 ROCKET FOOTBALL |
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Toledo Loses in Motor City Bowl Toledo's offense sputtered as star quarterback Bruce Gradkowski struggled with an injury on his throwing hand as the UCONN Huskies stormed past Toledo 39-10 in the Motor City Bowl. Gradkowski came out of the locker room for the 2nd half in street clothes and backup freshman QB Marques Council took over the duties on the field. Council's inexperience showed as he threw two interceptions on drives that looked promising up to that point. Toledo finishes the season with a 9-4 record. The Rockets won their 2nd MAC Championship in the last four years, and 10th overall. The Rockets will now look on to next season with several starters and key players coming back, including quarterback Bruce Gradkowski. Toledo Wins MAC Championship The Toledo Rockets have fought adversity all season. The MAC Championship Game was no different. Miami led the game 14-7 at halftime and Rocket QB Bruce Gradkowski had left for the locker room early with a broken right hand, his throwing hand. However, Gradkowski came out, right hand taped up, and led the Rockets to a 35-27 victory over Miami University to win their 10th MAC Title and 2nd in the last four years. Gradkowski threw 3 touchdown passes in the 2nd half, despite having a broken hand. He was 18 of 24 for 251 yards, 4 TD's and just 1 interception. Sophomore running back Scooter McDougle had 35 carries for 167 yards and 1 touchdown on the ground for Toledo. The Rockets will play in the Motor City Bowl in Detroit, MI against the Big East's UCONN Huskies on December 27. Gametime is scheduled for 5:30pm and will be televised on ESPN. For ticket information, call the UT Athletic ticket office at 419-530-4653. Toledo to Play in MAC Championship After defeating their rivals from Bowling Green, Toledo has earned a berth into the 2004 MAC Championship Game to take on the Miami University Redhawks. Back on November 2nd, Toledo turned the ball over four times in a 23-16 loss at Miami. The loss dropped the Rockets to 5-1 in the conference with games at Northern Illinois and at home against Bowling Green. Toledo had to win both games in order to win the West Division Title and earn a berth into the MAC Championship Game. After trailing Northern Illinois 17-7 in the 2nd quarter, the Rockets scored 27 unanswered points to win 34-17 and setup a showdown in the Glass Bowl against Bowling Green. BG led 27-7 at halftime, but Toledo would score the next 35 points to take a 42-27 lead with 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter. The Rockets held on for a 49-41 victory. Toledo is now 8-3 overall and 7-1 in the MAC this year. Since the MAC split into divisions in 1997, Toledo has won 6 MAC West Division Titles (either outright or co-championships) and they will make their 5th trip to the MAC Championship Game in the 8th season of the MAC having a title game. Tickets for the MAC Championship cost $20 for reserved seating and UT students can purchase tickets for just $10. Call the UT ticket office for further ticket information at 419-530-4653. Rockets beat BG! Despite falling behind 27-7 at halftime, the Toledo Rockets defeated their bitter rivals to advance to the MAC Championship Game. Toledo scored 28 3rd quarter points to take a 35-27 lead into the 4th quarter and held on for a 49-41 victory over 22nd ranked Bowling Green. The victory gives Toledo a share of the MAC West Division Title with Northern Illinois. Because of Toledo's victory over Northern Illinois, the Rockets advance to the MAC Championship Game at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan on December 2nd at 7:30pm. Toledo will face Miami University for the MAC Title. Call the UT ticket office for ticket information at 419-530-4653. The I-75 Showdown It's known as the I-75 Showdown and the Battle for the Peace Pipe. Toledo and Bowling Green have been playing each other in football since 1919. The last two years, the game was for the West Division Title with Toledo winning in 2002 and playing in the MAC Championship and Bowling Green winning in 2003 and playing in the MAC Championship. Both teams can still win the West Division Title, but only Toledo controls their own destiny. If the Toledo Rockets defeat Bowling Green on November 23rd, they will win the West Division Title and play in the MAC Championship Game at Ford Field in Detroit on December 2nd. Complete Story Win Tickets to Toledo vs Bowling Green RocketFootball.Net is giving away two tickets to the Toledo Rockets football game against Bowling Green on Tuesday, November 23rd at 7:00pm. For your chance to win these tickets, Click Here! Kaczur Accepts Invite to Hula Bowl Toledo senior offensive lineman Nick Kaczur has accepted an invitation to the Hula Bowl all-star game on January 22, 2005 in Maui, Hawaii. He is also going to play in the East-West Shrine game on January 15, 2005 in San Francisco, California. Kaczur is the star of the Rocket offensive line, which had led the team to five straight victories. Toledo ranks 7th in the nation in total offense. The last Toledo Rocket to play in the Hula Bowl was Chester Taylor in January of 2002. Glass Bowl Stadium Poster 
