A new season has dawned for Bowling Green with some familiar faces in the picture. The long road was taken for others — including their new quarterback — and what do the Bowling Green season predictions have in store for the Falcons in 2023?
Bowling Green Season Predictions: Predicting the Game-By-Game Results
Using groupthink, College Football Network analysts have painstakingly gone through every game for every team in the MAC and across the country.
Find Every MAC Season Prediction per team: Ball State | Central Michigan | Eastern Michigan | Northern Illinois | Toledo | Western Michigan | Akron | Bowling Green | Buffalo | Kent State | Miami (OH) | Ohio
Picking these games straight up with a projected score using the rosters as up-to-date as the last spring practice, the Bowling Green season predictions indicate what fans can expect in 2023.
Week 1 – Bowling Green @ Liberty: Win, 27-26
A pearl of a game to start the season for Bowling Green fans as Liberty hosts the action to kick the season off. Liberty is a team decimated by the transfer portal themselves but still maintains a competent roster full of potential.
However, this is a roster at Liberty with no real identity in terms of what their plan of attack is on offense. A seasoned Bowling Green defense should have their number and the offense can find their groove against a Flames’ defense that was hit hard this offseason.
Week 2 – Bowling Green vs. Eastern Illinois: Win, 36-12
Back home for their season opener ahead of a treacherous three-game stretch, Eastern Illinois poses little threat to this BGSU roster. The Falcons have the firepower on offense and the size/speed advantage on defense. Any kinks found in their armor from the first game can be ironed out here.
Week 3 – Bowling Green @ Michigan: Loss, 10-43
Non-conference road games aren’t much more difficult than this one for MAC teams this fall. The Bowling Green defense is stingy but should have their hands full with the Michigan rushing attack and Blake Corum’s return.
Michigan did a great job of replacing lost talent through the transfer portal and hosting a mid-tier BGSU offense should be no trouble for their defense. Bowling Green cashes their checks and hopefully stays healthy after this one.
Week 4 – Bowling Green vs. Ohio: Loss, 23-34
The MAC East favorites come to town for Bowling Green’s MAC opener as the Bobcats come north. Ohio is led by all-everything QB Kurtis Rourke as they hope to return to the title game with a different result in 2023.
Bowling Green couldn’t stop Ohio last season without Rourke and 2023’s iteration of this rivalry game should be no different with Rourke back in the lineup.
Week 5 – Bowling Green @ Georgia Tech: Loss, 19-29
The Falcons end their non-conference schedule later than most in the conference and with another date at a Power Five school. Georgia Tech is certainly an inferior ACC team this season but have enough pieces in place to maintain their status as a heavy favorite here.
The Yellow Jackets have a plethora of talented players at multiple positions but don’t be surprised if Darren Anders, Davon Ferguson, and Co. stymy their offensive efforts and make it a closer-than-expected contest.
MORE: MAC QB Rankings 2023
Week 6 – Bowling Green @ Miami (OH): Loss, 22-27
The meat of Bowling Green’s schedule kicks off with a date in Oxford. Miami returns multiple players who have dished out their fair share of punishment in the MAC and they’re looking for revenge on Bowling Green this season.
Whether it’s Aveon Smith or Brett Gabbert at quarterback, both present unique challenges to defend. Bowling Green’s pass-rushing unit will be tested in this one, and if they can pressure either quarterback, it’s a much closer game.
Week 7 – Bowling Green @ Buffalo: Loss, 24-31
The rapid ascenion of Buffalo QB Cole Snyder caught some teams off guard last season, Bowling Green being one of them. However, unlike their game last year, this one projects to be a much closer game.
BGSU has the chops in the secondary to hang with Buffalo and their signal-caller. Can the offense muster enough points, however, is the real question as they were unable to find the end zone but one time last year in this game.
Week 8 – Bowling Green vs. Akron: Win, 26-17
Getting back on the winning side of things after a tough stretch of games, Bowling Green gets a home game against Akron before descending into the midweek MACtion portion of their schedule. Akron has pieces to watch this fall but are certainly less along the way of being rebuilt than anticipated under Joe Moorhead.
Bowling Green’s potentially dangerous passing attack should have a field day against Akron.
Week 10 – Bowling Green vs. Ball State: Win, 28-23
Ball State is a tough read at this stage of the offseason and we certainly project once the midweek games start that we’ll have a better read on them. Until then, Bowling Green can stand on their defensive prowess to limit what should be a limited offense in 2023 for the Cardinals.
Week 11 – Bowling Green @ Kent State: Win, 28-19
Speaking of limited, the Kent State roster is certainly more limited than expected after head coach Sean Lewis’ departure and the subsequent fallout in the transfer portal. Bowling Green is the more complete, deeper, and overall better unit in every facet than Kent State this season.
Week 12 – Bowling Green vs. Toledo: Loss, 19-32
The odds-on favorite to win the MAC West, Toledo comes to town for a potential barnburner in Week 12. Bowling Green pulled off an upset after Toledo had all but clinched the West last season, and while the circumstances around this game are likely to be similar, the outcome should heavily favor Toledo.
Dequan Finn is healthy and presents a unique challenge to try and stop. The Rockets themselves are a well-coached unit on both sides of the ball and should be able to pull away later in this one from Bowling Green.
Week 13 – Bowling Green @ Western Michigan: Win, 23-16
A win to get to bowl-eligible status, Bowling Green was physically dominant over the Broncos a year ago. While WMU brought in Hayden Wolff at quarterback, they lack star power at their usual positions.
A win against Western Michigan gives the Falcons a bowl game and indicates just how close they are to overtaking some of the top-seeded teams in the East.
