After health scare, BG's Loeffler preparing for Akron

Scot Loeffler thought he was having a heart attack about eight hours after his Bowling Green football team upset Marshall in overtime nine days ago. Loeffler, who missed last Saturday's game at Mississippi State, said he woke up at 4 a.m. on September 18, the day after the Falcons' thrilling overtime win over Marshall at a raucous Doyt Perry Stadium, with "every sign of a heart attack you could ever imagine." "I thought it was acid reflux. I woke up Sunday early. Four o'clock in the morning and just throwing up or spitting up blood," Loeffler said Monday at his weekly press conference. "And then Sunday, I tried to go to bed, tried to sleep and ended up sleeping in my office chair. I couldn't lay down. Felt awful." Loeffler, 47, saw team physician Jeffrey Noftz last Monday night after he couldn't walk up or down stairs. "That's when I knew there was something wrong," Loeffler said. "Had blood clots where they're not supposed to be and had a long week, but I was really proud of our staff or players, how they handled that, and I don't want to ever miss a game." Loeffler, who expects to be back on the sidelines this week when BGSU opens Mid-American Conference play Saturday at Akron, said he can't be on airplanes "for a while." "I mean, I'm fine," he said. "I'm a little tired and all that, but there's no time to be tired right now." Associate head coach and inside linebackers coach Steve Morrison served as acting head coach in the Falcons' 45-14 loss at Mississippi State. The university announced last Friday that Loeffler would miss the game "due to a personal health matter." Loeffler said Toledo coach Jason Candle was the first person to text him when the news broke. "Rivalries are important, football is important, but at the end of the day, it's your health and your family that means everything," he said. Loeffler said it was difficult to watch his team on television. The Falcons dropped to 1-3 this season with the loss to their SEC opponent. "Never want to do that again," Loeffler said. "But they did well and we made the right decision with the doctors. I was wiped out at halftime, just sitting on my couch." Loeffler said he's "the worst" at listening to his body, but is happy he saw a doctor. "They said I was 24 hours away from not a good day, so I do encourage people to do that," he said. "I think how this whole thing started, I thought I had a blood clot in my calf. The week before the UCLA game (on Sept. 3), I blew it off. … I got in an airplane. I went for a run on Saturday and it was a five-mile run and I thought I was going to die every block, to be quite honest with you. So, it probably went into my heart then." Loeffler thinks a clot was building in his lungs for a few weeks. "It probably got into my heart then," he said. "I need to pay attention, that's for sure." Loeffler is in his fourth season leading the BGSU program. He has an 8-24 record. The coach also said Monday that senior quarterback Matt McDonald should return to the lineup for the MAC opener after being held out against Mississippi State. Loeffler said he made that decision the day before the game. "I just really felt that with both of those hip pointers the way that they were, I don't think he would have lasted very long," Loeffler said. "I know Matt wants to play as a competitive dude, but the best thing for our team on Saturday was for Cam (Orth) to play." Orth, a junior, threw for 175 yards and two touchdowns and an interception vs. Mississippi State. McDonald threw for 690 yards, 10 touchdowns and no interceptions in BGSU's first three games, which included a 59-57 7-overtime loss to Eastern Kentucky. Loeffler hopes to see a sense of urgency in his team as its prepares for Akron, which is 1-3 after a 21-12 loss to Liberty. "If you don't prepare every week like it's the Super Bowl, you'll get your tail kicked," Loeffler said. "We need to upgrade in everything that we do throughout the week to give ourselves a chance to beat Akron."