Breaking down the Bearcats opponent: Bowling Green Falcons

Bowling Green State has brought a lot of attention to their program since this time last year.

Tight end Harold Fannin Jr broke records, an NFL Hall of Fame finalist in Eddie George was

hired as head coach, and most importantly, Pudge the Cat made his debut.

On Saturday, the Falcons will make their way south to Nippert Stadium for George and Pudge’s

first game against an FBS opponent. In Week One, BGSU beat FCS foe Lafayette 26-7 behind

good special teams play.

For the Bearcats, they will be looking to bounce back after a tough 20-17 loss to Nebraska. They

appear to be heavy favorites with the line set at –20.5 for Cincinnati.

So, how do the Falcons stack up? Position by position, let’s take a look at where Cincinnati

might be able to take advantage.

Quarterback

Needless to say, Drew Pyne has been around the block.

Bowling Green is Pyne’s fourth stop in a six-year career that has also seen him appear at Notre

Dame, Arizona State and Missouri. In only one of these was he a true starter: 2022, when he

actually had a decent year throwing for 22 touchdowns and six interceptions and leading the Irish

to a 9-4 finish.

Since then, however, things haven’t gone as planned for Pyne. Injuries hampered his time at

Arizona State, and he was purely a backup for Brady Cook at Mizzou. He’s hoping to revive his

career at Bowling Green in his first season as a starter in three years.

Running Back

It was a split backfield in Week One for Eddie George’s group. Chris McMillian ran the ball 14

times for 45 carries, but Kaderris Roberts had the better game overall going for 66 yards on 12

carries. McMillian comes in from Northeast Mississippi Community College while Roberts

followed George from Tennessee State.

Expect it to be another back by committee approach in week 2 as George works out the details of

the running back room.

Wide Receiver

In the Falcons’ Week One win over Lafayette, ten different receivers caught a pass. In Week 2

against a much higher quality opponent in Cincinnati, this will probably be more concentrated as

less guys see the field.

The number one receiver on the official depth chart was senior Finn Hogan. Hogan caught two

passes for twenty yards in the first go around, but caught 17 balls in 2024 for 176 yards. He

figures to have a much more featured role this year however.

Also a probable starter at wideout is former Big 12 foe RJ Garcia II. Garcia II didn’t play much

while at Kansas State, catching 22 passes for 290 yards. He was the leading pass catcher in Week

One with just two catches for 32 yards.

Rounding out the starters from last week, we have Southern Illinois transfer Allen Middleton.

Middleton continues a theme of guys who have little production despite having multiple seasons

played in the receiver room, going for 36 catches and 467 yards for the Salukis over 18 games.

Tight End

There’s a Harold Fannin Jr sized hole in the tight end room for the Falcons.

Fannin had one of the best seasons ever in 2024 for a tight end, leading the entire country in

catches with 117 and yards with 1,555. It was the record for most yards in a season for any tight

end in FBS history.

But enough about the past. It’s obvious that the Falcons’ offense won’t be the same without

Fannin, but let’s focus on what Cincinnati will be up against on Saturday.

Only one tight end caught a pass against Lafayette, and it was the #1 man on the depth chart:

senior Jyrin Johnson. It was a quality career at Texas Southern for Johnson, where he spent five

years catching 104 passes for 1,224 yards. He was named Second Team All-SWAC in 2021.

Offensive Line

Starting off at left tackle is graduate player Tunde Fatukasi. He was a standout for the Falcons

last season only allowing one sack in 408 pass blocking snaps and has started 24 games.

Left guard is senior Jake Burns. Burns was once a Bearcat as he was on the roster for Cincinnati

during their tremendous 2020 and 2021 seasons. He’s started twelve games over three seasons at

Bowling Green.

The center for Bowling Green is longtime Falcon Alex Padgett, who has made 26 starts over the

past two years. He was named 1 st team preseason All-MAC by Phil Steele.

At right guard is South Florida transfer Andrew Kilfoyl. While he has spent over a thousand

snaps at left guard, this will be his first try at being a full-time right guard.

Rounding out the offensive line is Cincinnati native and Moeller graduate Nate Pabst. Pabst has

also spent a long time at Bowling Green, going into his fifth season there.

Defensive Line

Two players are listed at the starting left end spot: Eriq George and Bam Booker. George was

one of the players who followed his father, Eddie, over to Bowling Green from Tennessee State.

George had a great start to his career at the FCS level, being named to the All-Big South-OVC

second team last season and the Freshman Defensive Player of the Year in 2023.

Booker is another native of Cincinnati, having graduated from Winton Woods where he was the

DII Defensive Player of the Year. He was initially recruited to Maryland, but he redshirted that

season and transferred to Bowling Green. There, he hasn’t had much production despite

appearing in 20 games.

Dierre Kelly at defensive tackle is an intriguing case. Over his first three seasons, he played 36

games. Last season he only played in four. This season he’s listed as a starter, so we will see how

his final season goes. So far, he did register half a sack against Lafayette.

At nose tackle is Evan Branch-Haynes who stacks in at 6-2 290 pounds, the heaviest starter on

the defense. Branch-Haynes has a career total of 51 tackles over three seasons with BG.

Linebackers

David Afogho is listed as the starting man at the BUCK position. After redshirting his freshman

season, he appeared in nine games in 2024, registering three tackles in the process.

Starting at will linebacker is one of the best names in all of college football in Gideon ESPN

Lampron. Lampron is viewed by many as the best player in the highest-rated transfer class in the

MAC. Coming in from Dayton, Lampron had a sensational career for the Flyers, being named to

the AP FCS First Team Defense in 2024 with 23.5 tackles for loss (2 nd in FCS) and 6.5 sacks.

Shifting over to the Mike linebacker spot, we have another quality name in Dorian Pringle. In his

true freshman seaosn in 2024, Pringle had 10 tackles playing mostly behind current Kansas

linebacker Joseph Sipp Jr.

Cornerbacks

Starting off the cornerback room is nickel/ slot linebacker MJ Cannon. Playing like he was shot

out of a cannon for Illinois State, he registered 83 tackles, three interceptions, 13 passes defended

and 3.5 tackles for loss in a Second Team All-MVC effort.

The two other regular starters at corner will be Keyon Washington and Jalen McClendon.

Washington comes in after redshirting his freshman season at West Virginia. He was rated a

three-star prospect by ESPN out of high school.

McClendon is older than Washington, having played 2021-2024 at Eddie George’s Tennessee

State. He was a finalist in 2024 for the best defensive back in the FCS. He was 8 th in the FCS

with 16 passes defended.

Safeties

To round out the roster review, we have the safeties: Darius Lorfils and Kal-El Pascal. Lorfils

returns to Bowling Green after starting 21 games over the last two seasons with 70 combined

tackles.

The strong safety will be Kal-El Pascal. He’s had 25 tackles playing sparingly over the past two

years, but had 8 tackles in the season opener.