Page 175 - Toledo Football Media Guide - 2012

176 HISTORY

Bowl History

Florida International capped a second-half comeback with a 34-yard feld goal as time expired to give the Panthers a dramatic 34-32 victory over Toledo at the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl at Ford Field in Detroit.

FIU’s game-winning feld goal overshadowed Toledo’s own comeback that gave the Rockets a 32-31 lead with 1:14 to play. Redshirt freshman quarterback Terrance Owens scrambled in for a 14-yard TD and then completed a pass to sophomore wide receiver Eric Page for the two-point conversion. But on its fnal possession FIU con-

verted a fourth-and-17 from its own 41-yard line to keep its drive alive and set up the eventual game-winning feld goal by Jack Grifn.

Toledo held a 24-7 lead early in the second half but FIU scored 24 unanswered points to take a 31-24 lead with 3:18 to play. Junior Adonis Thomas led the Rockets with a career-high 193 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Thomas’ second TD run was an 87-yard bolt in the second quarter, the longest run of his career, the fourth-longest rush in Toledo history and tied for the longest run in Little Caesars Bowl history. He fnished the season with 1,098 yards, the 13th-highest total in school history.

The Rockets, who had not been to a bowl game since a 45-13 victory over UTEP in the 2005 GMAC Bowl, fn-ished their season with an 8-5 record under second-year head coach Tim Beckman.

2010 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl

FIU 34, Toledo 32

Dec. 26, 2010 - Ford Field, Detroit, MI

2011 Military Bowl

Toledo 42, Air Force 41

Dec. 28, 2011 - RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.

Toledo used its powerful ofense and a bend-but-don’t-break defense to capture an exciting 42-41 victory over Air Force in the Military Bowl, in a game that came down to the fnal minute. The Rockets never trailed in a see-saw afair in which there were three ties and the largest point margin was 14 points.

With 52 seconds left in the game, Air Force scored what ap-peared to be the game-tying touchdown when Falcons receiver Jonathan Warzeka caught a wide open 33-yard pass from quarter-back Tim Jeferson.

Air Force lined up in a traditional extra-point formation but opted to go for two points on a trick play. Holder David Baska took the snap and headed for the end zone, but sophomore defensive

end Jayrone Elliott stripped the ball loose from Baska. The ball bounced in the direction of Parker Her-rington, who tried to scoop up the loose ball but ending up kicking it out of the end zone leaving the Rockets with a 42-41 advantage and their frst bowl victory since 2005.

The victory was a great vindication for a Rocket team that had survived numerous injuries—including three key injuries to its defense in this game. It was also a dramatic debut for head coach Matt Campbell, the Rockets’ ofensive coordinator who was named head coach just 16 days previously after Tim Beckman left to take the helm at Illinois. Campbell, at 32 the youngest head coach in the NCAA-FBS, coached the game from the coaches box, but managed to get down on the feld in time to get a post-game Gatorade shower from the players.