The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
McClure, BG dominated MAC in ’85
Falcons were 11-0 in regular season
To understand the i mpact Brian McClure and his teammates had on Bowling Green football 35 years ago is to understand what McClure potentially passed up in the early 1980s.
As the sport of football was changing from the black-andblue, r un-first mentalit y on of fense to a pass-happy approach fans today see today, McClure had options coming out of Rootstown High School in Ravenna.
His eventual choice of Bowling Green paid off in a way he’ll never regret. As a freshman, the longtime Mentor resident became the starter midway through the 1982 season, and the Falcons won the Mid-American Conference championship. As a senior in 1985, McClure and the BG program took things to another level.
That season produced a rare 11- 0 reg ular sea son f or the MAC. The Falcons got a rare Top 20 ranking in the Associate Press Top 20 poll (at the time, the rankings were just 20 teams).
The season also produced a rare Heisman Trophy candidate in McClure, who finished No. 2 on college football’s all-time passing yards list behind 1984 Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie of Boston College.
Things might have been different had McClure changed courses. But that’s long since moot. McClure made BG his college home, and it’s been more than 30 years have passed since that 1985 season.
Only one MAC team since — the 1999 Marshall team that featured future NFL QB Chad Pennington — finished a regular season undefeated and untied.
With the way MAC teams schedule in the nonconferenece with road games against Power 5 schools — ones that accompany the conference with milliondollar paydays — undefeated regular seasons in the MAC do not happen. They might again, but it will take a special group of players.
In 1985, BG had one, led by a special QB in McClure.
“The second he stepped on campus, it was different,” said former Mentor football coach Steve Trivisionno, whose played football at Bowling Green in the early 1980s. “Brian was that talented, that good. Everyone loved him, and with him we went to a different level. He’s the guy who put Bowling Green on the map.”
Speaking of maps, McClure might have needed one for his first-ever recruiting trip that entailed a plane trip. The tale goes like this: In 1981, Miami Hurricanes coach Howard Schnellenberger — two years from winning the 1983 national championship with a QB you might have heard of — invited McClure to the Coral Gables campus. At the time, McClure was one of the top high school senior QBs in Ohio.
“It was snowing when I left,” said McClure. “It was the first time I had ever been to Miami.”
Future Bills Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly (a star QB for the Hurricanes) was McClure’s host for the weekend. Eventually, McClure was in Schnellenberger’s office, and a scholarship offer was there for the taking. There was a catch. An offer was out to another high school senior QB from Ohio — one you might have heard of.
“(Schellenberger) said, ‘Whoever takes it first,’ it’s theirs,” said McClure, who wasn’t ready to commit on the spot.
Eventually, that other QB you might have heard of accepted the offer. It was Bernie Kosar of Boardman High School. Most football fans know the rest of the story. Kosar led the Hurricanes to the 1983 national championship after an epic win over Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, and when he later joined the NFL won the hearts of Browns fans.
Rewind back to 1982, and McClure was still fielding
offers. They included the likes of Syracuse, Purdue, Penn State, Kent State and most notably Ohio State.
“Everybody wanted me to go to Ohio State,” said McClure. “I liked Ohio State, but you gotta get a feel when you get on campus.”
The best feel he had was when he visited Bowling Green.
“Was I afraid (of the size of Ohio State)? Maybe a little,” said McClure. “I came from a really small town, and when I visited Bowling Green, it felt like home. I felt connected.”
When he arrived at BG in 1982, it wasn’t just the 6-foot-6 McClure who made an impact. Linebacker Troy Dawson — third all-time in tackles at the school with 455 — became a starter as a freshman. Other members of that ‘82 class such as all-purpose player Chip Otten — the current coach at small-school power Coldwater — fullback George Schmelzle and tight end Gerald Bayless became senior captains with McClure.
There were others who made big impacts such as standout running back Bernard White (2,000-plus yards, 33 TDs in 1984 and 1985) and wide receiver Stan Hunter (2,679 career yards, 21 TDs). At least 10 from that 1982 class were first- or second-team all-MAC players, but there was no doubt where the star power began.
“Brian was a generational talent for the MAC,” said Dawson. “I knew we were fortunate to have him. He was a big-time get for Bowling Green, but he never bragged about all that. He just fit in and did his job.”
Said Schmelzle, a Bishop Watterson product who played tailback in high school: “You could tell right away he was going to be our quarterback, and that point you start dreaming and hope the rest of us can catch up to him at some point.”
