Slap the Sign
Fansided

Notre Dame Football 2021 Opponent Preview: Toledo Rockets

By Daniel Morrison

MOBILE, AL - DECEMBER 23: Mascot Rocky the Rocket of the Toledo Rockets prior to their game against the Appalachian State Mountaineers on December 23, 2017 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images)
MOBILE, AL - DECEMBER 23: Mascot Rocky the Rocket of the Toledo Rockets prior to their game against the Appalachian State Mountaineers on December 23, 2017 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next
TOLEDO, OH – OCTOBER 15: Toledo Rockets take the field before the game against Bowling Green Falcons at Glass Bowl on October 15, 2016, in Toledo, Ohio. (Photo by Andrew Weber/Getty Images)
TOLEDO, OH – OCTOBER 15: Toledo Rockets take the field before the game against Bowling Green Falcons at Glass Bowl on October 15, 2016, in Toledo, Ohio. (Photo by Andrew Weber/Getty Images) /

Notre Dame Football 2021 Opponent Preview: Toledo Rockets

Toledo in 2020

In August, the Toledo football team was told that their Fall season had been canceled, and they’d be playing in the Spring. By October, the season was back on for the Fall. Come November, Toledo had to be ready for six games in six weeks against all MAC competition.

Games with Power 5 opponents like Michigan State wouldn’t be rescheduled.

Even with all of those difficulties, Toledo was still a strong team in 2020. 4-2 in what was a relatively strong MAC season, all things considered. Buffalo was dominant, Kent State is rising, and Ball State surprised everyone to win the MAC. The Rockets, always steady and at the top of the conference, stayed there on the back of a really strong offense.

In four of their six games, the Rockets scored at least 38 points.

On defense, Toledo was serviceable in every game but one, when they gave up 41 points to Western Michigan, wasting a great offensive performance. Other than that, though, Toledo only gave up 21 points per game.

Toledo was particularly strong behind the running back Bryant Koback. The Junior had 522 yards on the ground and 228 yards through the air. Back in 2019, his last real full season, Koback had 1,187 yards on the season. On defense, Samuel Womack and Tycen Anderson rounded out a strong secondary.

The losses on their season came early to a Western Michigan team that started 4-0 and to the eventual conference champion, Ball State. Their four wins came against MAC teams that didn’t have better than a .500 record. In the case of Northern Illinois and Bowling Green, they actually went winless.

The question is going to remain, in such a weird season, how much can we actually learn from it going forward?

Home/Notre Dame Football