Bowling Green State University football coach Scot Loeffler found out there is nothing worse than having to watch your own team play on television.

Because of blood clots that hospitalized Loeffler for two days last week, he had to watch the Falcons’ 45-14 loss to Mississippi State Saturday on the SEC Network, just like other people around the country.

“It stinks. Never want to do it again,” Loeffler said. “But just like I said, they did well, and we made the right decision with the doctors.

“I was wiped out at halftime, just sitting on my couch so they made the right decision. I didn’t like it, but they made the right choice.”

It was a rough week for Loeffler, who started noticing symptoms the day after the Falcons’ 34-31 overtime win over Marshall at Doyt Perry Stadium one week earlier.

“I thought it was acid reflux. I woke up on Sunday morning early. Four o’clock in the morning and just throwing up or spitting up blood,” Loeffler said. “And then Sunday, I tried to go to bed, tried to sleep and ended up sleeping in my office chair. I couldn’t lay down. Felt awful. Every sign of a heart attack you could ever imagine.

“And then on Monday, I continue to feel like not very well and then couldn’t walk up and down the stairs, and that’s when I knew there was something wrong.”

Loeffler said on Monday, he decided to get checked out by a doctor and was immediately hospitalized.

“Had blood clots where they’re not supposed to be and had a long week, but I was really proud of our staff or players, how they handled that, and I don’t want to ever miss a game,” Loeffler said. “I don’t like not being around our team. But I thought they handled it well, especially (BGSU quarterback) Cam (Orth), in my opinion, being having to start his first game in that type of environment.”

Orth had to fill in for BGSU senior quarterback Matt McDonald, who was still reeling with hip pointers from the Marshall game. McDonald and Loeffler will be back for Saturday’s Mid-American Conference opener at Akron.

Wake-up call

The 47-year-old Loeffler made it sound like it was a wake-up call, but it is business as usual now.

“Yeah, I just got to be smart. I can’t get on airplanes for a while,” he said. “The fact of the matter is, I’m a little tired and all that, but there’s no time to be tired right now.”

Loeffler urged people to listen to their bodies.

“They said I was 24 hours away from not a good day, so I do encourage people to do that. I’m the worst at it, I’m by far the worst at it,” he said. “I think how this whole thing started. It was I thought I had a blood clot in my calf. The week before the UCLA game, I blew it off. I thought I got kicked. I got in an airplane.

“I went for a run on Saturday and it was 5-mile run and I thought I was going to die every block, to be quite honest with you. So, it probably went into my heart then.”

The first person to reach out to Loeffler when he started feeling ill was the Falcons’ biggest rival — Toledo coach Jason Candle.

“He was the first person that texted me and you know, rivalries are important, football is important, but at the end of the day, it’s your health and your family that means everything,” Loeffler said. “No one’s going to ever remember how many games you won, lost or what happened, and they never do. I can’t even tell you the last three national champions.”