BGSU football shifting into high gear

Falcons final scrimmage marks shift of focus to season-opening opponent

8/20/2014
BY JOHN WAGNER
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
BG's Gehrig Dieter tries to catch a pass while being defended by Austin Valdez during the Falcons’ final football scrimmage Tuesday.
BG's Gehrig Dieter tries to catch a pass while being defended by Austin Valdez during the Falcons’ final football scrimmage Tuesday.

BOWLING GREEN — The Bowling Green State University football team saw another phase of the 2014 season end Tuesday.

That fact really struck home with senior defensive tackle Zach Colvin.

“When I woke up, the counter said ten days until that first game,” he said. “It’s starting to hit all of us: Camp has wound down, and it’s time to start watching more Western Kentucky film and get ready and focus on what we need to do in this game.”

Coach Dino Babers sounded that alarm when he talked over the weekend about Tuesday’s scrimmage, the last for the Falcons before the season opener at Western Kentucky on Friday, Aug. 29.

PHOTO GALLERY: BGSU scrimmage

“We’ve got to go — the train is leaving,” Babers said. “If you are hurt or injured, and you didn’t get a chance to show what you can do, we’re sorry.

“[I would tell you to] keep working hard and get better, because we’ll need you down the road this year. But now we’ve got to get going.”

Tuesday’s scrimmage included situational work for the first string offense and defense. Running back Travis Greene returned to the field after missing time last week because of injury, while reps for other starters such as linebackers D.J. Lynch and Gabe Martin were limited.

While Tuesday’s scrimmage did not come close to matching Saturday’s scrimmage in terms of offensive touchdowns, Babers was not fazed by the performance.

“I thought we made a big improvement from the last scrimmage to this scrimmage,” he said. “For example, there were some things that happened in the corner of the end zone [with the wide receivers] that were much better than the last scrimmage.”

Much of Tuesday’s scrimmage focused on second- and third-team performers on both sides of the ball. Babers wanted to watch film from the practice before determining which players may have worked themselves into a spot on the BG two-deep chart.

“It’s really hard to tell without looking at the tape,” he said. “When you are judging the twos … it’s more important to judge if they are taking the right steps and doing the right techniques and fundamentals that will give them a chance to survive.”

Babers deemed the scrimmage a success for one major reason.

“We came out OK because we came out of it mostly unhurt,” he said. “Now there won’t be any more banging or hitting against one another.

“The next time we hit like this, we will be hitting against Western Kentucky.”

Bowling Green will hold one practice each day, with the exception of Monday, leading up to the game at Western Kentucky.

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