Glass Bowl Stadium is the home of the Toledo Rockets football team. The Rockets have won 11 straight games there, and 28 of their last 29 games played at the Glass Bowl. And now you can take the Glass Bowl home with this 17" x 22" poster. The photograph was taken from an airplane during the game against Temple on September 25th. The cost of the poster is $20 with a valid UT student ID or $25 for anyone else. For more information on purchasing the poster, Click Here!Rockets Offense Flying High! By Brian Nowicki The Toledo Rockets were picked to win the MAC West Division Title and MAC Championship by the MAC Media before the season started. The reason for that was Toledo's offense. Despite a slow start to the season at Minnesota and at Kansas, the Rocket offense is playing even better than expected. For more on this story, Click Here! Ohio Game Promotion By Brian Nowicki The Rockets home game against Ohio University on Saturday, October 16th will be televised live on ESPN at Noon. Now the University of Toledo has announced a special promotion for the game. The first 20,000 people through the gate will receive #1 fan foam fingers, compliments of Alltel. The gates will open at 10:30am. Come on out and cheer the Rockets to victory! Rockets Game on BCSN Tonight! By Brian Nowicki The Toledo Rockets travel to Kalamazoo, MI tonight to take on the Western Michigan Broncos. The game will be aired live on BCSN (Buckeye Cable Sports Network) at 7:00pm. Toledo is 2-0 in MAC play with victories over Eastern Michigan and Ball State, while Western Michigan is 0-1 in MAC play with a loss to Ball State. Ohio Game to be on ESPN By Brian Nowicki The Toledo Rockets football game against Ohio University on October 16th has been picked up by ESPN. The game was originally scheduled for 7pm, but it has been moved up to a Noon start in order to accomodate ESPN. With the addition of this game, the Rockets will have a MAC record five regular season football games aired on either ESPN or ESPN2 this season. The season opener at Minnesota was on ESPN2, and games at Miami University, at Northern Illinois, and a home game against Bowling Green will all be aired on ESPN2. Good tickets still remain for the October 16th game against Ohio University, who features one of the best bands in the country. The Ohio University football team is also fresh off of a 28-16 victory over the SEC's Kentucky Wildcats last weekend. This weekend Ohio hosts Marshall. For ticket information, call the UT ticket office at 419-530-GOLD. Ball State Game Preview By Ryan Henricks The Rockets will be looking for revenge this Saturday after being crushed last season on a soaked field by a score of 38-14 to the Ball State Cardinals. The Rockets went into their last meeting with high hopes, only to come home with those hopes crushed. This year's game should be much different. The Rockets have the advantage of the home crowd this year and the weather may not play as big of a factor as it seemed to last season. For more on this story, Click Here! Eastern Michigan Game Preview  By Ryan HenricksThe start of the 2004 Rocket football season has been a little rough so far for the team, but they receive a golden opportunity to start over this week. The Rockets' football team will be making the 45 minute drive to Ypsilanti this weekend to take on the Eastern Michigan Eagles in their MAC season opener. It has been quite some time since the match up between these two teams has seemed so big for many Rocket fans. For more on this story, Click Here! Kansas Game Preview By Ryan Henricks After suffering a heavy defeat last weekend in Minneapolis, the Rocket football team will be looking forward to its next opponent, the University of Kansas Jayhawks. The Jayhawks will be fielding a balanced Big 12 team when they take on the Rockets this Saturday in Lawrence, Kansas. For more on this story, Click Here! Rockets Looking to Bounce Back  By Brian NowickiAfter giving up 704 yards in total offense and 63 points to Minnesota last week, it is understandable that there are a lot of questions going into this Saturday's game at Kansas. Minnesota scored on every possession in the first half, except for the final drive in which Minnesota just ran out of time on the clock. The score was 49-7 at halftime and the final score was 63-21. The 63 points are the most given up by a Rocket football team since giving up 81 points to Miami way back in 1953. So the questions begin. Is Minnesota that