Around this time in a normal year, the University of Toledo football team would be getting ready to wrap up its regular season with one final game following the Thanksgiving holiday.
But in a season that almost didn’t happen because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Rockets are gearing up to host Ball State on Saturday at the Glass Bowl at noon as part of the Mid-American Conference’s Week 4 slate in a conference-only season.
“It's different,” head coach Jason Candle said at his weekly news conference Monday. “It's strange, but we're humble in the fact and gracious for the opportunity to even be able to do this.
“So, I think we're excited and we're just going to keep rolling.”
Not only are the Rockets (2-1) currently in the heart of their MAC slate, it’s also strange to, at three games in, be halfway through a season as opposed to a quarter of the way through.
While sixth-year senior captain and offensive lineman Bryce Harris said that, to him, it does feel like the midway point of the season, he acknowledged the strangeness of the expedited timeline.
“The evaluation process of, when you compare it to other seasons, it just is fast-forwarded so much faster,” Harris said. “Some of the things that you might be able to get away with for a couple more games last season or in a regular season, you’ve got to eliminate that a little bit faster with there being so little time.”
Understandably though, what stands out as being strange about this particular year varies depending on which player you talk to.
For cornerback Justin Clark, it doesn’t feel like the midway point of the season.
“It kind of seems like we're just getting started,” Clark said. “But we're kind of just taking it week by week. In the blink of an eye it will be over, so we're just trying to enjoy the moment.”
For senior captain and punter Bailey Flint, the strangeness of the season has been compounded by the fact that they have had to jump right into league play in colder weather.
Toledo would have gotten four nonconference games before beginning their hunt for a MAC title in a normal year, and would have likely been on the road more right off the bat.
“It was very, very different,” Flint said. “Obviously, every other year, we're going and traveling a lot. And instead, we just had a home game against BG. It was like, ‘What the heck, like we're already here.’
“Then one of the other biggest things has been the weather. So, usually, and especially as a punter, your first four games are usually in pretty good weather. So it's nice and hot, you get to kick in places like Kentucky or in Colorado, and it's good weather.
“So, you get to really do pretty well there and then you get yourself ready, climatize yourself for those colder games and colder practices. But we've kind of just been almost thrown into the fire as such.”
Even in a shortened season, the Rockets have arguably been even more laser-focused, largely because they have to be with the team’s coronavirus protocols.
On top of being tested four times a week per the conference requirements, social distancing, mask-wearing, and hand washing continue to be stressed.
Gone are big team meetings and team meals and, so far, the protocols in place have been paying off for Toledo and the conference at large.
To date, there’s been only one MAC game canceled, last week’s Miami-Ohio contest.
“I couldn't be more excited or more inspired by our guys and their effort to combat this whole virus thing and how their attention to detail has been unbelievable through this whole process,” Candle said.
“Now we’ve got a long ways to go obviously but, to this point in time, they've hit a home run with it. So they continue to provide themselves with the opportunity to go do what they love to do.”
No update on Peters: Starting quarterback Eli Peters left the EMU game after he suffered a lower-body injury just before halftime. Before the third quarter, the Florida native came out of the locker room on crutches with a bag of ice on his left leg, and was replaced by Carter Bradley in the lineup.
On Monday, Candle said there was “no update” regarding Peters’ status for the Ball State game on Saturday.
First Published November 24, 2020, 12:07 p.m.
