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UT hits the road

Toledo heading to Cincinnati for first away contest, junior QB Phillip Ely out for season

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The Rockets travel to Cincinnati this week to take on the Bearcats in Toledo’s first road game of the season. UT’s kickoff against UC is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at the Cincinnati Bengals’ Paul Brown Stadium, UC’s 2014 home field.

Blake Bacho, Sports Editor

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Toledo’s quarterback competition has officially been reopened. This time, however, the battle is between two signal callers instead of three.

The Rockets (1-1) have lost junior QB Phillip Ely to a season-ending ACL tear sustained during last Saturday’s 49-24 loss to Missouri.

Toledo head coach Matt Campbell said he will name the new starting quarterback before the upcoming Friday night matchup against Cincinnati. Sophomore Logan Woodside and redshirt freshman Michael Julian are the candidates for the position and are expected to split first team reps during practice this week.

“I feel horrible for [Ely],” said senior center Greg Mancz, “He’s a great guy, great friend and he’s doing a great job so far being the levelheaded leader for the offense. I hope he gets healthy and gets through surgery as quick as possible.

“It’s hard for him, but the good news is we have two guys who have been taking snaps with him. I’ve taken plenty of snaps with Logan, I’ve taken plenty of snaps with Mike and so the good news is there is lots of camaraderie already there. I have the utmost confidence that they are going to come in there and play to the best of their ability.”

Toledo faces a tough challenge starting a new number under center against a Bearcat team that finished 9-4 last season.

That mountain is even steeper considering that the Rockets have no game film to study for this upcoming matchup.

Cincinnati’s matchup against Toledo will be the Bearcats’ season opener, with UC having drawn back-to-back byes over the first two weeks of their schedule. It is Cincinnati’s second year in the new American Athletic Conference as well as their second with Tommy Tuberville as head coach.

“It’s awkward,” admitted Campbell when asked about preparing for this contest. “Especially when you know they have a new defensive coordinator and certainly sounds like potentially a new quarterback in the game.

“I think what you can prepare for is what you know, and what you know is their foundation. They are a really skilled football team that, quite honestly, might be as good as what we saw last week from a skilled receiver standpoint. They are certainly a team with some confidence after a 9-4 football season last year.”

Mancz echoed his coach’s statements about Cincinnati, comparing the preparation for this game to the work done during opening week.

“You can look at the players that have played,” he said. “That’s something we have started to do is look at that. It presents a different challenge, but two weeks ago we did the same thing. We are going to go at them the best we can and try to prepare for everything that they could possibly have.”

Whatever the Bearcats have will be more than enough for Toledo to contend with Friday night, as many players remain from the ranked squad which visited the Glass Bowl two seasons ago.

“I feel like our coaches have done a very good job in evaluating [Cincinnati],” said junior cornerback Chris Dukes. “[They’ve been] evaluating those guys, studying them and seeing what things they like to do from last season and the last time we played them. A bunch of those guys are still there that played back then.”

The Rockets earned a 29-23 victory against that Cincinnati squad without UT’s offense scoring a single touchdown. Toledo leaned on their defense, as well as kicker Jeremiah Detmer, to lead them to a home victory over the Bearcats.

Even though this rematch will be played in Cincinnati, it might still be considered a home game for Dukes and Mancz, who are both from the area and will have plenty of familiar faces attending the game.

The Bearcats are playing all of their 2014 home games at the Cincinnati Bengals’ Paul Brown Stadium while UC’s Nippert Stadium undergoes renovation.

“Pretty much my entire family has, in some way, shape or form, already gotten tickets,” Mancz said. “I have lots of aunts and uncles on either side and they are all using their Bengals’ tickets to get tickets for Paul Brown. It’s really neat to play back home and I am looking forward to the opportunity.”

It’s an opportunity Mancz will share with a veteran offensive line, but also one they will all face with a new quarterback standing behind them.

And that last part is perfectly fine with Mancz.

“Before the season, I was asked ‘Which one do you like most?’” he said. “I said I liked all of them. They’re all quarterbacks and luckily all I have to do is snap to them. I’m excited to get back out there with both of them this week.”

Toledo kicks off against Cincinnati at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12. The game will be televised on ESPNU.

 

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