2021 Bowling Green football schedule announced
Feb. 26—BOWLING GREEN — The Bowling Green State University football team will open the 2021 season at Tennessee and will play at rival Toledo in a mid-week game in early November.
The Falcons, who are coming off an 0-5 season, also play at Big Ten foe Minnesota. Bowling Green also will host non-conference games against South Alabama and Murray State. Bowling Green opens at Tennessee on Sept. 4.
BG will host MAC foes Akron, Northern Illinois, and Ohio. The Falcons will play MAC road games at Kent State, Buffalo, and Miami.
Kickoff times will be announced at a later date.
The schedule
—Sept. 4: at Tennessee
—Sept. 11: South Alabama
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—Sept. 18: Murray State
—Sept. 25: at Minnesota
—Oct. 2: at Kent State
—Oct. 9: Akron
—Oct. 16: at Northern Illinois
—Oct. 23: Eastern Michigan
—Oct. 30: at Buffalo
—Nov. 6: Bye
—Nov. 10: Toledo
—Nov. 16: at Miami
—Nov. 26: Ohio
Instant analysis
It could be tough for these fledgling Falcons under coach Scot Loeffler (3-15 in his first two seasons) to gain early traction next season with non-conference games against an SEC program and a Big Ten school. BG lost 59-30 the last time it played Tennessee in 2015, and the Falcons lost 42-17 the last time they played Minnesota (2008).
BG follows with a home opener against a South Alabama team (4-7 overall in 2020) that finished second in the Sun Belt Conference West Division (3-5). The Falcons follow with a winnable home game against Murray State, which is playing this spring, before opening MAC play at Kent State, which had the best offense in FBS last year.
The bye week heading into the Battle of I-75 should be beneficial. Prior to its meeting with the Rockets at The Doyt, BG plays at Buffalo — the only team on the schedule that reached a bowl game last season. The rivalry game, unfortunately, will be played midweek for the second straight year and fifth time in the last eight years — a head-scratcher, for sure. In 2020, the Falcons defeated UT 20-7 at home to end a nine-game losing streak in the rivalry.
The first nine games are on Saturday, while there are three-midweek games at the end of the year. This is the third straight year BG will have at least three weekday games.
Circle the date: Oct. 9
If there's one 2020 performance Loeffler and the Falcons would want back, it would be a 31-3 loss at Akron. BG was outplayed in all facets against the lowly Zips, who had lost 21 straight games before beating BG.
The Falcons lead the all-time series 18-9, and the Zips also have a third-year coach looking to grow his program in Tom Arth. This is the most winnable MAC East game on the schedule. A victory over Akron (1-5) could then lead to another W at NIU (0-6 last year) and an interesting home matchup with EMU (2-4).
Way-too-early record prediction: 3-9
In his first season at BG, Loeffler's squad went 3-9, including 2-6 in MAC play as the program looked to be turning the corner (see the win over UT). After a tough second season, going 3-9 (or better) would get things back on track.
The tough non-conference slate combined with a conference schedule that includes tough road games at Kent and Buffalo could prove to be huge hurdles to clear. Wins are attainable against FCS program Murray State along with MAC foes Akron and Northern Illinois.
First Published February 26, 2021, 11:05am
