After pulling off a 29-23 upset over then-unbeaten No. 21 Cincinnati on Oct. 20 in the Glass Bowl, Toledo’s national attention started to heat up.

After knocking off the Bearcats, the Rockets (7-1, 4-0 Mid-American Conference) received 49 votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll to rank No. 26 in the country. The University of Toledo also received 30 votes in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll, coming in at No. 31 in the nation.

UT is off to its best start since 2001. Still, Toledo head coach Matt Campbell and his players shrugged off that national attention at the team’s media day on Oct. 22.

“If that’s what we’ve got to do to motivate ourselves, I’d be upset,” Campbell said in response to a question about whether cracking the Top 25 would play into his team’s motivation to beat Buffalo on Oct. 27. “I think one of the things that I’m really proud of what this football team’s done is — again, I’ll say this — we’ve taken it one week at a time.

“And again, all those things are things that you’d like to be there at the end of the season. It doesn’t mean anything right now, and all it means is our kids have done a great job up until this point.”

Senior linebacker Dan Molls agreed.

“That’s not a concern for me, or I don’t think anyone else on the team,” said Molls, who leads the nation with 12.75 tackles per game. “That’s strictly just a number for us. It really doesn’t mean anything.

“Would it be cool? Yeah, but that’s not something that we really place an emphasis on. Week-by-week, we’re just trying to win the next game, and that next game now is Buffalo.”

Though the Bulls (1-6, 0-3 MAC) have won only one game this year — a 56-34 home win over Morgan State in week two — their first seven games have included road contests against No. 12 Georgia (6-1), Big East member Connecticut (3-5), No. 23 Ohio (7-0) and Northern Illinois (7-1). At home, meanwhile, Buffalo has also hosted Pittsburgh (3-4) and Kent State (6-1), the latter of which became bowl eligible last week for the first time in six years.

“They do have some players that are outstanding,” Campbell said of Buffalo. “Again, I think I said this maybe about an opponent or two before is sometimes when maybe the season — at least from a win-loss standpoint — hasn’t gone as good as maybe you want it to go, but what’s the film look like?

“And [on] their film, their kids are playing their hearts out and they play extremely well.”

The Bulls rank fourth in the MAC in total defense (380.3 ypg) and second in pass defense (195.4 ypg), led on that side of the ball by junior linebacker Khalil Mack. Mack ranks 13th in the MAC and leads Buffalo with 52 tackles, including 12.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, one forced fumble and one blocked kick.

In addition, the Bulls could add junior running back Branden Oliver, who missed the last four games with a grade-two left MCL tear, according to Buffalo’s independent student newspaper The Spectrum. Oliver, who got injured in the first half of the Bulls’ week three loss to Kent State, racked up 426 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the first three weeks, averaging 142 yards per game on the ground.

“They’ve had some injuries that have not helped their cause, and now they’ve got some of those guys back,” Campbell said. “I think we’re going to expect a football team that’s going to be a great challenge to our Toledo Rocket football team this Saturday.”

That type of respect and preparation for opponents is a big reason why the Rockets, including senior leaders like Molls and strong safety Jermaine Robinson, have echoed and bought into Campbell’s weekly philosophy.

“Hopefully, if we keep winning, we can get ranked,” said Robinson, who leads the MAC with four interceptions. “If we don’t get ranked, our goals are still out there. So our focus is on winning our next game and keep getting closer to that MAC Championship.”

Toledo will face Buffalo 3:30 p.m. Oct. 27 in Buffalo. The game will be aired live on BCSN.

Tags: Buffalo, Dan Molls, football, Jermaine Robinson, MAC, Matt Campbell, University of Cincinnati, University of Toledo

This entry was posted on Friday, October 26th, 2012 at 11:28 pm and is filed under College Football, Rocket Football, Sports.
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For the first time this year, Toledo was held without an offensive touchdown. But that didn’t matter when the Rockets met No. 21 Cincinnati in the Glass Bowl Saturday night.

