Terrance Owens

After quarterback Terrance Owens saw the bulk of the playing time on Sept. 16 against No. 4 Boise State, the sophomore has thrust himself into the competition for the starting job.

UT Head Coach Tim Beckman announced Sept. 19 that he will choose a starter for this week’s game at Syracuse on Wednesday or Thursday. Junior quarterback Austin Dantin has started the last 12 games over Owens the past two seasons when both quarterbacks had been healthy.

“They’re still competing just like we do every week,” Beckman said. “We will name that starting quarterback either Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning. They’ll both compete. Last night when we practiced, they both repped with the one’s, so they’re getting the opportunities with the No. 1 receivers and the No. 2 receivers.”

Owens completed 17 of 31 passes against the Broncos for 201 yards, but threw an interception in the red zone. Dantin completed 3-of-8 passes for 50 yards and Toledo’s lone passing touchdown on the team’s first drive, but also committed a red zone error after fumbling on a third-quarter rush near the goal line.

-TFP Staff Writer Mike Bauman contributed to this post

Donald Campbell worked at Toledo Hospital for about 40 years, and he loved to golf.

Sept. 25 is the fourth annual Donald Campbell Memorial Open. Keith Ferris, a physician assistant at Toledo Hospital, said Campbell was a general surgeon, but he specialized in wound treatment. He died from gastric cancer in 2007.

“He was very busy and very well-liked by the staff,” Ferris said. “I worked with him almost every day, and we used to golf together. He sometimes took house calls and didn’t charge.”

Belinda Heywood, a physician assistant at The University of Toledo Medical Center, worked with Campbell when she was on staff at Toledo Hospital.

“Dr. Campbell was someone I worked closely with,” Heywood said. “He cared for our group of physician assistants like we were family.”

The first tournament was in 2008, and the proceeds were given to the Ohio Association of Physician’s Assistants Scholarship Fund. About 101 golfers participated in the event, and only 50 golfers were involved in 2009.

“We had 112 golfers last year, but it was cold and people complained,” Ferris said. “So, we moved it up one week and will be having it on a Sunday instead of Saturday in hopes of getting more people to come.”

The Autism Society of Northwest Ohio and the Ohio Physician Assistant’s Scholarship Fund are benefactors. Linell Weinberg, executive director of the Autism Society of Northwest Ohio, said she will give a presentation during dinner.

“We are grateful to be a benefactor this year,” Weinberg said. “We would like to be a benefactor in future years.”

The committee’s goal is to have over 200 golfers attend. Ferris said about 35 golfers signed up so far, including Heywood.

If people do not want to golf but donate money, they can become sponsors. ProMedica has given generous donations in the past, according to Ferris.

Participants and non-participants can sponsor a hole for $100. The money is added into the profit sent to beneficiaries.

“The last two years we donated part of the money we raised to Make-A-Wish,” Heywood said. “We chose certain benefactors because Donald helped out those places.”

Shotgun start is 1 p.m., and dinner begins at 6 p.m. The open is at the Spuyten Duyval Golf Course in Sylvania.

To participate in the open and have dinner, tickets are $75. Students only pay $65, and dinner-only tickets are $20.

Register online at http://associationdatabase.com/aws/OAPA/pt/sd/calendar/17311/_PARENT/layout_details/false. Checks can also be sent in the mail, and the address is on the website.

There is yet another smear campaign raging online and in newspapers across the country. Perhaps it’s just another case of haters trying to discredit those who have made it big, or perhaps it’s a case of science gone bad. First they took down Baby Einstein and now they’re gunning for the big kahuna himself, a certain yellow sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea. (Sponge! Bob! Square! Pants!)

What used to be just disapproving whispers or the occasional blogger keyboard-lashing has crossed the line into scientific proof. Yes, there is a study published in Pediatrics: the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics that concludes that watching just nine minutes of Spongebob Squarepants can have immediate detrimental effects on a child’s executive function. Although I am generally a Spongebob fan, I am also a fan of science and am always willing to at least hear it out.

