope he makes it to New York City. I would love to go with him."
Contact Donald Emmons at:
demmons@theblade.com
or 419-724-6302
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