Bowling Green State University won its Mid-American Conference football opener for the first time since 2015 last Saturday. In 2015, the Falcons started 6-0 in the MAC.

For this year’s team, every game from here on out is a championship game.

The Falcons are 2-3 overall, but 1-0 in the MAC after defeating Akron, 31-28, Saturday at InfoCision Stadium. This Saturday, the Falcons host Buffalo (2-3, 2-0) at noon at Doyt Perry Stadium.

The winner will be in first place in the MAC East, so the “championship game scenario” works, for now. It’s been a while since anyone in Bowling Green has been able to say that.

“Like coaches said all week last week, ‘This is a championship week,’” said 6-foot, 220-pound running back Jaison Patterson.

“We’ve got to play this like it is a championship game and we all have a championship mindset this entire week of practice and that will prepare us for the game on Saturday,” he said. “We all have the mindset to just stick together, stay as a family. The locker room is always family, on the field it is always family, so we just stay together and push through adversity together.”

The defensive side of the ball has the same mentality, said 6-1, 195-pound senior safety Chris Bacon.

“We just want to have a focused mindset, take games one week at a time, and prepare as if every week is a championship game week. That is just how we are going about it,” Bacon said.

Bacon is a graduate student from Atlanta who transferred from Georgia State and Patterson is a returning letterman from Jacksonville, Florida, so they have had to learn who is who when it comes to the Falcons’ more important games.

Buffalo is one of those games, even though BGSU leads the all-time series 12-7 and last year earned a 56-44 win in Buffalo on a wild finish that saw 49 points scored in the fourth quarter.

“From my understanding, this is also a rivalry game for us as well,” Bacon said. “I mean Toledo is the main rivalry, but we’re going into the game as a rivalry opponent, so we’re just going to go in there and get the job done.”

Patterson says in big games the important thing is to remain focused.

“For me personally, it is mental reps for me because I know this environment is going be through the roof because it is a big game,” Patterson said.

“I must get my mindset set on that, so I want to have my mental reps and make sure I can stay focused that entire game. It will make me play better as a player.”

Stepping up the run game

Patterson leads BGSU in rushing with 149 yards with one touchdown, averaging 3.5 per carry, so he has had to fight for every yard. Bacon is second on the team with 34 tackles.

In the win over Akron, Patterson had his best game, running for 66 yards on 11 carries. He credits that in part to the eligibility reinstatement of 6-1, 310-pound senior center Jakari Robinson, a transfer from Memphis, one week earlier.

“You can tell it is a big difference because Jakari is the captain of the O-line,” Patterson said. “He is a very outgoing person.

“After every play he always comes to me and makes sure that everything is good. He is like the big brother for everyone, and that makes a huge difference on the offensive line because our team is not super old,” he said. “We are kind of young, and he’s like that guardian that everyone needs, and he makes a huge difference in the way we play.”

BGSU coach Scot Loeffler added, “With him in there, we’re a different team. From a leadership end, from a confidence end, we don’t have to put (junior center) Jalen (Grant) in a position that he doesn’t need to be in.

“I thought (sophomore center) Cade (Zimmerly), whenever he was in there, did a really good job. I really do. But Jakari’s just older, he’s played a heck of a lot more football than any of our offensive lineman,” Loeffler said.

“He’s the leader. He’s strong as an ox. When he gets on someone, it’s really hard for them to get off block. We’re very, very happy that he’s back and we think our offensive line (will) slowly but surely, week to week improve.”

Patterson was also re-joined in the backfield by 5-10, 195-pound sophomore running back Jamal Johnson for only the second time this year.

In two games, Johnson has 115 yards rushing on 23 carries, averaging five yards every time he touches the ball.

Against Akron, Johnson ran for a team-high 70 yards on 13 carries as the Falcons accumulated 175 yards rushing to go with 224 passing yards from senior quarterback Matt McDonald, giving the Falcons a balance not seen much this season.

Because of injuries to the running back room, another weapon like Johnson helps Patterson stay fresh, too.

“Actually, it helped me a lot because it gave me a break when I needed it,” Patterson said. “Jamal is somebody we can count on.”

Loeffler added, “We knew walking into the season that our running back crew really had to step up.

“After losing (Terion) Stewart and then Jamal, we were down to a limited amount of backs and I thought they did great fighting through it,” Loeffler said. “I thought Jamal Johnson coming back really put a spark on our run game. I give my credit to Jaison Patterson, ‘TK’ (sophomore tailback Ta’ron Keith), to (junior back) PaSean Wimberly.

“All those guys are highly accountable guys and have really held everything together while we’re trying to get healthy and get everyone back.”