However, I didn’t even have to read past the control groups to lose faith in this particular study. It turns out that there were two control groups, one that spent the nine minutes drawing independently and one that spent the nine minutes watching “Caillou.” The researchers reference “Caillou” as “an educational cartoon” and “a realistic Public Broadcasting Service cartoon about a typical US preschool-aged boy.”

I beg to differ on both accounts.

“Caillou” is, in fact, one of the few children’s shows my husband and I have all but banned in our house. Our now-8-year-old  son was about the same age as Caillou when he began to take notice of his supposed cartoon counterpart. As parents, the first question that came to mind when we started watching “Caillou” with our then-preschool son was, of course, “Why does the entire show take place inside of a cumulus cloud?”

Seriously, is the whole thing supposed to be a dream? Does it take place inside of someone’s imagination? If so, I would have to say that the whole realism supposedly depicted just isn’t playing out. I keep waiting for some sort of Newhart/St. Elsewhere explanation at the end of each episode, but, alas, no answers as of yet. The realism theme crumbles even further as we realize that Caillou’s teacher lives out every day of her life in a pair of adult-sized, crimson-colored bib overalls, not the most likely clothing choice for someone whose occupation only allows for 30-second potty breaks.

Admittedly, I haven’t seen the show in some time. It wasn’t long into the show’s run on Szyperskivision that we noticed that the “typical US preschool-aged boy” was actually a sniveling, whiny, undisciplined lad who was an unwelcome influence on our own 4-year-old’s behavior. I would be offended that the portrayal is supposedly that of a typical American child, but the Spongebob study’s researchers somehow missed the fact that one Mr. Caillou is actually pure-bred French-Canadian.

A part of me understands why slower-paced, less complex shows are favorable for young minds. However, another recent study revealed that toddlers are actually capable of understanding complex grammar, even before they can speak in more complex sentences, by listening to others who utilize language in a more complex way. That being said, it is difficult for me to see the value of my children watching Caillou’s sister, Rosie, or Max of “Max and Ruby” continually shout out random words and sentence fragments. In fact, I witnessed my own children’s language skills obviously deteriorate after watching each of these programs, so I have tried to limit if not eliminate them from our TV viewing.

As much as Spongebob may seem overwhelming to some, I find too many preschool shows to be educationally underwhelming for the sponge-like (no pun intended), eager-to-learn brains of the younger set. Even Mister Rogers, the ultimate “speak-to-children-on-their-level” guru spoke in complete sentences, wasn’t afraid to wax philosophical and believed in a child’s ability to comprehend complex thought. Kudos also to modern shows like “Super Why,” “Word Girl,” “Arthur,” and “Cyberchase,” which are also confident in a child’s intellectual understanding and capability.

As for Spongebob, I’m not going to give up on my little absorbent friend over a single research study, when Google is happy to list the positive, sometimes life-saving stories that continue to surround him. Perhaps the most important piece to Spongebob’s legacy of love is his full-of-life, optimistic nature, which is something that kids of today’s broken-family, economically-depressed era just might be in search and in need of more than ABC’s and 123’s.

Shannon and her husband Michael are raising three children in Sylvania. Email her at letters@toledofreepress.com.

In the famous word of Red Foxx, it looks like “this is the big one” for the European Union. The EU looks to be collapsing. Listen carefully and one can almost make out faint screams of “look out below!”

Anyone who has been paying attention the last several weeks has seen Greece coming closer and closer to its now-inevitable default. Despite numerous bailout packages from more wealthy/fortunate countries (read: countries with no-nonsense leadership), this liberal country by the sea has refused to make a stand against its public- and private-sector unions and make substantial necessary changes to its monetary policy.

When Greece defaults – and it WILL default – there’s little telling what other dominoes might fall as well. Italy, Portugal, and Spain are all in the general vicinity of the chopping block, with much of their debt commingled with the Greeks, so it’s no stretch of the imagination that some combination of those countries may follow suit with defaults of their own.

After all is said and done, the likelihood that the European Common Market will still be intact is relatively low and falling every week. Why this comes as a surprise is beyond us; considering the EU is only twenty years old and had never faced any real obstacles in the form of recessions or financial crises until just three years ago.

