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| Thursday, September 7 Just a routine victory for Toledo By Andy Spradling Special to ESPN.com | |||||
Even a coach has to sometimes be reminded that changing the weekly routine adds to the opposition's intrigue.
Toledo coach Gary Pinkel told the story Monday of linebacker Kevin Rollins standing up among his senior peers earlier in the week, during an "approach to game day meeting" in which many wanted the veteran coach to stop reminding the younger players that it was mighty Penn State up next.
Some of the seniors felt the younger players saw it as an unwinnable game, and wanted them reminded that the Rockets could be triumphant.
Said Pinkel, "We were going back and forth with that when finally Kevin Rollins said, 'Coach, you never, ever, try to convince anyone around here that we can win. And I don't think we should do it for this game either. I think we should just work on preparation, which you preach all the time, and let's worry about Toledo.'
"So, I took that approach. We were fortunate to play at a high level. And I think we have a good team, too."
The result, of course, was the 24-6 ambush of the Nittany Lions at State College, Pa.
"I feel lucky we won the game," Pinkel said. "I'm proud of my players and my staff. The players worked hard, and made tremendous sacrifices to try to get better and improve.
"It was great win for Toledo. Marshall and some other people (in the Mid-American Conference) have stepped up and had some big wins in the last few years. This was a great win for our conference also."
While the MAC is chiseling away at its perception, recent history -- see 10-1 bowl-snubbed Miami in 1998, including wins over North Carolina and Army -- has proved that the rest of the nation still sees the MAC as nothing more than an early-season sparring partner.
"We (the conference) want respect, our players want respect, all the teams want respect," Pinkel said. "We root for each other when we play out of conference because that's one way we can get it.
"The other is to win games. You've got to win them if you want to get it."
For the Rockets, having lost only five starters from 1999, along with returning a total of 16 seniors on the squad, will help prevent any letdowns. Especially when the team faces Weber State Saturday at 7 p.m. at The Glass Bowl in Toledo.
Pinkel also said he would prevent any overconfidence.
"You prevent it because Weber State pretty good team," Pinkel said. "You make the appeal to the leadership of the team and that's my job to make sure that that doesn't happen. It wouldn't be very responsible on our part to fall into that. We have so many goals we want to accomplish. That's my job to take care of that problem."
Pinkel won't allow the Rockets to relax for the long-term either. The 1997 season, where Toledo began 8-0 but finished empty-handed at 9-3, hasn't been forgotten.
"There's a lot of things we can do to get better," Pinkel said. "I didn't see a player that graded out at 100 percent. Every single player can improve.
"Offensively got to throw and catch better. Towards the fourth quarter, I didn't feel we moved the ball as well as we could half. Defensively, when we got in a couple of nickel situations, we got misaligned.
"You win a big game and that's good, but it's never-ending. I'll be very disappointed if we're not a lot better football team in 10 weeks than we are right now. If Saturday was it, we've got a lot of problems."
Akron The Zips look to regroup after their 52-23 loss to Virginia Tech. "We put up lots of yards in first half," coach Lee Owens said. "I was disappointed we didn't finish. We were at the 5-yard line and didn't come away with points. We've got some backs running the ball hard, and we had some wide receivers making catches." ... Chris Smith separated himself from the pack on the defensive front. Health wise, the Zips are 100 percent for the Chippewas at Central Michigan on Saturday. Ball State Marcus Merriweather's 74 yards last weekend has coach Bill Lynch thinking run when they host Western Illinois Saturday. "We think his best is ahead of him," he said of the 6-foot-1, 215-pound back. "Even in high school he didn't carry a lot. Had a great offseason and has played well. We're glad to see him do it on the field." ... The Cardinals didn't completely wilt in the The Swamp, falling 40-19 to Florida. "We played hard, competed and hung in there," Lynch said. "There was a point there, halfway through the second quarter to the fourth quarter we played pretty well. Two big plays killed us. But we got our hands on a punt and did some things. I was proud of the guys." Bowling Green Former part-time starting quarterback Ricky Schneider subbed for punter Pat Fleming (inner ear infection), punting nine times for a 40-yard average, with a long of 58 yards. Anything less might have made the 42-7 loss to Michigan before 110,000 fans really lopsided. But coach Gary Blackney feels senior leadership will help the Falcons as they host Pittsburgh Saturday at 4 p.m. (ESPN regional). "In spite of the score against Michigan, our kids still have a tremendous amount of confidence," Blackney said. "They're a veteran group, played together for five years and matured. They're determined to take it back to the level we once enjoyed in the early 1990's." Buffalo Rutgers won't have the same bite as the Orangemen, who forced five turnovers and blocked two kicks. ... Bright spots for the Bulls in a 63-7 loss to Syracuse were running back Bam McDonald, who gained 76 yards on eight carries, and receiver Dahnel Singfield, who caught six Joe Freedy passes for 121 yards. ... Defensively, Tory Smith made a career-high 10 tackles, as well as a pass breakup and an interception. Central Michigan Quarterbacks Pete Shepherd and Derrick Vickers will continue to share duties as the Chippewas host Akron at 1 p.m. "Pete played extremely well," coach Mike DeBord said, of CMU's 48-0 loss to Purdue. "I'm pleased with his play. Vickers gave us some running game we didn't have. So we'll continue to evaluate and make a decision. Robbie Mixon (20 carries for 47 yards) is clearly the No. 1 tailback. Clearly showed to me that he's