2011 Toledo Rockets Football Preview

It was a year of ups and downs for coach Tim Beckman and his Toledo Rockets. The Rockets were routed by Arizona, Boise State, and Northern Illinois last season, proving that the Rockets are still a ways away from entering the upper echelon of college football. That being said, Toledo beat Purdue last season and went 7-1 during MAC competition. So what does the future hold? With 18 starters returning to campus, nine on each side of the football, 2011 looks to be quite the year for the Rockets.

It really was a tale of two seasons last year for Toledo. Within the confines of the MAC, this team was lights-out. In only one conference contest did this team fail to show its best stuff; a late-season road game at Northern Illinois witnessed a collapse by Toledo’s defense, which allowed 65 points to the high-powered Huskies. However, there really should be no shame in that performance. Northern Illinois was the best and most impressive team in the league over the course of the regular season (with Miami University scoring a stunning upset over NIU in the MAC Championship Game). Toledo was a legitimate number two in the league, giving people in and around the program very little to complain about.

It was only in non-conference play that this team really struggled. Sure, Arizona and Boise State were tough teams; the Rockets weren’t expected to come particularly close to taking down either one of those formidable foes. However, Toledo also lost to a lowly Wyoming squad and, in the Little Caesars Bowl, to Florida International. The Rockets owned more athleticism than either one of those squads but suffered untimely lapses on both sides of the ball, enough to leave the matter in doubt in the fourth quarter. The Rockets couldn’t find late-game answers, and dropped those two tilts to take some of the shine off their brilliance within the Mid-American precincts of the college football world.

Toledo is in the midst of a quarterback controversy as both Austin Dantin and Terrance Owens played a ton of meaningful snaps last season. Dantin is the better runner while Owens is the better passer. The Rockets return 1,000 rusher Adonis Thomas as well as 1,000 receiver Eric Page. Suffice it to say, the Rockets are loaded on the offensive side of the ball and should improve on their 2010 performance. The defense had troubles stopping the better teams last year but another year under their belt should help tremendously given the number of starters who are returning.

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The schedule is brutal at the beginning as the Rockets travel to face Ohio State in the horseshoe, only to host Boise State the next week at home. Road trips to Syracuse and Temple follow suit. It is a difficult four game stretch, and if the Rockets can find a way to manage it, they will be better for it. The Rockets get both Northern Illinois and Western Michigan at home this season. That lineup rates as a definite plus for Toledo’s MAC title chances.