As it turns out, Bowling Green lost something more important than just a single football game this past weekend.
During the loss to Western Kentucky Saturday, Matt Johnson suffered an injury to his hip that didn’t knock him out of the game. The injury was severe enough, though, that, according to head coach Dino Babers, Johnson will be sidelined for the remainder of the 2014 season.
With the starter on the shelf, redshirt sophomore James Knapke will take over under center for Saturday’s game against VMI. Knapke has attempted just 10 passes in his collegiate career, none this season.
The loss of Johnson will be a significant one for the Falcons.
Partly because of the presence of Johnson, BGSU was the preseason coaches’ pick to win the MAC East. Phil Steele named him as his first-team All-MAC quarterback in the preseason.
Last season, Johnson started the final 13 games under center. He finished 2013 with 3,467 yards passing and 25 touchdowns while completing just over 64 percent of his passes.