This raises an important point: the leaders of the EU – the academics who devised it and the politicians trying desperately to hold it together – are flying blind through this storm.

The idea of a European Common Market was put forth by academics and administrators who espoused (and still support) complex economic theory, the “smartest guys in the room,” as they like to be called. When they originally pushed the idea, they spoke in complex economic terms which served little purpose other than confuse those around them, convincing others of their “smartest guys in the room” status.

Unfortunately, as we’ve seen repeated throughout history time and again, they weren’t the “smartest guys in the room.” The same was true of the fellows running Long-Term Capital Management, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, along with Russia when it defaulted some years ago, as did Mexico and Argentina.

Lest we forget Barack Obama, Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner or his predecessor Hank Paulson, all of whom thought themselves ready to steer the economy of the largest free-market superpower in the world; and none of whom have proven effective leaders.

This isn’t strictly an indictment of politicians. Many so-called professionals in the finance industry are just as guilty of overreaching their own intelligence. For decades portfolio engineers and so-called advisors have invented “new and improved” investment strategies that are usually designed to do little more than separate an investor from his or her money.

Be they derivatives that included toxic mortgage-backed securities that almost brought down the US financial system in its entirety, Portfolio insurance popularized in the 1980s, or Bernie Madoff’s ‘proprietary’ trading system, complex solutions rarely solve simple problems. In most cases, a huge amount of time is spent convincing clients of potential gains, but little heed is paid to potential holes that expose clients to downside risk.

The lesson in all this is simple: Beware those who pretend they’re smarter than you. In the long run, most will prove to be little more than charlatans peddling snake oil.

Dock David Treece is a discretionary money manager with Treece Investment Advisory Corp (www.TreeceInvestments.com) and is licensed with FINRA through Treece Financial Services Corp. He has appeared on CNBC and numerous radio programs, and also serves as editor of financial news site Green Faucet (www.GreenFaucet.com). The above information is the express opinion of Dock David Treece and should not be construed as investment advice or used without outside verification.

As an estate planning attorney, I (Mark) on a regular basis deal with the task of helping the clients of The Retirement Guys plan on how to best pass their assets on to their loved ones when they pass away.  This is a very serious matter if you think about it.  Folks have worked hard all their lives to provide the best lives they can to their family members.  They have sweated, sacrificed and gone without to make a better life.  Think back on how you sacrificed.  Did you work at a hard job that maybe you didn’t enjoy all that much?  Did you eat peanut butter sandwiches instead of steak?  (I can remember a story my dad told about how when he was in college and barely had enough money to survive.  He and his roommate would buy a loaf of bread and some peanut butter and were so hungry they ate it until they puked.) Did you come home many a night worn out and tired and ready to collapse before you had to get up the next morning to go back and do it again?  You know what I am talking about.  That is why this process of passing our hard-earned money and assets to the next generation is so important.  Possessions are just things and you can’t take money with you when you die, but your hard work could certainly make life a little easier for those you leave it to.

The first thing everyone should consider is creating a will.  This document decides where all your stuff goes when you die.  How does it do this?  By a process called probate.  Many have heard the expression, “avoid probate,” or “probate is bad.”  Is it really?  Let’s take a moment to examine this and see if we can better understand this evil thing called probate. What is probate?  My definition of probate is that it is a court-supervised process to get assets that are titled in your name to where you want them to go.  Let’s talk morbid for a second.  You have now died.  There are assets that are titled in your name.  You are no longer here to sign paperwork transferring the assets to someone else.  Since you are not here, there needs to be someone to supervise the process of transferring your assets to those named in your will.  The local probate court assists this person called and executor to carry this out.  Your will is filed with the court and the court then appoints your executor.  The executor is then responsible for carrying out your wishes while giving an accounting to the court as to where every penny goes.  Debts are paid, bills are paid, taxes are paid, etc.  After a final accounting there is a final distribution of what is left and it is paid out to the named heirs.  So, is probate bad?  The intent of it is good as an orderly court-supervised process.

