The Bowling Green State University Falcons football team unveiled their new "FalconFast" offence last Saturday with a bit of a Northern flare. Starting the spring game at right guard on the team's first unit was former Algonquin Baron/Canisius Crusader Ryan Hunter.
The spring game at American universities pits the team's offence against the defence showcasing what the team will look like in the fall. About the only difference from a real game is that hitting the quarterback is off limits.
Hunter who will be a redshirt freshman this coming season was named as the starting right guard with the team's first unit for the spring practices and spring game.
The 6' 4" 335 pound Hunter is looking forward to the challenge of going up against some of the best football programs in the United States over the next 4 years.
After having redshirted his first year in Bowling Green the thrill of just getting out onto the field in a game was a great feeling for the North Bay native. Redshirting in the U.S. means that an athlete does everything with the team except game play for a year.
This allows players to learn the team system, build up strength, and not lose any playing eligibility. Scholarship students are allowed 5 years of academics but only 4 years of playing a sport. Playing even one play in a game would cause an athlete to lose an entire year of playing eligibility. Therefore at the Football Bowl Series level (FBS- Division 1-A) about 95% of student-athletes end up redshirting their first year with a team.
The new offence is a hurry up style that new head coach ; Dino Babers ; learned as an assistant coach under the tutelage of "hurry up guru" Art Briles of Baylor University.
As an example during the spring game the Falcons ran 138 plays in 78 minutes.
After the game Hunter and the rest of the 2013 team were presented with their Mid-American Conference Championship rings.
The Falcons are the defending 2013 MAC Champions having beaten the number 15 nationally ranked Northern Illinois Huskies 47 to 27 last December. The Falcons finished the season with a 10 win and 4 loss record including a 27 to 24 loss on Boxing Day in Detroit to the University of Pittsburgh at the Little Caesar Bowl Game.
The Falcons are one of the favorites for the 2014 MAC Championship according to preseason polls. A highlight which Hunter is looking forward to in 2014 is the road game against Western Kentucky on August 28th which will be his first official college game.
Also on the 2014 calendar is a road game against the powerhouse Wisconsin Badgers on September 20th at the 80,321 seat Camp Randall Stadium and a home game against the Indiana Hoosiers.
While Hunter has earned the right guard position for now, the North Bay product is aware that in order to keep the job you need to continue to work hard both on and off the field.
"One of the first things I noticed at BG is that the first stringers work very hard," noted Hunter.
"They know that someone behind them is looking to take their place. And I do not want to lose my place after working so hard to get it."
You can see highlights of the spring game and follow the Bowling Green Falcons by going to their website at: http://www.bgsu.edu/
Submitted to BayToday.ca
