When Logan Woodside first arrived on the campus of the University of Toledo, he figured he would have to be patient. With senior Terrance Owens calling the signals and Alabama transfer Phillip Ely waiting in the wings, Woodside assumed he would be redshirted, and possibly wait in the wings for another year after that before he had his chance to become a starter.
He was wrong. But then he was right.
Nearly five years down the line, Woodside's career didn't go exactly as he planned. But as he and the Rockets (10-2, 7-1 MAC) prepare to play Akron in the 2017 MAC Championship Game next Saturday, he wouldn't change a thing.
"It's been the best five years of my life," said Woodside, who graduated last spring and his currently working on his master's degree. "I've met some of my best friends here. When you're a freshman, you want time to move fast. When you're a fifth-year senior, it's like, where'd all the time go?"
Rocket fans are probably wishing time would stand still and Woodside could be their quarterback forever. He has set virtually every Toledo passing record in the books, including the most passing yards in a season (4,129 in 2016) and in a career (10,083 going into Saturday's MAC Championship game), most touchdown passes in a season (45 in 2016) and career (89), and many others. He has led Toledo to 28 victories as the starting quarterback, second only the legendary Chuck Ealey's 35 wins from 1969-71. But the numbers hardly tell Woodside's story.
Woodside did not redshirt as a freshman (that came later). Injuries to Owens in 2013 forced him into the lineup for four games. A year later, Ely won the starting position but an early-season injury put Woodside in the lineup. Under Woodside's leadership, UT went 9-4 with a bowl victory. Only a 27-24 loss at Northern Illinois kept the Rockets out of the MAC Championship Game. Everything seemed to be going Woodside's way. Until it wasn't.
The following season, Ely beat him out for the starting position for the second straight time, leading Toledo to a 10-2 season. Woodside sat out the entire season, using the redshirt year he thought would come in his freshman season. He has called that season the most difficult of his life.
"Being told that I wasn't good enough for the second straight year was difficult," said Woodside. "But it motivated me and made me become a better player. I'm grateful now for the opportunity to have the extra year. I believed in my coaches and I knew they would put me in the best situation possible. I trusted in them and it all worked out."
Since Woodside took over as the starter last year, it is hard to argue that there has ever been a more prolific passer to wear the Midnight Blue and Gold. He was a first-team All-MAC selection last year and undoubtedly will be again this season. He has been named a contender for the Heisman Trophy in each of the past two seasons. It wasn't the typical college football hero's journey, true, but Woodside certainly made it a memorable one. And now, as the curtain is about to close on one of the all-time great Rockets for the last time, there is little doubt that Woodside has left his mark on the program.
"I hope people will remember the legacy I've left here," Woodside said. "I gave it everything I had. I left it all out on the field."
- Paul Helgren, Associate Athletic Director for Communications