What about probate is perceived as bad?  Two main things are the complaint of most.  The time that it takes and how much it costs.  Many times it takes 9 months to over a year to complete the process.  This is because there are many things to do.  It can take a long time if assets of the estate need to be sold, such as real estate, cars, boats, etc.  In a lot of cases the delay cannot be avoided.  How about cost?  The negative perception here comes from the fact that many times most of the cost in settling an estate is attorney fees.  Those lousy attorneys! (Don’t hold it against me too much that I am one of them.)  If I can defend my own profession for a moment, the attorney is the one guiding the executor through the many necessary steps to get the job done.  In our local county attorney fees start a 4.5% of the value of the asset and scales down the higher the total estate assets get.  In addition to the attorney fees, there are costs like taxes, appraisal fees, court costs, etc.  When you start adding things up, it can seem like a lot of money.

Can probate be avoided?  Sometimes.  One of the things to explore may be if a Revocable Living Trust is appropriate in your circumstances.  A trust like this serves as a replacement to the traditional will and can possibly transfer assets in a more time efficient and cost efficient way.  There are other ways to avoid probate like joint accounts, special deeds and transfer on death accounts.  The Retirement Guys have a free report called “The 10 Biggest Mistakes When Setting Up a Living Trust.”  You can get it by going to www.retirmentguysnetwork.com and sending us an email request.

For more information about The Retirement Guys, tune in every Saturday at 1 PM on 1370 WSPD or visit www.retirementguysradio.com.  Securities and Investment Advisory Services are offered through NEXT Financial Group Inc., Member FINRA / SIPC.  NEXT Financial Group, Inc nor its representatives provide tax advice.  The Retirement Guys are not an affiliate of NEXT Financial Group. The office is at 1700 Woodlands Drive, Suite 100, Maumee, OH 43537. 419-842-0550

The Sept. 16-18 grand-opening event at The Limited at Westfield-Franklin Park Mall gives shoppers the chance to buy a snazzy suit at 40 percent off—but it offers four local women at NAOMI, a rehabilitation-center for women, something more.

The women will be given $100 gift cards in addition to a styling session with a trained-associate. A portion of proceeds from the weekend sales also will go to the nonprofit. NAOMI is a three-step program that participants “graduate” from. In step one, needs are identified, and in step two, women attend group sessions and focus on personal development. In step three, life skills are emphasized.

“I’ve been there since NAOMI was organized and nobody has ever done anything like this before,” said Executive Director Margaret Tisdale, who added the women’s new clothes are usually donations so they are excited to pick out their own outfits.

“I know when I can buy something new and I like it, it makes me feel good,” Tisdale said.

After assuming new ownership about a year ago, The Limited started partnering with local charities whenever they open a new store, said Tori Binau, the senior vice-president for marketing and e-commerce of The Limited.

“We’re finding many of these partnerships extend beyond opening,” Binau said, adding The Limited plans to offer styling to future NAOMI women.

Styling is important to these women because they are going back into the job market. “We have the ability to show the women, you can buy this shirt and this skirt and then you have four layering options, and with accessories, you have eight days worth of outfit options,” Binau said.

The Limited had a previous location at Westfield-Franklin Park that closed in 2003. The store officially reopened Aug. 8, but the ribbon-cutting ceremony will occur at noon Sept. 16. In addition to the 40 percent sale off the entire store, there will be a gift-card drawing and free tote-bags with every purchase. The new store, which employs 21 people and is 5,000 gross square feet, has new amenities like an e-bar and additional seating.

The Limited ultimately chose to partner with NAOMI because they have the same goal of personal empowerment for women. “We feel great that we’re going to help women in transition find their personal success,” Binau said.

A Toledo area couple isn’t hopeful that the end of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy on Sept. 20 might lead to a change in adoption laws. That helps the military, but not the everyday gay couple who wants children together, according to Amy Zawacki.

Zawacki and her partner Heather Guinn have been together for five years, but only Guinn is the legal parent of their 18-month-old twin boys, Max and Mason.

“That frustrates me. We got birth certificates when the babies were born and I am not on the birth certificates,” Zawacki said. “I know I have no legal rights to them.”

