Page 173 - Toledo Football Media Guide - 2012

174 HISTORY

Bowl History

1969 Tangerine Bowl Toledo 56, Davidson 33

The Rockets headed to Orlando with much at stake: the frst unde-feated season in the history of the football program.TheRocket ofense racked up 324 yards in total ofense andput 42 points on the board in the frst half. It all led to a 56-33 victory overSouthernConferencechampion Davidson in the 24th annual Tangerine Bowl.

Quarterback Chuck Ealey, voted the game’s most valuable back, ran nine times for 83 yards and a touchdown and threw for 147 yards and three scores on 10-of-13 passing. Don Fair caught four passes for 78 yards and Cole carried 22 times for 152 yards.

The Rockets were later rewarded with a No. 20 national ranking in the fnal Associated Press poll.

1970 Tangerine Bowl

Toledo 40, William&Mary 12

The Rockets looking to repeat asTan-gerine Bowl champs and post a second consecutiveundefeatedseason, butLou Holtz’s William & Mary team had other ideas and looked primed for an upset

when it jumped out to a 6-0 lead and trailed by only 7-6 at halftime.

But it was all Rockets in the second half as they scored on their frst four possessions.

The Rockets churned out 326 yards rushing, paced by Charles Cole (132 yards) and Tony Harris (101 yards). Toledo fnished12th in the nation in the fnal A.P. poll, and 14th and 17th in the Football News and UPI polls, respectively.

1971 Tangerine Bowl Toledo 28, Richmond 3

For the frst 15minutes of the game, Richmond looked as if it had the abil-ity to end Toledo’s winning streak at 34 games, taking a 3-0 lead. But then quarterback Chuck Ealey and the No. 1 defense in the nation went to work.

TheRocket defense limited theSpiders to just 51 total yards of total ofense in the second half, including none through the air. Richmond punted on fve of its seven possessions in the second half, was stopped on fourth down on one and intercepted on the other.

Ealey completed 14-of-23 passes for 176 yards and scored from one yard out. With the victory, the Rockets ran their winning streak to 35 games, to this day the second-longest in major college football.

1981 California Bowl Toledo 27, San Jose St. 25

They said it couldn’t be done. There wasnoway thatToledocouldbeat aSan Jose State team ranked 20th in the fnal UPI coachespoll. Yetwhenthefrst-ever California Bowl game was over, it was Toledo who left the feld victorious, 27-25.TonyLee’s41-yardfeldgoalwith just seconds left gave Toledo the victory.

Toledo had led in the game, 21-3, in the third quarter, but let that slip away. The Spartans took a 25-24 lead with just 52 seconds remaining, on a 35-yard touchdown pass and a two-point conversion

TheRocketswere facedwith80 yards of feldaheadof them and no time outs remaining. Quarterback Maurice Hall cooly marched his ofense down to the Spartan 24-yard line to set the stage for Lee’s winning feld goal.

1984 California Bowl UNLV 30, Toledo 13*

The Rockets came up short, 30-13, against Randall Cunningham, Ickey Woodsandtherestof theRunnin’Rebels. Cunningham had a stellar game, com-pleting 18-of-28 passes for 270 yards. Woods, just a freshman at the time, led UNLV with 53 yards and one TD.

Rocket running back Steve Morgan was named Toledo’s outstanding ofensive player after totaling 154 yards on 31 carries, while quarterback A.J. Sager was 12-of-31 for 137 yards with one TD.

*NOTE: The contest was later forfeited to Toledo by the PCAA due to use of ineligible players by UNLV earlier that season. UNLV has never accepted the ruling.

1995 Las Vegas Bowl Toledo 40, Nevada 37 (OT)

In a game that featured the frst over-time inDivision I-Afootball history,Toledo prevailedoverNevada, 40-37, electrifying a national TV audience on ESPN. After a feld goal gave theWolf Pack a 37-34 lead, its frst of the game, the Rockets’Wasean Tait, who set four bowl records and was namedco-MVP, scoredthewinningpoints on a two-yard run.

Tait set Las Vegas Bowl standards for rushing yards (185), all-purpose yards (238) and TDs (four).

The two teams battled to stand-still through regulation, with Nevada tying the gamewith a late feld goal. Toledowon the over-time coin toss and elected to go on defense frst. Nevada settled for a feld goal, setting up Tait, who got the call on three of UT’s four plays, the last one the game-winner. He was buried under a sea of Rockets in the victory celebration and passed out cold.