BGSU should not be overlooked by football team
The football team’s defense has made some major strides this season.
The team was last, or close to, in the top three defensive categories at the end of the 2008 season. But the vast improvement for the 6-1 Chippewas has them leading the Mid-American Conference in scoring defense (allowing 15.9 points per game) and second in total defense, allowing 325.9 yards per game.
For some perspective, that is an improvement after giving up 30.2 points per game (eighth in MAC) last year and 423.8 yards per game (last in MAC).
But, probably, the biggest test will come this weekend in Bowling Green.
Sure, the team has already beat Michigan State and Western Michigan with quarterback Tim Hiller — the second most prolific passer in the conference behind CMU’s senior quarterback Dan LeFevour.
But Bowling Green quarterback Tyler Sheehan will test CMU’s secondary.
The Strength of the Defense
There is no doubt the defense has been led by its front seven. The defensive line has done its job to allow junior linebackers Nick Bellore and Matt Berning to sit back and scope the backfield.
CMU is second in the MAC in rushing defense, allowing 127.1 rushing yards per game.
But believe it or not, that actually puts more strain on the secondary.
There’s that old football adage that a strong run game opens up the passing game. However, shutting down the run will force a team to go to the pass on a regular basis.
Saturday in Kalamazoo, Hiller dropped back to pass 66 times and completed 40 attempts for 410 yards — season highs in all three categories.
All the while, the Broncos offense was able to gain just 87 yards off the run.
But those numbers skew what actually happened. The secondary did its part to shut down one of the top quarterbacks in the state and in the conference, along with a skilled set of receivers.
Although it gave up 410 yards to Western Michigan, the secondary stifled the Broncos’ top wideout in Juan Nunez, holding him to five catches for 47 yards and a touchdown. That opened things up for Robert Arnheim, who led WMU with nine catches for 112 yards, but he never was or will be the focal point in WMU’s offense.
Saturday in Ohio
Sheehan doesn’t really get the recognition his numbers would have you believe.
The senior leads the MAC in passing yards per game (333.7) and in total offense (325) and, yet, he still goes overlooked. Maybe it’s the distance between Bowling Green and Mount Pleasant, or the fact that the MAC already has its big names in LeFevour and Hiller.
But Sheehan is no slouch. He very well could give this secondary its biggest test of the season.
And the test only gets harder with the fact that his favorite target is one of the best wide receivers in the conference. Freddie Barnes leads the MAC in receptions per game and receiving yards per game (12.1 and 126 respectively).
CMU’s secondary can shut down a prolific wideout, as it showed against Nunez and WMU. It will have to force Sheehan to look toward other options opposite of Barnes if it wants to continue its success.