Ohio law prohibits gay couples from adopting together. It also prohibits a same-sex partner from petitioning to adopt a partner’s child. Zawacki agreed that Guinn would carry the boys, who were conceived through an anonymous sperm donor, because her partner is 36 years old and wanted to carry a baby before she got too old.

The couple would like to use the same sperm donor in the next year and have Zawacki, 29, carry the baby or babies. That way, “they will be blood relatives, half siblings,” she said.

“Adoption was never a choice,” but the decision had nothing to do with the adoption laws, Zawacki said. “It is really expensive after we did some research.”

The couple decided that using an anonymous sperm donor would be best for them.

“We didn’t want to know the sperm donor. We didn’t feel comfortable knowing there was a guy in our life who knew he was the father of our children,” she said.

The most frustrating thing for the couple is the boys can’t be on Zawacki’s health insurance, who is the only working parent. Guinn quit her job as a teacher to stay home with the boys because the cost of day care did not outweigh her income.

The only reason the boys are insured is because they were born premature and are on state insurance for now. Guinn is uninsured.

Zawacki said the best hope to become the boys’ legal parent and insure them is a repeal of DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act.  DOMA is a law that basically says if there is a gay marriage in New York and then you come to Ohio, Ohio doesn’t have to recognize it, Zawacki said.

For a time, Zawacki served on the EqualityToledo board, which advocates for gay rights. She left her position because of the babies, but she and her family will be there on Aug. 27 at the Toledo Pride event in Downtown Toledo.

Zawacki said she wants her sons to know their moms are proud of their sexuality and their family.

“It is important to me. I don’t want to be poster child and I am much more comfortable than Heather is, but I think it is important because one day our kids are going to be in school and it makes me nervous that they might be bullied because they have two moms. We have to be proud of who we are so our boys are proud of who we are.”

Easter Seals is the nation’s oldest and largest non-profit organization serving both children and adults with disabilities or other special needs. Started in 1919 in Elyria, Ohio, founding-father Edgar F. Allen said, “Your life and mine shall be valued not by what we take, but by what we give.”

The Easter Seal Donation Center has been in partnership with Toledo-area Saver’s for six years. Bryan Waugh, the operations manager said, “On a daily basis we collect gently-used clothing, household items, small appliances, and furniture. These are then taken to the Toledo Saver’s stores and Easter Seals is paid by the pound each month for the items we deliver. In return, we are able to use those monies to fund our programs.” Programs include home care services, speech-language therapy services and medical equipment loans and help Easter Seals families meet their loved one’s special needs.

Easter Seals joined Facebook, has a new trailer located in the Westfield Franklin Park parking lot and will be sending out new collection cards to area neighborhoods. Waugh states, “We want to make this convenient and get the Easter Seals name out there. You have the ability to set up a collection time and volunteer on Facebook. We come curbside to pick up the donations. The website will also have available positions posted; we’re currently looking for drivers and donation trailer staff.”

The Easter Seals Donation Center is located at 5470 Monroe St. at Whiteford Road. The donation trailer is located on the Sylvania Avenue side of Westfield Franklin Park. The new Facebook page is available at www.facebook.com/eastersealsdonationcenter. Easter Seals donations and volunteering helps ensure people with disabilities or special needs and their families have equal opportunities to live, learn, work and play in their communities.

Faced with the challenge of playing the nation’s top non-BCS school, Toledo found out just how good No. 4 Boise State is. The Rockets should leave the game frustrated, however, because as good as the Broncos were, UT had a chance to be in this game if it had not shot itself in the foot time after time.

Costly Mistakes

It’s easy to think of what could have been following a game, but Toledo really cost itself a chance at competing with the Broncos late in fourth quarter.

Terrance Owens

UT wide receiver Cordale Scott dropped a wide open pass down the middle of the field on a perfect strike from quarterback Terrance Owens to begin the second quarter.  Scott appeared as if he would have strolled into the endzone, making his first real mark on the Rockets season, but was unable to come up with the easy grab. Instead of tying the game at 13, Toledo’s possession later resulted in a punt.

