Things you might not know about Toledo
Tycen Anderson (UTRockets.com)
Justin Rowland • CatsIllustrated
@RowlandRIVALS
Game day is drawing near. With Toledo set to arrive in Lexington in the next day, it's a good time to become a little more acquainted with the Rockets of the Mid-American Conference.
Here are things about the team and the program under Jason Candle that you might not be aware of.
... Toledo head coach Jason Candle's background is coaching wide receivers... He first coached Mount Union's wide receivers from 2002-2006, and the school won three DIII national championships in those five years, losing only three games in the process. Since then he has been Toledo's slot receivers and tight ends coach (2009), receivers coach (2010-11), offensive coordinator/receivers coach (2012-13) and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach (2014-15). That led to him being promoted to the role of head coach at the end of the 2015 regular season.
... Toledo has more active players on NFL rosters than Kentucky. That might change when NFL rosters shrink before the regular season, but right now the Rockets have 23 players on rosters. Kentucky has 20. That's obviously not Mark Stoops' fault. The last draft is proof of that. But it's a testament to what Toledo has done in the way of development, and a knock on how things were in Lexington before Stoops arrived.
... The Rockets' lone victory against an SEC team was against Arkansas in 2015.
... But Toledo does have 10 wins against Power Five conference teams since the year 2000. Some of the teams Toledo has taken down include Iowa State (2007 and 2015), Purdue (2010), Colorado (2009), Michigan (2008), Kansas (2006), Pittsburgh (2003), Minnesota (2001) and Penn State (2000). The Pitt team the Rockets defeated was ranked No. 9 in the country.
... Scheduling big name opponents is a priority at least once a year. Some of the teams Toledo is slated to play in the future include Ohio State, Notre Dame and Michigan State.
... UK and Toledo have future meetings set up. While this is the first meeting between the two programs, the Wildcats and Rockets are also scheduled to play one another in 2025 (Lexington), 2027 (Toledo), and 2028 (Lexington).
... Toledo's starting offensive line averages 6'5, 311 pounds ... The Rockets start a senior, three juniors and a sophomore up front. While they have their work cut out facing Kentucky's defensive line, there's no lack of size.
... 13 Toledo starters are from Ohio. Nine of those starters from the Buckeye State are on the offensive side of the ball. While the Rockets do rely heavily on Ohio for talent, a cursory glance at Toledo's schedule reveals they also do some serious recruiting work in other hot spots, including Michigan, Western PA and Florida.
... Starting Rocket linebacker Dyontae Johnson, a sophomore, was teammates with Kentucky linebacker DeAndre Square in high school at Detroit (Mich.) Cass Tech. Backup Toledo offensive tackle Kelvin Ateman was also at Cass Tech with the pair.
... Toledo's starting punter, Bailey Flint, is from Melbourne, Australia. Kentucky fans know something about punters from "down under".
... On the topic of special teams, Toledo blocked seven kicks in 2018. That tied for the national lead in that category nationally. Most of the kicks the Rockets blocked were punts, so that's something that Max Duffy will definitely be aware of going into Saturday's game.
... Other categories where Toledo finished with especially strong rankings nationally in 2018 included: Scoring offense (9th), yards per punt return (20th), fourth down defense (25th), third down defense (27th), yards per completion (27th), and tackles for loss (30th).
... The Rockets scored 50 points or more six times last year. Not many programs in the country could say that. It was the first time Toledo has ever topped that threshold so many times in a single season.
... Nine straight years Toledo has finished the season with a winning record. And they're one of only nine programs in college football to be able to say that.
... Toledo was one of the most heavily penalized teams in the country. And that has been a trend under head coach Jason Candle. The Rockets have ranked poorly in the penalty category in each of his three full seasons. However, a closer look at that stat shows there isn't always bad company at the bottom of those rankings.
... Other stat categories where Toledo finished poorly compared to the rest of the country in 2018 included: Completion percentage (99th), passing yards allowed (103rd), first downs allowed (104th), red zone offense (106th), and punt return defense (107th).
