Well, like nearly every school these days, the wife of the head coach will hold a football for females seminar with beefcake on site and food from Qdoba. Hopefully, it won’t be too much like Iowa’s.

Here are their game notes (PDF). The MAC really doesn’t do the East Coast, even with Temple and Buffalo. The BGSU notes observes that under Greg Brandon, the Falcons are 1-1 versus Big East foes. — beating Temple in 2004 (yes, they were still in the BE that year) and losing to Boston College in 2007 (not so much).

Of course, the NJ Star Ledger’s Big East notebook refers to Bowling Green as Eagles.

“I think we’re all aware of the success that Bowling Green has had the past couple of years,” the Pitt head coach said. “Especially the past five, six, seven years, playing on the road on opening day.”

The Eagles have a history of upsetting the apple cart early in the season against BCS conference teams. Last year, they opened with a 32-31 win at Minnesota. Five years ago, they upset No. 13 Purdue, 27-26, on the first weekend. The year before that, it was wins over Missouri (Week 2, 51-28) and Kansas (Week 3, 39-16).

This is why I keep a copy of Phil Steele’s preview by my computer at all times in football season. To try and minimize the stupid mistakes that some nitpicking comment will use as proof of how ignorant I really am.

Bowling Green has rebounded from a down cycle a couple years ago. They have mined for talent and developed it well. Especially getting a good payoff from JUCO recruits and getting the right guy at QB. Add in a lot more experience and the team is well positioned for this year.

Don’t think they and their fans aren’t aware that if they can perform in the non-con (at Pitt, Minnesota, at Boise State and at Wyoming) they will be in the top-25 and getting a lot of attention. It’s not a Fresno State non-con, but it is solid and has name/conference value for 3 of the games.

As Orange noted in the Q&A, last year’s leading rusher for the Falcons was moved to WR after being recruited initially as a QB. Anthony Turner looks to be at WR more as a “slash” player. Sure enough, BG Coach Brandon went with that.

Bowling Green indeed has its “Slash.”

You might wonder why Turner, with more than 2,100 passing yards and 1,100 rushing yards to his credit, would be moved to receiver, where the Falcons already seemed deep with the likes of Freddie Barnes, Corey Partridge and Marques Parks.

Well, there are a few reasons. One is running back Willie Geter, a sophomore who the Falcons expect to be a blur. Another is a wide-open offensive scheme that can never include too many receivers for quarterback Tyler Sheehan. And, of course, Turner is “Slash” – he’ll be doing a little bit of everything while calling a wide-out position home.

“He’s a talent,” BG coach Gregg Brandon said of Turner. “I said all through the course of last season that we had to find ways to get him on the field more. He gives us great flexibility. With him at receiver, it gives us a chance to get all of our weapons on the field for every snap.

“We don’t just call plays. When we put an offense together, we start with the best players and then place them in formations and then draw up plays. It forces you to build a system that puts the most talented guys on the field, and then you devise formations and plays to accommodate them.”

I read that and all I could think was that I am so glad Paul Rhoads is somewhere else.

Depending on the perspective you read from the papers, Coach Wannstedt is concerned about stopping Bowling Green.

He’s also concerned about trying to prepare for the Falcons’ version of the spread offense. He said it is tough enough to get ready for an opener, but trying to prepare a defense for an unconventional offensive scheme makes it doubly rough.

“Their offense is completely different than what we’ve been practicing all spring and summer,” Wannstedt said yesterday in his weekly news conference. “They’ll run plays with four and five wide receivers. They will spread the field and throw the ball around a lot. We’ll probably see a lot of screens so it’s completely different than what we’re accustomed to.

“And with no preseason games and limited scrimmages, the first game is always one of a little uncertainty because of substitutions and special teams.”

Or he’s just going to count on the team to be ready and to have the players make plays or something like that.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt has been guardedly optimistic about the season opener, and is preparing his Panthers to focus not on the challenge Bowling Green presents but instead to concentrate on their own strengths.

“You don’t know what they’re going to do and they don’t know what we’re going to do,” Wannstedt said. “We’ve got a lot of new wrinkles on both sides of the ball that they haven’t seen, and I’m sure they have the same thing. You make sure you don’t get caught up in defending ‘ghosts,’ as they say, and you go out there and focus on being sound.”

This spread is not the same as the spread Pitt will see from USF or WVU. The Falcons actually throw the ball. Think multiple receiver sets, and trying to create mismatches in the coverage and gaps at the seams.

Their defense is still the big question mark.