Gregg Brandon is a light 'em up kind of guy. He likes to devise offensive schemes that create clusters of points. His forte is creative play-making.

Brandon is the guy who figured out how to put the spread offense into practice when he served two seasons as the offensive coordinator for Urban Meyer at Bowling Green. Meyer rode the success of that offense, and the prodigious turnaround of the Falcons program, to a job at Utah and then to Florida.

That first move put Brandon in the head coach's office and gave him complete control of the offense. All of the gimmickry and gadgetry were his doing. And the Falcons continued to put up he points in bunches.

But the Achilles' heel that was exposed over and over in the past couple of seasons has been the often shaky kicking game. Brandon set out this recruiting season to remedy that situation, and when signing day rolled around, the longtime assistant felt as if he had accomplished his primary task.

"The punter is a kid that I am really excited about," Brandon said. "It's a kid out of South Miami named Alonso Rojas, and he is a really polished, athletic punter. He can boom it, and obviously we need a punter with the graduation of Nate Fry. I think he'll be able to step right in and handle the job.

"The kicker we got is Sean Ellis from Merritt Island in Florida, and he really has a strong leg. Most of his kickoffs go out of the end zone, and he's a very accurate field goal guy and he can make extra points. I'm excited about both those guys. They both can be impact players right out of the chute.

"We scoured the country, we visited combines in California, Nevada, Florida, Texas and wherever there were punters and kickers displayed we went. We feel like we nabbed two of the best in the country."

TOP RECRUITS:

DB Jerett Sanderson, Long Branch, New Jersey -- This 6-foot, 180-pound product of Fork Union Military Academy is the prize of the class. The extra year of seasoning at Fork Union makes Sanderson a player who can have an immediate impact, and the Falcons can use help at the corners. He is already enrolled at Bowling Green. "We've already seen him in action a little bit in some winter conditioning, and he is really going to be a good player for us," Brandon said. "He has a chance to start, which is huge. He'll get a leg up, and getting his feet on the ground academically will help him as well."

QB Tyler Sheehan, Cincinnati, Ohio -- At 6-3, 210, Sheehan has the size and mobility the Falcons crave and the kind that is needed to run the spread offense. "Sheehan is an excellent quarterback, a big rangy guy, with a cannon for an arm, and he's a very mobile and athletic quarterback. He fits our scheme well," Brandon said.

DT DJ Young, Lansing, Michigan -- The massive Young (6-5, 278) gives the Falcons the bulk in the middle they have been missing in recent years. Their run-stopping ability has been lacking, and Brandon hopes Young reverses that trend. "I really like the inside players we took on defense. We don't have anybody on the team like DJ Young," Brandon said. "He is the kind of big-bodied individual we have been missing around here."

--Besides the departure of QB Omar Jacobs, the most pressing need on the offensive side for the Falcons was at wide receiver, where Charles Sharon and Steve Sanders gave record-setting performances before finishing their careers. Head coach Gregg Brandon said he feels as if the Falcons put guys in the system to fill the void.

"These guys can all run, there is great speed there," Brandon said. "Kelvin Davis is a burner. Tyrone Pronty has great speed. Derek Brighton is not as fast, more in the Cole Magner mold. He has good football speed, can separate, has great hands, has a knack for getting open and can make plays."

Brandon also beefed up his defense, which at times put so much pressure on the Falcons' offense that it had to score almost every time it had the ball, in certain games.

"I really like the inside players we took on defense," Brandon said. "We don't have anybody on the team like DJ Young. He is 6-5 and 280 pounds. I'm real excited about him because he can run and was heavily recruited. Orlando Barrow is 6-3 and 270 pounds and a very athletic kid from Virginia. Those two guys are the big-bodied guys that we've been lacking since I got here."

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Kids look at Bowling Green and see a great program, a winning program, a program that is going to be challenging for a championship year in and year out. We have a great academic institution and tradition. Being on television 15 times in the last three years doesn't hurt, either." -- Bowling Green head coach Gregg Brandon

GLANCE AT 2006: There was a lot of talk about this being the end of a good four-year run for the Falcons, with the early departure of Omar Jacobs for the NFL. But most of the right elements for another season as a contender are in place. The coaching staff remains in place, and the offensive line is solid. Anthony Jordan's debut as quarterback should be a smooth transition.

PRO POTENTIAL:

QB Omar Jacobs -- The tall junior from Florida passed up his senior season at Bowling Green to enter the 2006 NFL Draft. Jacobs is confident he will be chosen in the first or second round. He is the Falcons' all-time career leader in touchdown passes with 71 and ranks third in career yards with 6,938. He also is the active NCAA career leader in total offense per game (295.6), passing yards per game (277.5) and passing efficiency (162.5).

RB P.J. Pope -- The native of Fairfield, Ohio, is the only player in Bowling Green history to rush for more than 3,000 yards in a career and accumulate more than 1,000 yards receiving as well. He finished as the school's third all-time leading rusher with 3,116 yards, tied for third in Falcons history with 33 rushing touchdowns. Pope has an outside shot of hooking up with an NFL team as a free agent and working his way onto a roster.

ROSTER REPORT: DT Matt Leininger, who was booted off the team before the 2005 season after conduct and legal issues caught up with him, could be reinstated for 2006. "I think if he is healthy and well, he could certainly come back in the '06 season. Whether or not that is going to occur, I do not know," Bowling Green head coach Gregg Brandon said.