BG trying to turn more heads

BOWLING GREEN - Throughout the offseason, the cliché of "you're only good as your last game" haunted the Bowling Green football team. Their last game was a 63-7 loss Jan. 6 in the GMAC Bowl to Tulsa.

If the loss to the Golden Hurricane left a taste akin to onions and lemons, the Falcons are now walking around with minty fresh breath after last Saturday's 27-17 win at Pittsburgh.

"You are only as good as the last one and we were pretty good," Falcons coach Gregg Brandon said.

It doesn't get much easier for BG in its home opener Saturday when Big 10 foe Minnesota comes to town. The Golden Gophers beat another Mid-American Conference opponent, Northern Illinois, in their season opener, 31-27.

The game at Doyt L. Perry Stadium is a first for a Big 10 team. Game time is 7:30 p.m. on ESPN-U.

"I'd love to see 30,000 here, just standing on top of each other," Brandon said. "Our guys love these challenges, love the aggressive non-league schedule. Sometimes I lose hair over it, but you're not going to get any better if you're not playing against good or better people."

The much maligned BG defense held up against Pittsburgh, holding the Panthers to 129 yards. Star back LeSean McCoy mustered just 71 yards.

"I'm very proud of what we were able to do. Our defense did a great job of coming together and we were able to have a pretty solid effort out there," defensive back Kenny Lewis said.

The Gophers showed a proclivity for passing against Northern Illinois. Quarterback Adam Weber, a 6-foot-3, 220 pound sophomore completed 24 of 37 passes for 298 yards and two touchdowns. Eric Decker, a 6-2, 215-pound junior, caught 10 passes for 89 yards and a score.

"Bowling Green is an outstanding football team. This a team that last week went into Pittsburgh and beat a 25th-ranked Pitt football team," Minnesota coach Tim Brewster said. "Very impressive."

And it's yet another test for the Falcons. A pass-happy Big 10 team. The lone home appearance of the non-conference schedule. Doing more to quiet the doubters.

As if BG needed anymore motivation.

"It is going to be a big game," running back Anthony Turner said. "We're going to have a nice atmosphere and the big thing for us right now will be trying to keep everyone focused. We need to kind of forget what happened this past weekend and move on to the new task at hand. But it'll be hard. It'll definitely be hard."