Page 142 - Toledo Football Media Guide - 2012

HISTORY 143

t Football Timeline

for attendance in a season (30,014) and single game (36,852 vs. Navy).

• Chester Taylor is named third-team All-AmericabytheAssociatedPressand sets the school record for career rush-ing yards with 4,659. Taylor is taken in the sixth round of the 2002 NFL Draft by Baltimore.

• Placekicker Todd France earns frst-team Verizon Academic All-America honors after graduating with a 3.97 grade point average in mechanical engineering.

2002

• TheRocketswintheir secondconsecu-tive MACWest Division title in improb-able fashion, stringing together four straightdo-or-diewinsat theendof the regular season.UTalsomakes itssecond consecutive bowl appearance, a return trip to the Motor City Bowl.

• Quarterback Brian Jones leads the na-tion inpasscompletionpercentageand setstheall-timeMACrecord,connecting on 70.2 percent of his passes.

• Center Chris Tuminello earns second-teamAcademic All-America honors for the second straight year.

• Wide receiver Carl Ford is taken in the seventh round of the 2003NFLDraft by the Green Bay Packers.

2003

• The Rockets defeat No. 9 Pittsburgh, 35-31, in the Glass Bowl. It is the highest-ranked opponent Toledo has ever beaten. Later, UT knocks of No. 21 Northern Illinois, the only time the RocketshavedefeatedtwoTop25teams in one season.

• Quarterback Bruce Gradkowski sets a MAC record by connecting on 71.2 percent of his passes.

• Wide receiver Lance Moore leads the nation with 103 receptions.

2004

• The Rockets win another MAC Cham-pionship, thanks to three remarkable comeback victories. UT has to come frombehind to defeat Northern Illinois and Bowling Green to clinch the MAC West Division crown, then rallies again to defeat Miami in theMAC Champion-ship Game at Ford Field in Detroit.

•TheRocketsplay intheMotorCityBowl for the third time in four years. • Coach Tom Amstutz is selected as the Ohio College Coach of the Year. • Ofensive lineman Nick Kaczur is se-lected in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

• Toledo makes a school-record seven appearances on ESPN or ESPN2.

2005

• The Rockets fnish 9-3 and end the season with a resounding 45-13 victory over UTEP in the GMAC Bowl.

•QuarterbackBruceGradkowskiendshis careerholding21school records, includ-ingmost passing yards, most TD passes and highest completion percentage. • Gradkowski is selected in the sixth round of the NFL Draft by Tampa Bay, the frst Rocket QB to be drafted since Gene Swick in 1976.

2006

• The Rockets record their first victory over a Big 12 opponent, a 37-31 double-overtime win over Kansas at the Glass Bowl on ESPN2.

2007

• Brett Kern is named one of three fnalists for the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s best punter.

• John Greco and Jalen Par-mele are both selected in the

2008 NFL Draft, the frst time since 1970 that twoRocketsweredraftedwithinthe frst seven rounds.

2008

• The Rockets upset Michigan, 13-10, before more than 107,000 witnesses at Michigan Stadium.

•FormerOklahomaStatedefensivecoor-dinator TimBeckman is namedToledo’s head coach on Dec. 4, 2008.

2009

• The Rockets beat Colorado, 54-38, their third victory over a Big 12 school in four years.

• The Rockets host Ohio State at Cleve-

landBrownsStadiumonSept. 19before 71,727, the largest home crowd inMAC history.

2010

• The Rockets knock of Purdue, 31-20, the ffth consecutive season that UT defeated a school from a league with an automatic berth into the BCS.

• TheRockets go8-5andmake their frst bowl appearance in fve years, a trip to the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl at Ford Field in Detroit.

• Eric Page earns All-America honors as a kick returner, the frst Rocket in 35 years to earn frst-team honors. Page is the frst MAC player to earn frst-team honors on theWalter CampAll-America team in over a decade. He is named the national Kickof Returner of the Year

by the College Football Performance Awards.

2011

• The Rockets defeat Air Force in the MilitaryBowl, 42-41, tofnishtheseason with a 9-4 record.

• Ofensive coordinator Matt Campbell becomesToledo’s26thheadcoachwhen Tim Beckman departs for Illinois. • Junior Eric Page opts to turn profes-sional after a three-year career that sees him tie the MAC record for receptions with 306.

• Page is one of a record seven Rockets to sign free-agent contracts with NFL teams.

The Rockets faced FIU in the 2010 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.