good? Is Toledo's defense that bad? Can Toledo beat Kansas this weekend? Can Toledo win the MAC West and MAC Championship? It is dificult to know the answers to any of these questions at this point, but I will try to put some things into perspective here. For more on this story, Click Here! Minnesota Game Preview  By Ryan HenricksThe trip to Minneapolis on September 4 is sure to tell the Rockets plenty about their team. The team opens the season up against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the Metrodome. This Gopher team possesses one of the most explosive ground games in all of college football. It just so happens that the Rockets' biggest question mark is on their defense, specifically their new front four. There is a great possibility that the defensive front will face their biggest challenge of the season on opening day of play. For more on this story, Click Here! MACC to be held at Ford Field The Mid-American Conference announced this morning, August 26th, that the 2004 MAC Championship Game will be held at Ford Field in Detroit, MI. This will be the first time that the MAC Championship will be held on a neutral field. The game will be Thursday, December 2nd and will be televised live on ESPN at 7pm. The MAC has signed a 3 year contract with Ford Field to host the championship game. Autograph Day! This Saturday, August 28th, the Toledo Rockets will hold an autograph session directly after practice, which is open to the public. Practice will be from 9:30am until about 11:30am. The autograph session will take place from 11:30am until 12:30pm in the Glass Bowl. If you wanted to get Bruce Gradkowski or Lance Moore's autograph, or any other Rocket football player for that matter, here is your chance. The Rockets open the season the following Saturday, September 4th, at Minnesota. Ajax Rocket Being Refurbished Ever notice the Nike Ajax Rocket just outside of the north endzone of the Glass Bowl? The US Army donated the missile to the University of Toledo in 1961. Over the years the weather has taken its toll on the missile, but thanks to Pat Ryan and Grabke's Body Shop the missile is getting refurbished. For more on this story, Click Here! Weekly Picks Contest The college football season is right around the corner and for the 3rd straight season rocketfootball.net will run a weekly picks contest. The contest is being sponsored by toledorocketsfuel.com this year. The individual with the most correct picks for the entire season will receive a $50 gift certificate to a national restaurant chain. To make your picks for week #1, Click Here!  Rockets Gaining RespectAfter 10 straight winning seasons and victories over Penn State, Minnesota, Purdue, and Pittsburgh in the last few years, the Rockets are starting to gain some national respect. The Rockets will appear on ESPN or ESPN2 at least four times this season. Some preseason magazines have given the Rockets recognition as well as the MAC Media picking Toledo to win the MAC West Division and MAC Championship game. Full Story Preseason Top 25 Fan Poll The votes are in and the Preseason Top 25 Fan Poll is out! To view the poll, click here. Rockets Picked to Win MAC! The MAC Media has picked the Toledo Rockets to win the MAC West Division and the MAC Championship this year. Marshall was picked to win the East Division. Toledo received 22 votes to win the MAC Championship Game, while Marshall received 9 votes. For more information from the official MAC website, click here.  Top 25 Fan PollHere is your chance to have a say in the Top 25. In an email to webmaster@rocketfootball.net , tell us your Top 25. The votes will be tallied and the results will be posted here as the Fan's Top 25 Poll. RULES - Only one entry per email address. Points go as follows: #1 = 25 points #2 = 24 points #3 = 23 points and so on with #25 equaling 1 point. Entries up to Noon on Tuesday, August 3rd will be counted in the fan poll initial preseason poll. The results should be available late Tuesday or early Wednesday.  Replica Rocket JerseyThe number 7 jersey is going to receive a lot of attention this fall. For those that don't know, QB Bruce Gradkowski wears the number 7 jersey for the Toledo Rockets. After a strong sophomore campaign last year, ESPN and Sports Illustrated have listed Gradkowski as a possible Heisman candidate for this fall. Wish you could have your very own replica Toledo Rockets #7 football jersey? Soon you can. For details click here. 2004 Preseason PicksOnce again RocketFootball.Net has thrown out our predictions for Division I-A conference champions along with some other college football predictions. Included is a preview of the 2004 Toledo Rockets and our pick for the National Champion and the Heisman Trophy winner. To view our preseason picks, click here.  