BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — All of the talk, all of the doubting, all of the criticism; the mountains of motivation leading up to the beginning of fall training camp. Now, for BGSU Football, they are ready to shock the nation.
The BGSU Falcons began fall training camp on Wednesday at the practice fields outside Doyt Perry Stadium.
The Falcons have a huge chip on their shoulder leading into the beginning of the 2022 season when they travel to Los Angeles for a matchup against the PAC 12's UCLA Bruins.
"Me personally, I can't wait," senior safety Jordan Anderson said. "I always dreamed of playing in the Rose Bowl and hearing how great the atmosphere really is. The team, they are just raving about it ... everybody's excited, and we are ready to shock the nation once again."
The orange and brown have gone through a lot of scrutiny this past offseason as they enter year four under head coach Scot Loeffler. From only amassing seven wins in his first three years, to the team being set at a 3.5 win over/under betting line from Las Vegas, the time is now to change the narrative.
"When we first started this thing, we knew that it was going to be a long, hard process," Loeffler said. "We are not there yet, but we see light at the end of the tunnel finally. If we have a great camp, have a great first four games in terms of learning how to play, we'll have a chance to be really competitive in the MAC."
The roster, over course of the offseason, has seen a large influx of experienced transfers, especially at the offensive line position. One of the headlining new names donning the orange and brown is center Jakari Robinson, a sixth-year senior transfer who spent last season with the Memphis Tigers, before spending four seasons with the Cincinnati Bearcats.
"It's very rare that you come to teams that have players this young and everybody's just driven," Robinson said. "Everybody wants to win, everybody wants to be great, and we can't wait for the season."
While the offensive line, along with the offense as a whole, continues to find more consistent play, it is the Falcon defense that fans are looking forward to watching.
It's a unit that finished third in MAC interceptions with 12 and brings back the leading tackler in the conference in linebacker Darren Anders.
"It's an honor to be a leader of this team," Anders said. "Definitely a lot of responsibility, gotta push my teammates to work as hard as they can every day so we can go and compete for a championship."
With starting quarterback Matt McDonald back for a sixth season, a roster full of returning starters and a healthy addition of impactful transfers, the Falcons will look to prove the public wrong, and bring winning football back to the Doyt.