After gaining momentum thwarting a Boise State fake field goal attempt, Owens led the Rockets 52 yards to the Broncos 11-yard line trailing 20-9. Owens attempted a screen pass over a defender but Broncos defensive tackle Chase Baker came up with an interception off of a deflection. Just 11 yards from narrowing the score to four points, the interception turned into an 89-yard drive in which Kellen Moore put Boise ahead by 16.

Just one Broncos drive later, Moore was going in for the kill when junior safety Jermaine Robinson intercepted the Heisman candidate and took it 60 yards to the 19-yard line. After Adonis Thomas got the Rockets to the six, Austin Dantin, who replaced Owens after his red zone turnover, made the same mistake fumbling just outside the goal line.

Add in two failed extra points (one on a bad snap) and Toledo potentially took away 23 points off the scoreboard. Of course it’s never that simple, but there’s no question that the Rockets squandered too many chances. Right now, that’s the difference between Boise State’s program and Toledo’s program – the Broncos just don’t make those mistakes.

Austin Dantin

QB Battle Heats Up

For the first time in three games, it looks like we have a real battle for the starting job.

UT Head Coach Tim Beckman has appeared content to wait for either Dantin or Owens to establish themselves as the best choice to start at quarterback and Owens may have finally done so against the Broncos. Owens stretched the field while he was in and received the bulk of the playing time for the first time this season, completing 17-of-31 passes for 201 yards. After Dantin completed 3-of-8 passes for 50 yards and a touchdown in his first two drives, the junior quarterback didn’t attempt another pass for the remainder of the game.

Beckman claimed the increased workload was just the team riding the hot hand with Owens. While I would still expect a two-quarterback system to be used at Syracuse, Owens may finally have the upper hand towards making his first start of the season.

Where is Toledo’s No. 2 Receiver?

Among the Rockets biggest problems in 2010 was a lack of a true No. 2 threat behind star receiver Eric Page. Through three games this season, the Rockets are still waiting for someone to emerge.

Bernard Reedy

Scott looked like a likely candidate, but through three games has just one catch for two yards. That production is simply unacceptable for a starting wideout, especially one who was so highly touted transferring from Illinois.

Sophomore Bernard Reedy looked the part after following up a 143-yard Spring Game performance with 113 yards and two touchdowns in the season opener at New Hampshire, but caught just one pass against the Buckeyes. Although he led Toledo with 84 yards receiving against Boise State, he went most of the contest with just two catches for 25 yards until racking up 59 yards in garbage time.

Senior Kenny Stafford (4 catches, 37 yards), sophomore James Green (2 catches, 30 yards) and junior Julian Bellinger (1 catch, 14 yards) have yet to make an impact on the offense. Junior tight end Danny Noble has two touchdowns, but has not been a presence in the offense otherwise with just three catches on the season.

The Rockets need a consistent threat alongside Page to truly take that next step as an offense. Otherwise, talented teams like Boise State will be able to pull as many assets as possible to stop Page. Luckily for Toledo, there aren’t many teams as talented as the Broncos.

Miscellaneous

-Junior linebacker Robert Bell was truly one of the bright spots on the Rockets defense. After suffering a rib injury against Ohio State that Beckman said would sideline him for the week, Bell not only played but racked up eight tackles, including a first-down saving stop on a fake field goal.

-Keith Suggs started the first game of his career against Boise State and played well considering the circumstances. The freshman cornerback was beat on a few plays but bearing in mind he was making his debut against Moore and the No. 4 ranked team in the nation, he had some good moments. Senior cornerback Taikwon Paige came off the bench and played through a hip/groin injury.

Dan Molls

-Senior cornerback Desmond Marrow had a game to forget. Although the sixth-year player racked up a career-high 12 tackles, many came from lapses in coverage. Moore is a talented quarterback, but Marrow is better than he played against the Broncos.

-Dan Molls was off crutches on the sidelines and wearing just a walking boot. No timetable has been announced on the junior linebacker’s return to the lineup.

When the Rockets exited Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Sept. 10, they had a bitter taste in their mouths because they felt they beat themselves.

