UT heads to Kent State

On paper it looks too easy.

The University of Toledo football team is undefeated in Mid-American Conference play this season, sitting pretty with a sterling 4-0 record atop the entire MAC.

Kent State, Toledo’s next opponent, has not won a single MAC game in 2014. The Golden Flashes have only one victory so far this season, a thrashing of Army earlier in October.

The Rockets lead the conference in scoring offense and total offense, and they are ranked second in rushing offense with the lethal one-two punch of freshman Terry Swanson and sophomore Kareem Hunt. Toledo’s defense has struggled — particularly the secondary — but that young unit ended last week’s Homecoming game with an interception with just seconds left on the clock to seal the win against the University of Massachusetts.

Kent State has the second-ranked passing defense in the MAC, but they cannot stop anyone on the ground, sitting at 12th in the league against the run. The Golden Flashes are also middle-of-the-pack on offense.

Do you see where this is going yet?

“When you turn the film on with Kent State, you look at them and, yes, their record is a little bit where I’m sure they wouldn’t want to be,” said UT head coach Matt Campbell. “But I think what you see from this football team is they fight. They have been in most of their MAC games right to the end.”

Toledo’s next two opponents after Kent State are Northern Illinois and Bowling Green. The Huskies have been the only thing standing between the Rockets and the MAC West title for years, while the Falcons are Toledo’s archrivals.

In the football world, next Tuesday’s matchup with Kent State may be what is known as a trap game for UT, a matchup that players potentially overlook much to their later regret. Campbell, however, insists his players will not make that common mistake.

“[Kent State is] a dangerous football team,” he said. “Our kids know it, and that’s where us understanding that it is one game at a time, it’s one game, four games left and you’ve got to win every one. They’re no different than any team we face the rest of the way.”

The Golden Flashes don’t even have timing on their side. Toledo returned from their bye week to face UMass last Saturday with ten more days of rest and practice to prepare for Kent State.

“I thought we did a really good job on our bye week of getting ourselves ready to go,” Campbell said. “Now I think you almost don’t have to dramatically shift it as much of practicing your young guys. You can still focus on your older guys and kind of do a really good job of taking care of some detail things we can take care of from last week’s game and certainly preparing for a Kent State football team which again will be a good challenge for us.”

Campbell’s players agree that Kent State provides a challenge, and they aren’t looking past the Golden Flashes, if only because they know their winning streak paints a bulls-eye on each and every UT helmet.

“We are used to having a target on us; we’re Toledo,” said junior defensive tackle Orion Jones. “When we watch film we know they aren’t going to play like they play everybody else. We’re going to get their best so we are kind of used to it.

“The main thing we are focused on is we’re not worried about the caliber of the team. We’re just worried about making us the best we can be.”

Improving on the defensive side of the ball will be crucial for Toledo, evident by the unit’s performance last weekend against UMass’ pass-happy offense.

The Rockets were finding their way to Minutemen quarterback Blake Frohnapfel all afternoon, but the senior signal caller was still finding ways to unleash his arm. Frohnapfel finished with 438 yards passing and five touchdowns.

“You play the game of defense, athletes, they’re Division I players also, so they’re going to make plays,” Jones said. “That’s where we have been maturing on the defensive side. We were able to stay calm even when things weren’t going our way. I was happy we were able to pull out the victory.”

For the Rockets to win this week against Kent State, the focus will need to remain on adding a win no matter whom Toledo is facing.

“It doesn’t matter to me who I play; I just want to get better week after week,” Jones said. “If someone isn’t that good, I’m still not going to take them lightly. Anything can happen out there on the field so I’m just focused on [myself] and the defense.

“The team, we are just focused on us, making sure we come out with the victory.”

The Rockets kick off at Kent State on Tuesday, Nov. 4, at 8 p.m.