While the starting quarterback job was not resolved in Sunday’s
scrimmage, several other players made their bids for starting positions as the Bowling Green State
University football team ran approximately 130 plays.Fifth-year senior Matt Schilz and redshirt sophomore
Matt Johnson are battling for the starting quarterback spot. Schilz ran the first series of the
scrimmage.‘‘(There) were some inconstancies. Both of them made good plays and both of them missed
opportunities,’’ BG head coach Dave Clawson said.Schilz and Johnson each had five of the 15 series which
were run. James Knapke got four series and freshman Austin Valdez had one.Clawson said he would know more
after watching the film.‘‘At times you have to see if they had the opportunity to make the play,’’ Clawson
said. ‘‘They both ran the offense well, we just didn’t make enough plays.’’Aaron Foster was the MVP of the
scrimmage, according to Clawson. A senior, Foster is making the move to cornerback this season.‘‘He had the
pick six in the red zone and then the offense went after him twice with Chris Gallon on a fade and a slant
and both times he stepped up and made really big-time plays,’’ Clawson said about Foster. ‘‘He’s a hard
worker and it’s great to see guys who work so hard have success, and he had a great night.’’‘‘It’s a weight
lifted off my shoulders. I’ve been feeling kind of pressed in this camp, batting for a starting position,’’
Foster said about Clawson calling him the MVP. ‘‘I know I still have to come back stronger.’’Foster made an
interception, only to have the play wiped out on a defensive penalty.On the very next play, Foster
intercepted a Schilz pass and returned it 78 yards for a TD‘‘The receiver ran some type of in route and I
was playing on the outside of him. I guess the quarterback didn’t see me and throw it towards the outside,’’
Foster said. ‘‘I grabbed it and just started running.‘‘I was glad everybody was tight on the field, because
I was exhausted on that return.’’Foster said the transition from safety to corner has been relatively easy
as he already knows the defensive calls.‘‘I’ve done some good things in practice, but it’s good to see
something in a game situation and see myself doing some great things,’’ Foster said.Other scoring plays
included a 6-yard pass from Schilz to Jermal Hosley; a 16-yard run by freshman Marcus Levy; and two scoring
passes from Knapke, a 65-yard effort to a wide-open Gehrig Dieter and a 12-yard pass to freshman Fred
Coppet. Tyler Tate kicked field goals of 23, 30 and 38-yards and had a 48-yard effort blocked.Also Coppet
made a nice run of 32-yards and safety Josh Pettus had an interception.‘‘With any intersquad scrimmage there
were some good things that we can build on and some things that we need to get cleaned up,’’ Clawson
said.Clawson was impressed with the play of the offensive line, which is working in new players at both
tackle spots.‘‘We have a very good defensive front here; we have a lot of good players back from a good
group a year ago, and our offensive line more than held its own until the two-minute period,’’ Clawson
said.Jacob Bennett, 6-foot-6, 316 pounds, and Logan Dietz, 6-5, 292, were the starting tackles. Both are
redshirt freshmen.‘‘Jacob Bennett had a good night and Logan Dietz has really made nice progress, he’s going
to be a good player for us,’’ Clawson said.Dominic Flewellyn, the veteran of the offensive linemen, has been
pleased with the development of the line this month.‘‘We are coming along. We have some new people we are
trying to work in. Everybody is just trying to get the plays down,’’ Flewellyn said. ‘‘Tonight we played
pretty well, but we could have done better, finishing in the red zone a couple of times.‘‘Both the them have
come a long way since last year,’’ Flewellyn added about Bennett and Dietz. ‘‘It’s been a good transition;
we don’t have to worry about them.’’Clawson was pleased with the tackling by the linebackers and members of
the secondary.‘‘With what we have back at linebacker and in the secondary we expect to be good,’’ Clawson
said. ‘‘Those guys were good. We had a lot of ball disruptions; got our hands on a lot of throws.‘‘I thought
we tackled really well on the perimeter. There were very few missed tackles by the first defense and that
was encouraging.’’At running back, Andre Givens got the first call while Travis Greene and Jordan Hopgood
also saw early playing time with the No. 1 offense.Jamel Martin, Coppet and Levy ran plays with the second
unit.‘‘Marcus’s touchdown run was electrifying. He made two or three people miss in space and had a great
spin move,’’ Clawson said.NOTES: Offensive tackle Christian Piazza, defensive tackle Ted Ouellet, and punter
Brian Schmiedebusch were held out of the scrimmage with injuries …The Falcons final preseason scrimmage is
next Sunday starting at 1 p.m.