Rockets Conclude Spring WorkoutsThe Toledo Rockets concluded spring workouts with the annual Spring Game Saturday. Most of the Rocket starters played very little, while the young guys and players fighting for playing time had a chance to show what the can do. Marquis Council solidified the #2 QB position with a very impressive performance. Council was 21 of 32 for 258 yards and 3 TD's as the Blue defeated the White 31-20 in front of an estimated crowd of about 6000 Rocket fans. Marquis Council was named the most improved offensive back during Spring drills. Other awards went to David Washington (receiver), Hassan Adebesin (offensive lineman), Tyree Pollard (defensive lineman), Mike Alston (linebacker), Michael Broussard (safety), and Nigel Morris (cornerback). To view some photos of the Spring Game, click here.  Scale Model RocketJames "Pat" Ryan, also known as RangerRocket, has been following the Toledo Rockets since he was a student at UT in the mid to late 70's. He, as many Rocket fans, is aware of the lack of stores where you can purchase Rocket merchandise. His passion for Rocket athletics has driven him to work on changing this. Pat has a vision of providing an online store that would offer Rocket fans a wide range of merchandise, featuring some products that he will develop and will be exclusive to his site. One of these exclusive products is a scale model of the Hoyt Rocket. For the full story, click here. Rockets Announce 2004 Schedule The Toledo Rockets will play a record 4 nationally televised regular season games this fall, starting with a Sunday night contest at Minnesota. Toledo plays 3 non-conference games, at Minnesota (ESPN), at Kansas, and a home game against Temple. Along with the Minnesota game on ESPN, Toledo will have games against Miami University, Northern Illinois, and Bowling Green on either ESPN or ESPN2. For the 2004 schedule, click here. Spring is in the Air! The University of Toledo football program is preparing for the 2004 season, and things really kick in on Saturday March 20th when they begin Spring practice at 9:30am. The Rockets return 8 starters on offense, including record setting QB Bruce Gradkowski and 6 starters on defense. Toledo will open the season on Sunday, September 5th at Minnesota in a game that will be televised by ESPN. ESPN's Ivan Maisel has Toledo ranked #25 in his Spring pre-season rankings. All Spring practices are closed to the public, except for the annual Spring game which will be on Saturday, April 17th at 6:30pm. Rockets to Play Kansas! The Toledo Rockets have signed a contract with the Kansas Jayhawks to play a 3-game series in football. Two games will be played in Lawrence, KS and one game in Toledo, OH. This fall, 9/11/2004, the Rockets will travel to Lawrence, KS to take on the Jayhawks. A couple of days ago Florida A&M announced that they have delayed their intentions of moving up to Division I-A from Division I-AA. Toledo quickly signed the Kansas contract to replace Florida A&M on the schedule. A new poll on the right has been setup with Kansas replacing Florida A&M. Vote in the poll for the game you are most interested in. Rockets Sign 23! The Rockets signed 23 student-athletes to national letters of intent today. The 23 players come from 6 states - Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Florida, and California. Among the signees is Toledo St. John's offensive lineman Andrew Decker and current Rocket Lance Moore's litter brother Nick Moore. For a full list of the recruits, Click Here to go to the feedback form. What do you think? Now is your chance to let us here at RocketFootball.Net know what you think about this site and what you would like to see on this site in the future. Click Here to go to the feedback form. Recruiting Class Presentation Once again this year the Rockets will host a presentation of their recruiting class. Join Rocket fans in the Grogan Room at Savage Hall on February 4th at 4:00pm. The Rocket coaching staff will announce their 2004 signees and show highlight videos of each player. Snacks and soft drinks will be provided by the University for free. Everyone is invited to attend this special presentation of the Rocket 2004 recruiting class. Astin Martin Leaves Program Astin Martin has left the Toledo football program so he can be close to his family. It has been reported that there is a family illness and Martin has chose to transfer to Division II Grand Valley State. Grand Valley State won the Division II national championship this past season. Martin was a sophomore running back for the Rockets this past season. He was Trinity Dawson's backup. Martin was 3rd on the team in rushing with 476 yards. He also had 10 touchdowns. RocketFootball.Net would like to wish Astin Martin and his family good luck. Grand Valley State is getting a very good and energetic football player, as well as a good young man. |