END ZONE: BGSU 8-30

8/30/2012

BG football coach Dave Clawson lapsed into coach-speak when asked how important the Florida game is to his program. "It's the biggest game on our schedule -- because it's the next one," he said.

Well, he is correct that it is the next game on the schedule. But is it right to say that the first game of the 2012 season is the most important?

It is the most important game if you consider the financial impact of the contest, since BG is receiving a $1.25 million guarantee to show up at the Swamp. And if the Falcons get the upset, it will be one of the biggest wins -- if not the biggest -- in school history.

But what if the odds-makers are correct and Florida is a whole bunch of points better than Bowling Green?

Then it becomes the biggest game only if BG allows that to happen.

It's not the biggest game in terms of reaching the team's goals, which include winning a Mid-American Conference division title, reaching the league's title contest, and earning a bowl berth. In that instance, it is just one game out of 12.

But if the Falcons are too beat up -- physically, emotionally, or mentally -- to handle the aftermath of the contest, then it is the biggest game on the schedule. For all the wrong reasons.

Read more from John at the Falcon Fodder blog and on Twitter @jwagnerblade.