Sacramento State's wild leap from FCS power to first-year FBS program lands in Ohio, where a rebuilding Bowling Green team is looking for any signature win to save its season.
Bush’s Picks
SACBGSU
SACBGSU
OverUnder
Best BetBowling Green
Bowling Green isn't a good team, but it's a team that's been playing FBS football for decades against a Sacramento State squad making its very first trip up a level. That gap in experience and depth matters most in year one, and it's enough to lean Falcons here even with their own well-documented issues.
Sacramento State
+Nothing-to-lose energy in first-ever FBS season
+Coach Alonzo Carter's fresh system, clean slate
−CFN projects a rough 3-9 debut season
−No settled starting 22, thin depth per program
Bowling Green
+Austyn Dendy emerging as a real workhorse back
+Eriq George anchoring the defensive front
−Coming off a 4-8 season under Eddie George
−Brutal non-conference slate (Nebraska, Iowa State) before this game
This is a matchup of two programs trying to figure out who they are. Sacramento State spent 33 years in the FCS before jumping straight into the MAC this fall, and the growing pains have been obvious — this isn't the same roster that closed out 2025 with real momentum. Bowling Green, meanwhile, is trying to dig out from a 4-8 season under second-year coach Eddie George, and after a brutal non-conference slate against Nebraska and Iowa State, an 0-5 start wouldn't shock anyone in Bowling Green.
The Falcons have banked their identity on the ground game. Sophomore running back Austyn Dendy topped 490 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns a year ago, and with George — a Heisman winner himself — calling the shots, expect Bowling Green to keep leaning on Dendy behind an offense that's also expected to lean on Oregon transfer Austin Novosad under center, assuming he holds the job through fall camp. On defense, Eriq George, the coach's son, is the name to know after racking up 4 sacks last season.
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SAC Sacramento State
BGSU Bowling Green
Sacramento State's calling card for years was physicality and experience, but the jump to FBS has stripped a lot of that away. College Football News pegs the Hornets for a 3-9 season, which tells you the outside expectation is a rough transition year, not a competitive one. Whatever juice this team has will come from playing loose with nothing to lose against a MAC field that's still feeling them out.
Sacramento State Hornets
Sep 25?vs Massachusetts—
Sep 19?vs North Dakota State—
Sep 12?@ Fresno State—
Sep 5?vs Mississippi Valley State—
Aug 29?@ Eastern Michigan—
Bowling Green Falcons
Oct 2?@ Miami (OH)—
Sep 25?vs South Florida—
Sep 19?@ Iowa State—
Sep 12?@ Nebraska—
Sep 5?vs Tarleton State—
Recent form.
Coach Alonzo Carter inherited a roster that, by his own program's account, doesn't have a settled starting 22 yet, let alone the depth to survive injuries in a longer FBS season. That's the honest read on where Sacramento State stands heading into its MAC slate — every week is going to be about finding answers on the fly.
Sacramento State Hornets
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Bowling Green Falcons
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Bowling Green fans have circled this one as a potential get-right spot after facing two Power Four opponents and a solid FCS program earlier on the schedule. If the Falcons are still searching for their first win by Friday, October 9, the pressure to finally look like a functional offense will be real.