the best, and the best will play. Vince Webber is day-to-day. Akron's offense (led by QB Butchie Washington) is really good. They play a defense you don't play every week so that will take extra to prepare for." ... Purdue put its first team defense back into game to stop a TD late and keep the shutout intact. Eastern Michigan Freshman Shawney Watson shined in the Eagles win over Connecticut. "He really made some plays, returned punts and kicks, coughed it up once as a running back, but he was a bright spot," coach Jeff Woodruff said. ... Woodruff on hosting Miami: "Having watched Miami against Vanderbilt, we need to improve in a hurry. We just need to tighten down our package. Doesn't matter who you play, if you'd execute you can't beat anybody. Mike Bath was poised in the pocket, they look like an NFL line. They present a lot of problems. We need to keep people honest. We're trying to be efficient with Walt Church. There were some drops that didn't help us. He took a sack early in the game that didn't help. He had a dry spell in the third, but hit the TD pass in the fourth." ... The Eagles using running backs by committee. "Hopefully we'll have a nice balance as the season progresses." Kent Golden Flashes go from Pittsburgh (30-7 loss) to Purdue: "I don't want to see us beat ourselves," said coach Dean Pees. "I'm not happy 14 penalties with way we played. We gave up plays on defense. Moved the ball at times, but self-destructed." ... Pees thought the defensive front a positive. " We've got some guys that can play and stop the run. The passing game, despite eight in the box, some plays we handled poorly. They did some things they were never coached. They've got to show improvement and got to learn to play our position and the basic coverages. I can't tell you if you they're going to be shell-shocked against (Drew) Brees, but I can't bring in five junior college guys." ... On the sidelines at Pitt, the Golden Flashes lost their head phone system. "We made defensive calls with cell phones. We self-destructed a little bit." ... Booker Vann and Chante Murphy were bright spots out of the backfield. Marshall Michigan State will host the Thundering Herd in its first-ever Big Ten contest Saturday (ESPN 12:10 p.m.). The Herd lost left guard Scott Harper for a couple of weeks in its 63-7 win over Southeast Missouri State Thursday. The rest of the minor injuries should return. "Our kids did some good things, but there's room for improvement," coach Bob Pruett said. "I was pleased with way our players and coaches adjusted didn't know exactly what we were going to do." ... Quarterback Byron Leftwich showed "leadership and poise" as he threw for 205 yards (13-of-20) and two TDs in basically a half of action. Brandon Carey rushed for 80 yards on 11 carries, Chanston Rodgers scored three TDs. Miami Quarterback Mike Bath joined Toledo's Chester Taylor as the MAC's Offensive Player of the Week, throwing two TD strikes in the final two minutes to lead the RedHawks over Vanderbilt, 33-30. "We made plays," coach Terry Hoeppner said. "I don't consider it an upset win. We felt if made plays we'd win the football game. We expected to win game." ... The RedHawks' Milt Bowen was named the MAC's special teams player of the week. ... The Ty and Sly show, Buxton and Johnson, caught eight and six passes respectively for 134 yards apiece. Johnson had a 91-yard TD. ... Miami travels to Eastern Michigan Saturday at 1 p.m. Northern Illinois Running backs Thomas Hammock (74 yards on eight carries, one TD) and freshman Michael Turner carried the ball well in a 35-17 loss at Northwestern. "They'll be good backs," coach Joe Novak said. "We'll be able to run the ball this year. We moved ball well at Northwestern (366 yards of total offense), but we had a couple of turnovers. I was disappointed in way we played." ... Northern Illinois was inside five-yard line three times and came away with no points. ... Northern Illinois faces Illinois State this week. Illinois State is a I-AA playoff team last year and they rolled up 75 points last week. ... Without defensive back Benji Peacock, freshman Randy Drew stepped in against executed well against Northwestern's spread offense. Ohio Coach Jim Grobe learned that QB Dontrell Jackson can throw it (25 attempts), and he may continue to get the opportunity as teams gang up on the run. The Bobcats face Minnesota this week after falling to Iowa State, 25-15. "Dontrell is going to be different kid," Grobe said. "We needed to throw, they were crowding us. He threw only four or five balls that were uncatchable. It's going to add another dimension to our offense. Now it's time for our skill guys to catch up. Raynald Ray is blocking better, catching out of backfield running the football, he's special for us. We blew a great opportunity and had a chance to win. Throughout game thought we were going to win. In some situations our players didn't understand the urgency." ... Health? "We came out of the game without a scratch." Western Michigan The Broncos head to Iowa Saturday. "They're a much improved team," coach Gary Darnell said. "When it comes down to it, we have to play defense at that level." ... The Broncos are a confident bunch these days. "There's no place left to go that we don't feel like we don't belong. We'll walk in that arena ready to play hard." ... The Broncos fell to Wisconsin, 19-7, Thursday. "Wisconsin was a great opportunity -- close but no cigar -- but there will be some satisfaction later on. I think our defense played outstanding. We were able to get a hat on their QB 20 times. The kicking game is there, but it cost us." ... Bronco linebacker Garrett Soldano was the MAC defensive player of the week with 21 tackles (11 solo). Andy Spradling covers Marshall University and the Mid-American Conference for The Charleston Daily Mail | ALSO SEE Holy Toledo! Penn State finds itself 0-2 AUDIO/VIDEO   Chester Taylor scores the easy TD for Toledo.avi: 977 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Tavares Bolden throws 13 yards to Lyle Green for the TD.avi: 787 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | ||||
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