Tycen Anderson (UTRockets.com)
Justin Rowland • CatsIllustrated
@RowlandRIVALS
Game day is drawing near. With Toledo set to arrive in Lexington in the next day, it's a good time to become a little more acquainted with the Rockets of the Mid-American Conference.
Here are things about the team and the program under Jason Candle that you might not be aware of.
... Toledo head coach Jason Candle's background is coaching wide receivers... He first coached Mount Union's wide receivers from 2002-2006, and the school won three DIII national championships in those five years, losing only three games in the process. Since then he has been Toledo's slot receivers and tight ends coach (2009), receivers coach (2010-11), offensive coordinator/receivers coach (2012-13) and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach (2014-15). That led to him being promoted to the role of head coach at the end of the 2015 regular season.
... Toledo has more active players on NFL rosters than Kentucky. That might change when NFL rosters shrink before the regular season, but right now the Rockets have 23 players on rosters. Kentucky has 20. That's obviously not Mark Stoops' fault. The last draft is proof of that. But it's a testament to what Toledo has done in the way of development, and a knock on how things were in Lexington before Stoops arrived.
... The Rockets' lone victory against an SEC team was against Arkansas in 2015.
... But Toledo does have 10 wins against Power Five conference teams since the year 2000. Some of the teams Toledo has taken down include Iowa State (2007 and 2015), Purdue (2010), Colorado (2009), Michigan (2008), Kansas (2006), Pittsburgh (2003), Minnesota (2001) and Penn State (2000). The Pitt team the Rockets defeated was ranked No. 9 in the country.
... Scheduling big name opponents is a priority at least once a year. Some of the teams Toledo is slated to play in the future include Ohio State, Notre Dame and Michigan State.
... UK and Toledo have future meetings set up. While this is the first meeting between the two programs, the Wildcats and Rockets are also scheduled to play one another in 2025 (Lexington), 2027 (Toledo), and 2028 (Lexington).
... Toledo's starting offensive line averages 6'5, 311 pounds ... The Rockets start a senior, three juniors and a sophomore up front. While they have their work cut out facing Kentucky's defensive line, there's no lack of size.
... 13 Toledo starters are from Ohio. Nine of those starters from the Buckeye State are on the offensive side of the ball. While the Rockets do rely heavily on Ohio for talent, a cursory glance at Toledo's schedule reveals they also do some serious recruiting work in other hot spots, including Michigan, Western PA and Florida.
... Starting Rocket linebacker Dyontae Johnson, a sophomore, was teammates with Kentucky linebacker DeAndre Square in high school at Detroit (Mich.) Cass Tech. Backup Toledo offensive tackle Kelvin Ateman was also at Cass Tech with the pair.
... Toledo's starting punter, Bailey Flint, is from Melbourne, Australia. Kentucky fans know something about punters from "down under".
... On the topic of special teams, Toledo blocked seven kicks in 2018. That tied for the national lead in that category nationally. Most of the kicks the Rockets blocked were punts, so that's something that Max Duffy will definitely be aware of going into Saturday's game.
... Other categories where Toledo finished with especially strong rankings nationally in 2018 included: Scoring offense (9th), yards per punt return (20th), fourth down defense (25th), third down defense (27th), yards per completion (27th), and tackles for loss (30th).
... The Rockets scored 50 points or more six times last year. Not many programs in the country could say that. It was the first time Toledo has ever topped that threshold so many times in a single season.
... Nine straight years Toledo has finished the season with a winning record. And they're one of only nine programs in college football to be able to say that.
... Toledo was one of the most heavily penalized teams in the country. And that has been a trend under head coach Jason Candle. The Rockets have ranked poorly in the penalty category in each of his three full seasons. However, a closer look at that stat shows there isn't always bad company at the bottom of those rankings.
... Other stat categories where Toledo finished poorly compared to the rest of the country in 2018 included: Completion percentage (99th), passing yards allowed (103rd), first downs allowed (104th), red zone offense (106th), and punt return defense (107th).
