Cincinnati Bearcats Opponent Briefview: The Toledo Rockets

With the Cincinnati Bearcats opening up training camp in about a week, Cincy on the Prowl will also open up a series briefly previewing each of UC’s opponents this season. A “briefview”, if you will.

We’ll of course write up a more intensive opponent report in the days leading up to the game but this should provide an overview of what faces the Bearcats several Saturdays, a few Fridays, and a Thursday this fall. First up are Cincinnati’s opening game opponent, the Rockets of Toledo from the MAC.

The Skinny On Toledo

2013 Record: 7-5
All-Time Record: 473-398-24
Conference: Mid-American Conference
Head Coach: Matt Campbell (2nd yr)
Head-To-Head: Cincinnati leads 4-3
Last Meeting: Toledo 29, Cincinnati 23 on October 20th, 2012
Kickoff Date, Time, Location: September 12th, 7:00 pm, Paul Brown Stadium

Area Of Strength – Linebacking Corps

On a defense that has lost stud defensive end Jayrone Elliott, his 14 tackles for loss, and 9 sacks to the NFL, the Rockets actually return a fairly experienced and deep linebacker unit. Every single player is back from last season, which might just offset the loss of Elliott.

That includes junior linebackers Chase Murdock and Trent Voss who combined for 169 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, and 3 forced fumbles in 2013. Playing in the MAC, where the spread is the system du jour, the Rockets opt for their nickel and dime packages 90% of the time. As such, Murdock and Voss see the field quite a bit and are tasked with stopping the run or stepping out into coverage on any given play. Additionally, as alluded to above, Toledo returns effectively all linebackers from 2013, meaning the position group as a whole is very experienced and very deep.

Areas Of Weakness – Quarterback & Skill Positions

For the most part you have to figure any given Toledo Rockets team is going to score points and score them easily. They finished 4th in the MAC averaging 33 points per game in 2013. But the Rockets are experiencing massive turnover on offense as the upcoming season fast approaches. Gone are senior leadership at quarterback, runningback, and wide receiver, taking 95%, 38%, and 42% of touchdowns will them to graduation respectively.

Back filling Terrance Owens will be a three-headed race between Alabama transfer Phillip Ely, sophomore Logan Woodside, and sophomore Michael Julian. A talented but young underclassman Kareem Hunt will be replacing 1,121 rushing yard, 11 touchdown David Fluellen. And junior wide out Alonzo Russell will likely be the go-to guy now that Bernard Reedy (a name that has haunted my nightmares) is gone to the NFL.

So it’s for this reason alone, a big one mind you, that these have to be pegged as Toledo’s weakest area heading into next season.

Way Too Early Prediction

The Cincinnati Bearcats lost in their last tangle with Toledo due in large part to coaching errors on UC’s side. Butch Jones made monumental mistakes against a Rockets team that, while extremely talented in 2012, could have been dealt with. Benching Pat O’Donnell for Tony Miliano on kickoff duty made zero sense and booting the ball right at Bernard Reedy was maddening. I don’t expect Tommy Tuberville with his years of experience will make the same errors.

The concern heading into this game for UC is that the Rockets, while basically hitting the reset button on offense, will have two games to mesh before making the trip to Paul Brown Stadium to face our Bearcats. That includes hosting the Missouri Tigers in the Glass Bowl. On the other hand, Cincinnati will have effectively a month and a half to break down film on Toledo.

So it remains to be seen if battle tested out-duels preparedness on the football field but at this point in time, without having seen what the 2014 version of either team looks like, I’m picking the Bearcats by a touchdown.