Page 20 - Toledo Football Media Guide - 2012

20 2012 OUTLOOK

who earned Freshman All-America honors at guard. The defense has starters or key reserves back at just about every position. Leaders on the defensive side of the ball include three seniors: Molls, a 2010 third-team All-MAC linebacker; Fatinikun, a two-time All-MAC defensive end; and strong safety

Jermaine Robinson , who returned two of his three interceptions for touchdowns in 2011.

Until theseasonactuallygetsunderway, questions will remain, of course. But it’s clear that the Rockets have more than enough talent to challenge for a MAC West title. Putting it all together is the challenge for Campbell and his staf.

The fol lowing i s an overview of the 2012 Toledo Rockets:

Quarterback

Any college football coach would love to have one returning quarterback ranked in the top 25 in passing efciency. UT head coach Matt Campbell has two such signal-callers, ju-nior Terrance Owens and senior Austin Dantin . For the third consecu-tive training camp, Dantin and Owens will be fghting for playing time as UT’s main quarterback. How the battle will pan out this fall is anybody’s guess, but over the past two seasons

at least, they have split time pretty evenly in a two-quarterback system that has reaped big dividends for the ofense.

The similarity in the production between Owens and Dantin has been uncanny. Owens has 393 pass-ing attempts over the last two years, while Dantin has 380. Owens has thrown for 3,266 yards and 31 touchdowns while Dantin has tossed for 2,658 yards and 22 scores.

Owens’ incredible production over the final three games of 2011 might lead some Rocket fans to assume that the two-quarterback system is over

at UT. Campbell, however, said the position is still up for grabs, as is his openness to continue utilizing both quarterbacks.

“We have always said that going into each part of the season we leave it up to competition to decide who is rising to the challenge,” said Campbell. “The thing we’ve seen with Austin and Terrance is that they both have been put into pressure situations and both have been successful. It will be a joy to watch those two go to battle again. At the end of the day, it makes our football team better, and I think those two

understand that.”

Dantin and Owens were splitting time pretty evenly last season until Dantin went out of the lineup late in the season due to concussion symptoms. Owens led Toledo to three victories in Dantin’s absence, complet ing an amazing 79.5 percent (70-of-88) of his passes for 752 yards and seven touchdowns with no interceptions. For the season, Owens finished sixth in the nation in passing efciency, completing aMAC-record 72.2 percent of his passes for 2,022 yards and 18 touchdowns against just three interceptions.

Dantin was no slouch, either. A starter for the Rockets’ frst 10 games, Dantin completed 64.9 percent of his throws, racking up 1,404 yards and 15 TDs with only four picks. He fnished 21st in the country in passing efciency, marking the frst time in NCAA history that one school had two QBs rank in the top 25 in passing efciency in the same year.

Backing up Toledo’s dynamic duo is sophomore

Dwight Macon , who didn’t play much as a redshirt freshman but received rave reviews from the Toledo coaching staf during spring practice. Macon is so athletic that the coaches decided to split his time evenly between quarterback and wide receiver over the spring.

2 Season Outlook

Junior David Fluellen rushed for 493 yards and four touchdowns in 2011.