Season Previews- #27: Toledo

Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.

Toledo might have been the most incomprehensible team we covered in 2009.  They beat Colorado and got to midseason at 3-3, then knocked off Northern Illinois to get to their fourth win.  Yet somehow, they lost to Miami and some of the conference powers down the stretch to only finish 5-7, home for bowl season.

The Rockets are staring down a 2010 season with some important holes to fill on the roster, as they look for a new starting QB and RB.  They do have sophomore Eric Page back at WR, where he was the top freshman receiver in the country in 2009.  If coach Tim Beckman can get the new players up to speed quickly, they may be able to approach last year’s offensive output, which was 13th nationally.

Schedule

Coaching

Tim Beckman is another in the large group of second year coaches, and had a much better first year than most did, improving on the 3-9 record of his predecessor.  Prior to taking the Toledo job, he’d been on the defensive coaching staff at Bowling Green and Ohio State before taking on the defensive coordinator role at Oklahoma State.

Rankings

The MAC media picked Toledo to finish fourth in the West division.

Outlook

Last year, Toledo suffered from dramatic flaws in their consistency, and starting new skill position players is not a great recipe to fix that problem.  If things click, they should have the talent to compete, especially in the MAC, but also with some of their nonconference competition.  But if things start off slow, they’re going to get behind early and there may not be enough time to turn it around.  I think the 2011 Rockets will be a team to fear, but this looks like another 5 win season to me.

Toledo Connections

Official Football Site

Official Twitter Feed

The Launch Pad -NCAAbbs message board

Toledo Blade – local coverage of the Rockets