The Falcons instantly became winners with McClure at the helm. When he took over midway through his freshman season in 1982, BG won the MAC and came within a point of winning the California Bowl against Fresno State. The next two seasons, the team was 8-3, and were set up for a big 1985.
In 1983, Coach Dennis Stoltz’s team played at BYU, where Hall of Fame QB Steve Young and the Cougars won big, 63-28. Young threw for 384 and five touchdowns and added two rushing scores. McClure threw for 364 and two TDs while trying to play catch up.
“I remember our coaches telling us we have to put some drives together to slow down their offense,” said McClure. “I was like, ‘Coach, they’re going three plays and a TD.’ “
The likes of Young-led BYU and Kosar-led Miami began a shift to pass-happy offenses throughout college football, and BG wasn’t far behind. The Falcons didn’t ditch their tight ends or fullbacks for three-, fourand five-receiver sets. But their philosophy was definitely pass-first. That came as a shock for some.
“Instead of running off tackle, all these receivers are running down field, and I’m thinking, ‘I better figure out how to catch the ball,’ “said Schmelzle, who had more than 30 catches as a senior fullback in 1985. “Brian was so good at spreading it around.”
Bayless, whose older brother Martin was a longtime defensive back in the NFL, caught 37 passes as a tight end in 1985. With McClure and a plethora of receivers, Bayless believes the wave of his team’s passing attack was ahead of its time, especially in the MAC.
“The MAC was like the Big Ten in the ‘80s,” he said. “Everyone was running the ball, but Bowling Green was innovative. We caught the league off guard, and I don’t think the league made an adjustment. It was a very exciting time for us.”
The culmination was in ‘85, when after a seasonopening win at Ball State, the Falcons opened eyes with a 30-26 victory in the final seconds at SEC opponent Kentucky. Seven consecutive wins set up a twogame finish to the regular season that included a home game vs. rival Toledo.
“We had not beaten Toledo since I was there,” said McClure. “That’s the game I remember the most from that season.”
It was all McClure and Co. as the Falcons shut out the Rockets, 21-0. The only team in the way of an 11-0 season and a MAC championship were the Ohio Bobcats. Again, it was all BG as McClure was 31 of 49 passing for 479 yards in a 3817 win.
As BG kept winning, McClure (2,674 yards, 18 TD passes in ‘85) steadily began rewriting record books and the program gained national recognition. The Associated Press Top 20 poll had the Falcons ranked No. 20 at season’s end, and Heisman voters had McClure a Heisman Trophy candidate.
When he finished his BG career as a three-time MAC MVP, McClure’s 10,280 passing yards were No. 2 all-time in college football history to Flutie’s 10,579. Both marks have long since been surpassed thanks to the advent of spread offenses across the country. In the 80s though, a QB throwing for 10,000 career yards was huge. As was a QB from the MAC being listed among Heisman candidates.
Auburn’s Bo Jackson won the 1985 Heisman in a close vote with Iowa QB Chuck Long. Included in that voting were future NFL QBs Vinny Testaverde (fifth) of Miami, Purdue’s Jim Everett (sixth) and Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas, who finished tied for 10th with McClure.
“Yeah, I really didn’t think I was going to beat Bo,” said McClure with a laugh.
McClure, however, was eyeing Flutie’s passing yards mark, and that had national media embarking on the BG campus.
“How could you not thinking about it?” McClure said about chasing down Flutie.
The ‘85 season ended on a sour note as the Falcons faced another undefeated in 11-0 Fresno State in the California Bowl. Three days before the game, Stoltz told his team he accepted the San Diego State job. The timing of his announcement back fired and the result was eight BG turnovers and a 51-7 loss. Still, the undefeated regular season continues to resonates in MAC lore.
“You’ve got to understand back then a MAC school going undefeated was absolutely unheard of,” said Bayless. “The reputation of the MAC was that it was a cast-off of the Big Ten, but I think that team was a trailblazer for the league.”
McClure was a 12thround pick of the Bills in the 1986 NFL Draft and had a short stint with the team but he’s remembered most for his time at BG — especially in 1985. The memories and relationships from that season are what continue to stay with him 35 years later.
“Coaches come and go. So do athletic directors and school presidents, but the brotherhood of playing in that program stays with you forever,” said McClure. “That team was special.”