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Robert Hearons: Offense needs to be consistent while defense learns

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RJ Hearons

Robert Hearons, Associate Sports Editor

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‘Defense wins championships’ is not a saying that carries much weight with the 2014 University of Toledo football team.

In fact, it has been quite the opposite this season. The team has gone where the offense has taken them, scoring in bunches when rolling.

But when the offense isn’t on all cylinders, oh how the Rockets can be tough to watch.

Toledo has made a habit of digging themselves into first-half holes during the 2014 season. Fortunately, having the most potent offense in the MAC has helped cover up this alarming trend time after time, bailing out poor defensive performances and needless offensive hiccups.

Take Saturday’s Homecoming faceoff with UMass, for example.

Before the Rockets’ offense could pick up a first down, UT’s defense – the secondary, in particular – surrendered two Minutemen touchdowns.

This isn’t an attack on Toledo’s D, which simply doesn’t match up with the talent level on UMass’ offensive side of the football, even at full strength.

The blame for the slow starts is going to fall on the shoulders of the offense.

It speaks volumes that UMass’ head coach openly admitted to letting UT score at the end of the game to take the lead, giving the Minutemen one more chance against the Rockets’ defense. The unit is young, injured and not ready for primetime.

Toledo’s offense, however, is ready for prime time and has been all season.

It’s what makes the Rockets so hard to watch at times. It’s not that they don’t have any talent; it’s that the talent and potential falls to the wayside due to pre-snap penalties and turnovers, which requires second-half comeback rallies seemingly every week.

Opponents have, and will, continue to put up points all season. Yes, that is a tough pill for UT to swallow, but it is the points left on the field by the Rockets’ offense that really should get their blood boiling.

14 points in the first half against UMass isn’t a goose egg, but it isn’t enough and it isn’t going to fly when the Rockets travel to Northern Illinois to more than likely decide the Mid-American Conference West Division. When UT comes across a team with any sign of a defensive backbone, a second-half rally will prove much more difficult.

To put this into perspective, the Rockets have put up just 26 first-half points in the past three games, including a goose egg on the road at Western Michigan. In the second half of those same three games, UT racked up a total of 65 points.

Of those three games, the battle against Western Michigan is probably the most prime example. What’s worth pointing out is that the defense somewhat held their ground through this game, only surrendering 19 points.

If the offense could have merely trotted along, overtime wouldn’t have been necessary.

It’s tough to not mention the signal caller when talking about an offense. UT sophomore Logan Woodside can put the ball where it needs to be, but will leave one scratching his or her head all too often with poor decisions that turn into interceptions.

The Rockets’ signal caller seems to miss open receivers far too often, leaving potential points on the field and off the scoreboard. Chalk it up to nerves, the wind it really doesn’t matter. In the end the errant throws must find the receivers and the receivers must find the end zone.

One of the biggest issues that UT needs to fix on the offensive side of the ball is the amount of costly turnovers in the game. Woodside began things against UMass on the wrong foot. An interception on the first play of the second quarter, and another as the first half was coming to a close, only added to Woodside’s rough start.

Fixing the turnover mess will lead to a more efficient offense and not require the Rockets to dig out of a hole every Saturday. Woodside has shown the ability to move around in the pocket and make crisp throws at times. He just needs to be more consistent.

If Toledo’s young, injured defense steps up in the coming weeks, that’s great. But the offense needs to bring it for four quarters each and every week from here on out if the Rockets want to beat the likes of Northern Illinois and Bowling Green.

The 42-35 shoot-out with UMass shouldn’t have been as close as it was. 42 points looks great on paper, but on film the game, and how those points came to fruition, tells a different story.

That tale is one that required a Rocket-shaped shovel.

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