Toledo Rockets Face Utah State in 2012 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Saturday, Dec. 15, 4:30 ET (ESPN)
Bronco Stadium, Boise, Ida.
2012 RECORDS: Toledo (9-3, 6-2 MAC); Utah State (10-2, 6-0 WAC)
SERIES RECORD: First meeting
COACHES:
• Matt Campbell, 10-3 (1st full year) at Toledo, same overall.
• Gary Anderson, 25-24 (4th year) at Utah State, 29-31 overall in five years.
TV: ESPN Announcers Tom Hart, Meke Bellotti and Quint Kessenich.
The University of Toledo will battle Utah State of the Western Athletic Conference in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Ida. on Saturday, Dec. 15 (4:30 p.m ET on ESPN). It will be the first meeting between the two schools. The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl will be the third consecutive post-season for the Rockets, who lost to FIU in the 2010 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl and defeated Air Force at the 2011 Military Bowl. This will be the 13th bowl overall for Toledo, with the Rockets holding a 9-3 bowl record.
Toledo (9-3, 6-2 MAC) finished in a second-place tie with Ball State in the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. The Rockets won eight consecutive games at one point this season, including a 29-23 victory over then-No. 18 Cincinnati on Oct. 20. Toledo was as high as No. 23 in the AP poll this season, and made it to the BCS Top 25 for the first time in its history.
Toledo’s Matt Campbell is in his first full season as head coach, but will be coaching in his second bowl game. He took over for the departed Tim Beckman at the end of last season and led the Rockets at the Military Bowl. Campbell, who turned 33 in November, is the youngest head coach in the NCAA-FBS.
Toledo Bowl Notes
• Toledo is playing in its third consecutive bowl game, 13th overall.
• This will be Toledo’s first appearance in Boise for a bowl game, but second trip overall. The Rockets played at Boise State in 2010.
• Toledo and Utah State are meeting for the first time.
• No. 18 Utah State will be the highest-ranked opponent Toledo has ever faced in a bowl game. The only other ranked bowl opponent was No. 20 San Jose State in 1981.
• Toledo is 20-4 in its last 24 Mid-American Conference games.
• Senior LB Dan Molls’ 166 tackles leads the country. He has made at least nine tackles in 17 consecutive games.
• Junior RB David Fluellen is eighth in the nation in rushing with an average of 132.7 per game.
Rocket Update
• The Rockets are 9-3, 6-2 MAC following their 35-23 victory over Akron in the regular-season finale on Nov. 20.
• Toledo tied for second in the MAC West with Ball State.
• Toledo won eight straight games until a loss to Ball State on Nov. 6 snapped the streak. The Rockets’ eight straight wins was the most since the 1997 team opened up the season 8-0.
• Toledo is 20-4 in MAC games over the past three seasons.
• Nine Rockets earned All-MAC honors, including junior Bernard Reedy, who made first-team at wide receiver and punt returner, and second- team at kickoff returner.
• Junior RB David Fluellen is a Doak Walker Award semifinalist, one of 10 players to make the list for the nation’s best running back.
• Fluellen is eighth in the country, averaging 132.7 yards per game.
• Fluellen’s 1,460 total yards is his first 1000-yard season, and ranks sixth-best in UT history. He needs 11 yards to pass Chester Taylor (1,470 in 2000) for fifth place and 161 to move past Taylor’s No. 2 spot on the list (1,620 in 2001).
• Senior LB Dan Molls leads the nation with 166 tackles. He is second in solo tackles with 86.
• Sophomore PK Jeremiah Detmer has made 14 consecutive field-goal attempts. He has 21 field goals this season, and needs one more to pass Rusty Hannah (21 in 1992) for the UT season record.
• Junior WR/KR Bernard Reedy ranks 19th in receptions (6.8) and 10th in all-purpose yards (163.5).
• In the Nov. 4 polls, the Rockets were ranked No. 23 in the Associated Press poll, No. 25 in the USA Today coaches poll and No. 25 in the BCS rankings. It was the first Top-25 ranking for UT since 2001.
They Call Him “Mr. Tackle”
Senior LB Dan Molls leads the nation in tackles with 166. He has had at least 13 tackles 10 times this season and has led the Rockets in tackling in all but one game. A first-team All-MAC pick in 2012, Molls had a season-high 18 stops at EMU on Oct. 13. He has a string of 17 consecutive games with at least nine tackles.
As a sophomore, Molls was second in the MAC and 10th in the nation with 143 total tackles in 13 games. He averaged 10.0 tackles in an injury-shortened season in 2012, but did average 12.0 tackles over the last five games of the season after returning to the lineup.