COLLEGE FOOTBALL

End Zone: BGSU Falcons

'Don't look back, because something might be gaining on you.'

9/18/2013

Satchel Paige once famously said, "Don't look back, because something might be gaining on you." Seems Old Satch has a pretty good handle on a potential problem facing MAC football.

The leagues seems to be so focused on chasing what's ahead of them — namely, other FBS schools, especially the BCS automatic qualifiers — that it doesn't realize how close FCS schools are to catching them.

This season the MAC is 6-20 in non-conference games against FBS schools, a .231 winning percentage. That's not a whole lot different than the .222 winning percentage of FCS schools against the MAC.

Dave Clawson, whose Falcons host Murray State Saturday, has high respect for the FCS after building two playoff contenders at that level.

"If you get a football scholarship, you're a good football player," he said.

Did he do anything special to make sure his team realized how good the Racers are?

"You show our tackles [Chavez Sims], and how quick he is off the ball to beat Missouri's tackles," Clawson said. "You show them [wide receiver Walter] Powell, who looks like [Kent State All-American candidate] Dri Archer. ... They see that Murray State has good players.

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