One more sleep until we’re back at Beaver Stadium, everyone.

Penn State football hosts Bowling Green at noon on Saturday in its home opener of the 2024 season. The Nittany Lions are coming off a 34-12 win at West Virginia, while the Falcons took care of business at home in a resounding 41-17 win over Fordham.

Bowling Green has some interesting players on the roster. So, let’s take a look at the Falcons ahead of the matchup.

The Team

Scot Loeffler just began his sixth season as Bowling Green’s head coach, a role he has a 21-35 overall record in. He led the Falcons to a 7-6 record last season, which is the best of his tenure so far.

Loeffler has experience in the Big Ten, serving as a student assistant at Michigan in 1996. He’s experienced in working with quarterbacks, including Tom Brady, Tim Tebow, and Chad Henne. He also served as the quarterbacks coach for the Detroit Lions for one season.

Greg Nosal and Max Warner are Loeffler’s co-offensive coordinators. They’ve both shared the position since 2022.

Meanwhile, Steve Morrison and Sammy Lawanson are co-defensive coordinators. They’ve been on the job at Bowling Green since last season.

Penn State owns a 2-0 all-time series lead. The Nittany Lions defeated the Falcons 48-3 in 1998, and 45-19 in 1987. Both games took place at Beaver Stadium.

Offense

Former Missouri and Indiana quarterback Connor Bazelak starts for the Falcons. He went 15-for-22 with 168 passing yards last week against Fordham, while also rushing for 27 yards and one touchdown. Backup Lucian Anderson III also had a rushing touchdown.

Bazelak threw 1,935 passing yards with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions while maintaining a 60% completion rate in 2023. He was at Indiana in 2022 and Missouri from 2019-21.

Running back Terion Stewart stole the show last week with 161 rushing yards and three touchdowns. He was the focal point of the offense, with far more total yards than any other player aside from Bazelak.

Tight end Harold Fanin Jr. and wideouts Jamal Johnson and Malcolm Johnson Jr. were last week’s primary pass catchers. The trio combined for just 154 receiving yards, though. Fanin led the way with 67 yards, while Johnson and Johnson Jr. had 54 and 33, respectively. No players were targeted more than six times.

Nick Reimer and Nate Pabst start at left tackle and left guard. Alex Padgett is at center, while Tunde Fatukasi and Alex Wollschlaeger are at right guard and tackle, respectively.

The Falcons averaged just 26.15 points last season, and as a primarily run-first team, the offense averaged 326.3 yards per game.

Defense

Bowling Green allowed 17 points last week, and both touchdowns were passes. The Falcons gave up 182 rushing yards and 219 yards through the air.

Joseph Sipp Jr. led the team with eight total tackles. Sipp lines up alongside two other linebackers: Brock Horne and Charles Rosser. Horne had five tackles against Fordham and 21 total tackles last season. Rosser had five tackles and one sack last week after registering 20 total tackles in 2023.

Lining up next to safety C.J. Brown, who had seven tackles against Fordham, is Darius Lorfils. He had three tackles in week one. Patrick Day also gets significant reps at the position.

Jordan Oladokun and Edward Rhambo are the primary cornerbacks. Oladokun had a pass breakup, while Rhambo had four tackles and a breakup last week. Darius McClendon, meanwhile, is the team’s primary nickelback.

Ali Saad, Anthony Hawkins, and Dontrez Brown Jr. make up the starting defensive line. Hawkins led the group with seven total tackles and two sacks, while Brown had two tackles. Saad also had four tackles as well as half a sack.

Special Teams

John Henderson handled punts last week, averaging 44 yards on his three boots. Alan Anaya handled field goals last season, going 13-for-18 with a 42-yard long. Bowling Green didn’t attempt any field goals against Fordham, although Jackson Kleather went 5-for-6 in extra points. Meanwhile, Zach Long sent away two kickoffs for touchbacks.

Justin Pegues handled punt and kickoff returns. He had two punt returns for 16 yards while going for 123 yards and a touchdown, which came on the opening play, on two kickoff returns last week.