Mike Jinks: 'We can get this thing done here'

Head coach Mike Jinks hudles with his team during the Bowling Green State University spring football game earlier this year at Doyt Perry Stadium.

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Miami quarterback Gus Ragland, bottom right, scores a touchdown against Bowling Green. The RedHawks ran for 289 yards against the Falcons on Saturday.

BOWLING GREEN — Mike Jinks said Monday that Bowling Green still can turn its season around — and he has “no doubt” the correct coaching staff is in place.

The third-year coach is 7-21 at BGSU after a disappointing loss to Miami on Saturday that dropped BG to 1-3 on the season.

Asked directly if he is the right person turn the Falcons into a winning team again, Jinks expressed confidence “because you can recruit here and it’s happened before.”

“We’ve been through these cycles,” Jinks said. “This is a school with great tradition. We’ve shown that we can sign two [recruiting] classes in the top of our conference.”

Jinks’ two full recruiting cycles ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in the Mid-American Conference, according to 247Sports.com.

Coming off a 2-10 season in 2017, the Falcons aimed for improvement this season. BG earned its first home win in two seasons Sept. 15 against Eastern Kentucky but fell behind previously winless Miami 31-3 last week and lost 38-23.

Despite the disheartening showing against the RedHawks, Jinks said he still thinks Bowling Green can be a competitive team once again.

Bowling Green’s 2018 football schedule

“All it takes is a couple kids, and all it takes is the belief,” Jinks said. “I think we’ve got the right guys in places from a coaching standpoint and I think we’ve got the talent coming as well. There’s no doubt in my mind we can get this thing done here.”

Against Miami, which was one of the two teams BG beat last season, the Falcons’ offense was held to a field goal in the first three quarters. Eventually, the RedHawks wore down a BG defense that has struggled mightily to stop the run this season.

In total, it was a blow to the morale of a team that expected better from itself.

“It was pretty bad after the game,” Falcons receiver Scotty Miller said. “I mean, it stinks. You lose to Miami of Ohio, a game we expected to win, we really really wanted to win. You’ve got to wake up the next day and put it behind you.”

This week, Bowling Green will travel to Georgia Tech, where it is a 27½-point underdog against the Yellow Jackets.

Miller, who was a freshman when Bowling Green won the MAC championship in 2015, pointed to the team’s senior leadership as a way the Falcons can regain their confidence in the coming weeks.

“We’re going to get that confidence back,” Miller said. “We got a group of senior leaders who have won a MAC championship. We were young and we didn’t play much, but we know what it feels like. We’ve got to bring that vibe back to the team.”

Jinks admitted the team’s gathering Sunday to review the Miami tape was “pretty somber,” but said it’s up to the Falcons’ coaches to turn things around with most of the MAC schedule still to go.

“They were down a little bit,” Jinks said. “And it’s the job of myself and this coaching staff to make sure that when they come back on Tuesday that they understand we have a brand new opportunity this week and there’s a lot of football left to be played.”

Contact Nicholas Piotrowicz at: npiotrowicz@theblade.com, 419-724-6110, or on Twitter @NickPiotrowicz