Kellen Moore

Riddled with 14 penalties for 102 yards, Toledo came away feeling it let one slip away in its’ narrow 27-22 defeat to then No. 15-ranked Ohio State. So when it came time to face No. 4 Boise State in the Glass Bowl on Sept. 16, the Rockets knew they had to play near-perfect football to have a chance at pulling off the biggest upset in school history—that and contain Broncos’ senior quarterback and Heisman candidate Kellen Moore.

While UT played more disciplined in the first half this game, committing just one penalty for five yards, it had no answer for Moore. Moore went 32-for-42 through the air for 455 yards and five touchdowns with one interception, accounting for all but 26 of Boise State’s first half yards. Toledo then racked up seven penalties alone in the third quarter and finished with nine for the game as the Broncos’ rolled 40-15 in front of 28,905 in the Glass Bowl.

“I’m proud of the way we played,” UT head coach Tim Beckman said. “But again, we cannot—[whether] you’re playing the fourth-rated team or the 30,000th-rated team—you cannot turn the football over in the red zone. You cannot have nine penalties and you cannot, I guess, just kick yourself in the butt in not doing things right. And that’s again what happened in this football game. They definitely exploited the things that we weren’t doing well or were getting beat on.”

Though Boise State won by 25 points, UT had an opportunity to ease the pain of Moore’s precision on the other side of the ball and tie the game at 13 apiece in the second quarter. However, sophomore quarterback Terrance Owens’ pass over the middle on 2nd-and-10 from the Boise State 49-yard line went through the hands of junior wide receiver Cordale Scott, who had an open field ahead of him.

“It was a real tough loss because we had to go out there and make plays, which we did not [do],” said Owens, who completed 17 of his 31 passes for 201 yards with one interception. “We’ve got to make plays, and we’ve got to correct them. Hats go off to Boise State’s defense. They did a good job. We’ve just got to capitalize on the big plays that we could’ve made.”

The bleeding continued in the second half, and the wounds were self-inflicted. On the opening kickoff, the Rockets received a flag for an illegal block in the back. On first down, redshirt freshman guard Greg Mancz was flagged for a false start. On second down, senior running back Adonis Thomas was called for an illegal shift, and though it was declined, Toledo’s drive stalled.

After the UT defense thwarted the Broncos’ fake field goal attempt on their ensuing possession, Owens led the Rockets on a 56-yard drive all the way down to the Boise State 11-yard line. However, on 1st-and-10 Owens’ pass attempt to Thomas on the screen was deflected by the Broncos’ Shea McClellin and intercepted by Chase Baker.

Terrance Owens

Aided by a 15-yard facemask from junior safety Jermaine Robinson, an offside call on senior defensive tackle Johnie Roberts and a pass interference call, Moore led Boise State 89 yards in eight plays on its’ next drive, capping it with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Efaw to make it 27-9 with 6:30 to go in the third quarter.

“Just mental mistakes on offense or defense, a penalty here and there, missed tackles here and there, missed assignments—we just beat ourselves coming out in that third quarter,” said senior cornerback Desmond Marrow, who had a career-high 12 tackles in the loss. “We’ve just got to control what Toledo can do and not hurt ourselves.”

Despite the setback, the UT defense regrouped their next time on the field as Robinson intercepted Moore on 1st-and-15 from the Rockets’ 36-yard line and returned it 60 yards to the Broncos’ 19 at the 1:40 mark. Junior quarterback Austin Dantin—who started the game and had 61 yards of total offense and one touchdown—re-entered the contest and was flagged for delay of game on first down.

One play later, Thomas rushed 18 yards to the Boise State six. One play later, Dantin fumbled and the Broncos (2-0) recovered, ending Toledo’s hopes for a comeback.

“The only thing that really hurts about both of these losses is that we beat ourselves both times,” said Thomas, who racked up 96 all-purpose yards in the game. “Anytime you go [scoreless] in the red zone on two different trips, and you have open touchdown passes that you can take the distance and you drop them, and penalties—it’s just a whole lot that goes into that.

“But it just goes to show us if we eliminate a lot of the mistakes that we make how good of an offense that we could be because we went up against the No. 15 team and the No. 4 team in the country, and we moved the ball successfully on both teams.”

Toledo (1-2) will travel to Syracuse (2-0) on Sept. 24. Kickoff is slated for noon.