ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — It has been steady progress for the Bowling Green State University football
team.Four years ago, the Falcons were 2-10.Now after beating Buffalo, 24-7 on Friday in a win or go home
game, BG is 9-3 and preparing for the Mid-American Conference championship game.The Falcons, champions of
the MAC East at 7-1, face Northern Illinois on Friday at Detroit’s Ford Field. Kickoff is at 8 p.m.Also,
with the win over Buffalo, the Falcons have earned a berth in a post-season bowl game, as the two division
winners are assured of a bowl game.“It’s a rewarding process,” BG head coach Dave Clawson said. “It’s
getting the right people on board, and we did that in terms of our staff and our players; we’ve recruited
good people and I have a great coaching staff.‘’This is a collective effort … I’m just fortunate enough to
be the head coach.”The senior class came up with multiple big efforts during the game on both sides of the
ball.“I’ve said it over and over, our senior class is awesome,” Clawson said.Ted Ouellet, a fifth-year
senior defensive lineman, has been part of the turnaround.“We had a two-win season a couple of years ago, so
this has been a long trip,” Ouellet said.“We just knew this year we had to capitalize on (the opportunity)
and not be afraid to make plays when they needed to be.”“We put five years into this. We knew the first
couple of years, that we’re that great,” said fifth-year senior wide receiver Shaun Joplin. “We put in all
this work and effort. It feels good to get back to where BG should be, what they used to do back in the
day.”MOTHER KNOWS BEST: Joplin, with help from his mother, had a huge second half with five receptions for
139 yards and a TD. That was after making only one catch for 10 yards, with a couple of dropped passes in
the first half.“It you can touch it, you can catch it, my mom always says,” Joplin said. “I always have to
deal with her whenever I see them (his parents) after the game.“I had to have a short-term memory … and show
what I could do in the second half,” he added.JOHNSON: After going 2-of-12 for 22 yards in the first half,
Johnson was 9-of-14 passing for 208 yards in the second half. He throw for a TD and ran for a score in the
second half.“His numbers at halftime were awful,” Clawson said.GREENE: BG’s Travis Greene had a strong first
half, rushing for 105 yards on 16 carries. He finished the game with 129 yards on 30 carries.Greene recorded
this 10th rushing TD of the season during the game.Combined with William Houston’s 11 rushing TDs, the
Falcons have two players with at least 10 rushing scores for the first time since 2003 when P.J. Pope and
Josh Harris turned the trick.With his 1,422 rushing yards this season, he is second on BG’s career list,
just 22 yards short of Fred Durig’s career record set in 1951.QUICK HITTERS: The Falcons won a division
title for the first time since being co-champs in 2007 … BG is the only team in the conference to win both
an East and West Division title … It’s BG’s first nine-win season since 2004, when the team won the GMAC
Bowl … It is the first nine-win regular season since the Falcons went 11-3 in 2003, posting a 10-2 regular
season mark (with a loss in the MAC championship and a win in the Motor City Bowl).