Perhaps none of those wins was more startling that Bowling Green’s 38-27 win at the ACC’s Georgia Tech in Atlanta last weekend. The Falcons, who were picked to finish fourth in the MAC East, reeled off 38 unanswered points to pull off the upset.
Some folks weren’t surprised by the Falcons’ win. One of them is Miami coach Chuck Martin.
“I knew they were good before they went down and kicked Georgia Tech’s (butt),” Martin said during Monday’s weekly media session “They had a good MAC season last year. They’re one of many talented MAC football teams.”
Georgia Tech opened up a 14-0 lead before Bowling Green took over.
“They dominated the rest of the game,” Martin said. “That was a great win for Bowling Green and a good win for the league.
“They made it look easy.”
“That was a good win at Georgia Tech,” 6-foot-4, 261-pound redshirt-junior defensive end Corey Suttle said. “They’re going to be a really good challenge. It’s going to be a good test for our team.”
The RedHawks and the Falcons are scheduled to square off at 3:30 p.m. at Yager Stadium in Oxford.
Led by senior quarterback Connor Bazelak, an Alter graduate and transfer from Indiana, Bowling Green is 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the MAC after a 38-7 home loss to Ohio the week before upsetting Georgia Tech. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Bazelak has thrown for 757 yards and four touchdowns.
Terion Stewart, a 5-9, 225-pound senior running back, ranks third in the MAC with 353 rushing yards.
Local products also on the Falcons’ roster are senior outside linebacker Demetrius Hardamon from Beavercreek, senior outside linebacker Avi McGary from Lakota East, freshman wide receiver Shawn Thigpen from Springfield and freshman offensive guard James Thomas, Jr., from Fairfield.
Miami (4-1, 1-9 MAC) leads series against Bowling Green, 46-25-5, and has won three of the last four games, including home wins in 2019 and 2021.
The Falcons finished 6-7 overall and 5-3 in the MAC last season, including a 17-13 win over the RedHawks.
“They held (Associated Press No. 2) Michigan to (31) points,” Martin added. “They have a salty defense.”
Miami’s defense can be equally as intimidating, as it proved in last Saturday’s 23-3 MAC win at Kent State. The RedHawks, led by their defensive linemen, limited the Golden Flashes to 36 net rushing yards and while piling up seven sacks and 11 tackles for losses.
“We always talk about that,” Martin said about the defensive line. “That’s probably our most talented group of players.”
Miami will be celebrating Family Weekend and also commemorating Cancer Awareness this weekend. Players will be wearing on their helmets ribbons signifying versions of cancer that mean something to them.
“I chose blue,” Suttle said. “It signifies colon cancer. My high school counselor actually passed from it last year. It’s a tribute to her. She did a lot for me.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Bowling Green at Miami, 3:30 p.m., ESPN+, 980, 1450
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