Does the University of Toledo have a new-look roster?
The 2023 starting quarterback and running back transferred. All five offensive linemen are gone. Cornerback Quinyon Mitchell was selected in the first round of the NFL draft. Senior leader Dallas Gant is on the Minnesota Vikings.
But any team that has Tucker Gleason, Jacquez Stuart, Jerjuan Newton, Junior Vandeross, and Anthony Torres on offense isn’t going to be an underdog. And a defense equipped with Darius Alexander, Maxen Hook, Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Dan Bolden, and D’Andre Ragin will be feared in every game.
So, yes, the Rockets lost tremendous talent from last season’s 11-3 team. However, no one in the Mid-American Conference is feeling sorry for them.
“It’s really cool to see how the younger guys will follow in older guys’ footsteps,” Gleason said. “You have guys that know what winning is and knows what it looks like. The older guys, they know how to win. They know what it takes to win a championship. They know what the standard is. So if those older guys can help hold that standard, then you have a pretty good football team.”
Confidence is present ahead of Toledo’s opener next Thursday against Duquesne. As it should be. Even though there are game-breakers who defected, UT still returns six All-MAC players and was picked second in the conference behind defending champion Miami.
Remarkably, the Rockets are the only team in the country that don’t have a single offensive lineman who’s started a college game. It’s done nothing to diminish Mike Hallett’s confidence, though. The ninth-year offensive line coach has previously remade UT’s O-line into a robust unit, and there’s widespread belief that 2024 will follow a similar trend.
Impact transfers and homegrown talent that’s been developed over recent seasons are willing and able to make their mark.
“There’s a lot of good stuff there,” Hallett said.
That thought is shared by head coach Jason Candle, who’s applauding his team every step of the offseason. Winter workouts, spring practice, summer drills, and fall camp have given Candle an optimistic outlook on what’s to come. Every college football coach will recite a message about successful seasons occurring only after productive offseasons.
If January through August were indeed as fruitful as Candle declares, the progress of 2022 and 2023 should be evident again this year.
“We’ve been consistently building the character of our team,” he said. “And we say often here that there are 353 days out of the year that there’s not a game. Now we finally get a game day, and we want to call back on all the work we’ve put in to see where we’re at.”
Odds makers set Toledo’s over/under win total at 8.5. ESPN Football Power Index gives the Rockets 16.8 percent chance to win the MAC, second-best behind Miami’s 20.2 percent. It adds up to lofty expectations and enthusiasm for a new-look roster.
Or a group that has familiar faces at nearly every position.
“A lot of these younger guys got a taste of how close we were, and they’re ready to go out there and show what they can do,” Hook said. “They’ve seen what it takes, and I just get the sense from the team that we’re eager to prove ourselves.”
First Published August 23, 2024, 10:56 p.m.
