The Toledo Rockets (8-2) look to recover this Wednesday after a surprising 28-point loss to Ohio. They’ll be taking on Bowling Green (2-8) at 8:00 EST from Doyt Perry Stadium in Bowling Green, Ohio. The game between the Rockets and Falcons can be found on ESPNU.
The Rockets had been flying high with five straight wins before crashing into the Bobcats. The offense that averages 36 PPG (25th-ranked) was held to a mere 10 points. Toledo still has the Mid-American Conference within its grasp though, and we’ll look to build momentum before the title game.
They’ll try to do so with what’s gotten them this far: the arm of Logan Woodside. The redshirt senior has 20 touchdown passes to a mere two INTs. He’s close to 3,000 yards passing and has a near-65% completion percentage to round out a stat sheet that no one in his conference can compare to.
They also have three RBs, Terry Swanson (doubtful), Art Thompkins, and Shakif Seymour, who are all over 5.0 YPC, with 18 total rushing scores and almost 2,000 yards between them.
Bowling Green will try to stop such an attack with a defense that’s given up 30-plus points seven times this season. There’s little left of the team that Dino Babers built up a few years ago. The dynamic offense he constructed with the Falcons is no longer in place, as they have little to show past a couple of decent RBs.
Toledo will be 17-point favorites on the road.
Don’t shy away from the Rockets after one bad game. Their only other loss was close up until the fourth quarter, and that was against Miami. This team is still the strongest in MAC on a week-by-week basis, and won’t get caught with their pants down again.
Bowling Green is but a shadow of the last regime, and they’re a perfect team for Woodside to torch. The Falcons gave up over 400 yards passing to lowly Buffalo last week, and still have yet to shut the run game down once this season.
As much love as Woodside gets, Seymour and Thompkins are who should really be watched out for. Bowling Green has the 123rd-ranked rushing defense, and they’ve rarely played talent up to par with these two talented backs. Swanson being out (leg injury) keeps this game somewhere close to the spread, but the two other RBs will be able to carry the load.
The question will be whether the Falcons line can create holes to counter back. Toledo has shown lately to be susceptible to more physical teams up front. Between RBs Andrew Clair and Josh Cleveland, Bowling Green does have options there.
Ever since they swapped QBs, putting in Jarret Doege, things have improved offensively. He had three passing touchdowns last week without a pick. But relying on this change being good enough to keep up with Toledo is wishful thinking.
The Rockets ran into a gritty Ohio team, and were awaken after such a loss. They’re playing a defense with a lot of holes. Though they shouldn’t expect to shut down a slightly-improved Bowling Green passing game, they won’t be stopped once they get in a groove with their own throwing.
Look for Toledo to dominate wire-to-wire and win by almost four touchdowns.