Thanks in large part to a 75-yard pick six from senior strong safety Jermaine Robinson, three field goals of 40-plus yards from sophomore kicker Jeremiah Detmer and a 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from junior wide receiver Bernard Reedy, the Rockets were able to pull off a 29-23 upset over undefeated Cincinnati on Oct. 20.

“I think it says everything about our football team right now,” UT head coach Matt Campbell said. “Boy, I thought offensively we played really well from, like, the 20 to the 20, and we got down to the red zone, and fortunately — or unfortunately — we had to kick field goals.

Jermaine Robinson. Photo by Vincent D. Scebbi / Courtesy The Independent Collegian

“I thought J.D. Detmer had a great night.”

Detmer made three field goals of 40-plus yards in the first half alone and a career-best five on the night, tying for the second-most field goals in a game in Toledo history. He has now made 11 consecutive field goals this season.

“I’ve always had great confidence in J.D. Detmer,” Campbell said.

Entering the contest as the Mid-American Conference leader in interceptions (10) and second in the league in field goals made (13), Toledo (7-1, 5-0 MAC) needed both to take a 16-13 halftime lead against the Bearcats, who came into the Glass Bowl sporting the Big East’s No. 1 scoring offense (37 ppg) and No. 2 scoring defense (14.4 ppg).

Cincinnati held UT to 87 yards of total offense in the first quarter and 173 for the half, but Detmer field goals of 43, 42 and 47 yards and Robinson’s first quarter 75-yard pick six off Bearcats quarterback Munchie Legaux helped Toledo overcome its offensive struggles to lead 16-13 at halftime.

“It’s just our seniors — our seniors and our player ownership,” Robinson said. “I mean, we’re actually a family out there. [When] adversity hits, we don’t put our head down. We keep it up.”

On first-and-10 at the Rockets’ 40-yard line in the first quarter, Legaux was pressured by the UT defensive line and got hit as he threw, allowing Robinson to intercept his pass on the right side of the field and return it 75 yards the other way for the score to make it 10-0 Toledo at the 7:50 mark.

The interception was not only the fourth this year for Robinson, who entered the game tied for the MAC lead in interceptions this season, but also his fourth pick six at Toledo, tying him for the all-time lead with Keon Jackson (2002-05) at UT in that category.

“We always pride ourselves on takeaways,” Robinson said of the Rockets’ two interceptions against the Bearcats. “Coach [Matukewicz] preaches stopping them on third down. I mean, even though we get off the field, it still keeps the offense in the game, but takeaways for touchdowns in the interception wins games.”

Perhaps the most special play of the contest came on the legs of one of Toledo’s most special player so far this season in Reedy.

Bernard Reedy. Photo by Vincent D. Scebbi / Courtesy The Independent Collegian

The Bearcats (5-1, 1-0 Big East) took their first lead of the game on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Legaux to Damon Julian between two UT defenders in the end zone, making the score 20-19 with 2:08 on the clock in the third quarter. Reedy then countered with a 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on the ensuing kickoff to give the lead back to the Rockets — one they never relinquished.

That kickoff return for a touchdown marked the third straight game that Reedy scored on a special teams play.

“I’ve got to give credit to the guys up front, the 10 [guys] that’s blocking for me,” said Reedy, who had a game-high 229 total yards. “If you’ve got 10 guys that you know that’s going to bring it every day in practice — you know, practice like it’s a game — and [then] you know you just read blocks and then just run. That’s how I see it.”

Sophomore cornerback Jordan Haden got his second interception of the year with a game-ending pick on Cincinnati’s final drive to preserve Toledo’s 29-23 victory.

With the win over the Bearcats, the Rockets improved to 7-11 all-time against Top 25 teams, including a 5-1 mark in the Glass Bowl.

UT faces Buffalo (1-6, 0-3 MAC) on Oct. 27 in Buffalo at 3:30 p.m.

Tags: Bernard Reedy, J.D. Detmer, Matt Campbell, Mike Bauman, University of Cincinnati, University of Toledo, UT football

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 21st, 2012 at 9:47 am and is filed under College Football, Sports.
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