University of Toledo Associate Athletic Director for Communications Paul Helgren shares his 12 favorite Rocket Football victories since 1998, the year he began working with Toledo Football. No. 4 on his list is the Rockets' 35-27 victory over Miami in the 2004 MAC Championship Game. This story was originally written for a game program in 2014 on the 10th anniversary of the game.
Toledo 35, Miami 27 (Dec. 2, 2004 – MAC Championship Game)
Most Rocket fans will recall that Bruce Gradkowski played the second half of the 2004 MAC Championship Game with a broken bone in his right (throwing) hand. But what few people know is that Toledo's junior signal-caller endured not one but two painful injuries that day.
The Rockets had high hopes in 2004 but got creamed in their first two games by Minnesota and Kansas, allowing 63 points in both contests. Nevertheless, the Rockets rallied, losing just one more game the rest of the way, a mid-season defeat vs. defending MAC champion Miami in Oxford. Toledo would face that same Miami squad in a rematch at the 2004 MAC Championship Game, the first ever to be played at Detroit's Ford Field.
Telling the story are Gradkowski, former UT head coach Tom Amstutz and team doctor Roger Kruse.
Gradkowski: We got pounded the first two games of the season. Your confidence does get shaken a bit when you lose that badly. I went out to breakfast with (teammates) Lance (Moore) and Trinity (Dawson) the day after the Kansas loss, and I joked, "Guys, I'm a little embarrassed to be wearing my Toledo gear in public." But we had a good team and we persevered through tough times. We were down to Bowling Green 27-7 in the final regular-season game of the year and rallied to win that game to earn a spot in the MAC Championship Game. So even though we lost at Miami earlier in the season, we were a confident team. We felt we could beat those guys.
Amstutz: We had a very good team that year, obviously, lots of great leaders on offense and defense. We felt good about playing Miami again in the championship game. It's hard to beat a team twice and from what we saw in the first game we felt we were better than them.
The game got off to a bad start for the Rockets and even worse for Gradkowski. On the fourth play of Toledo's first possession, Gradkowski ran for four yards, but dislocated his left shoulder.
Gradkowski: Someone just hit my arm funny as I got tackled and my shoulder popped out of place. That never happened to me before. After the play I said to Lance. "Hey, can you pop my shoulder back in?" He couldn't, so I had to call a timeout and get off the field.
Amstutz: I was concerned because it wasn't like Bruce to call a timeout like that. I figured he must really be hurt. Roger worked on his shoulder and Bruce said he was good to go so we put him back out there.
Lance Moore hauling in one of his three TD receptions in the
2004 MAC Championship Game.
Gradkowski: Dr. Kruse laid me down on the ground. I remember feeling a little sick to my stomach when he popped my shoulder back into place. It felt better right away, but it felt a little loose, like it would pop out if I got hit again. But I was fine to play. I think I only missed two or three plays. There was no way I was going to stay on the sidelines for that game.
Kruse: Bruce's shoulder popped back in very easily. I remember him moving the shoulder around and saying, "Doc, I can play." I said, hold on, wait a minute. We had to see if he had strength in the shoulder. That's something we check with just about any injury. We did a couple of tests and his strength was fine so we cleared him to go back in.
Gradkowski returned and threw a touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Steve Odom to give Toledo a 7-0 lead. But Miami answered with touchdowns on its next two possessions to take a 14-7 lead late in the first quarter. That's when things went from bad to worse for UT. Midway through the second quarter, Gradkowski completed a short pass to Odom, setting up a fourth-and-1 on UT's own 42-yard line. But on his follow-through, Gradkowski's right hand slammed into the helmet of an offense lineman.
Gradkowski: I looked down and my ring finger was on top of my middle finger. We called timeout to go for it on fourth down but I didn't say anything about my hand at that time.
Gradkowski handed off to running back Scooter McDougle, who ran for seven yards and a first down. McDougle ran two more times before the Rockets called a passing play. Gradkowski delivered a poorly thrown pass that was easily picked off by the Red Hawks.
Gradkowski: When I let go of the ball I heard a cracking sound in my hand. I looked down at my hand and now it looked kind of normal. My ring finger was back in place. I thought, "That's weird." But it hurt pretty bad and I couldn't grip the football.
Kruse: Bruce came to the sidelines and said, "Doc, I hurt my hand." I told him to make a fist to see if everything was aligned, which is an easy way to see if there is a break. He did and I could see that one finger was out of alignment. I said, "Bruce, you just broke your hand." He couldn't believe it so I said, "Trust me, you just broke your hand." He said, "Man! I am not having a good day!" Only he didn't say "man" (laughs). He covered his mouth with his jersey when he said it because I think he didn't want anyone hearing him swear.
Amstutz: All I knew was that Bruce was hurt, and I knew it was his throwing hand. I was already having conversations with (offensive coordinator) Rob Spence about how to simplify the game plan for (backup QB) Marques Council.
With Gradkowski now in the locker room getting x-rays, the Rockets struggled. Council looked rattled. He fumbled the first exchange with the center, had a delay of game penalty, then almost threw an interception deep in Toledo territory. Halftime came just in time, with the Rockets trailing, 14-7. Meanwhile, x-rays revealed a fracture in the third metacarpal of Gradkowski's right hand.
Kruse: Bruce's right hand had a fracture but it wasn't affecting any of the joints in his fingers. He really wanted to play, so we numbed the fracture site a bit and put a padded splint on it. I told him if he could throw without pain, he could play. I was confident that playing would not cause any further damage to his hand.
Amstutz: I talked with Roger in the locker room. He said, "I think Bruce's hand is broken, but he wants to play." They wrapped his hand up pretty tightly and Roger said he should be able to hand the ball off, maybe try some limited throwing. Still, I wasn't sure if he would play in the second half.
Gradkowski: Dr. Kruse did a great job on my hand. I really couldn't feel much pain. I threw a couple of balls in the tunnel. It felt okay. We adjusted the splint so I could grip the football just enough to throw it. I couldn't grip it tight enough to really throw it hard, but I figured I could loft it up deep on play-action.
The Rockets, returned to the field at the start of the second half but their No.1 quarterback was not with them. He was still in the tunnel, getting last-minute adjustments to the splint. As Toledo kicked off to start the second half with no sign of Gradkowski on the sideline, Rocket fans surely assumed they would be playing the second half without their star signal-caller. Just then, Gradkowski emerged from the tunnel and quickly jogged to the Toledo sidelines, Midnight Blue and Gold fans cheering as he passed. Moments later, another cheer went up as the Rocket defense stopped the Redhawks on third-and-2. Miami punted the ball and the Rockets took over. But who would line up behind center? Toledo fans erupted one more time when No. 7 trotted onto the field. Though Amstutz planned to use Gradkowski mostly as a decoy, he decided to find out right away if his quarterback could throw the ball. On his first play back, Gradkowski completed a 22-yard strike to tight end Chris Holmes. Soon, the Rocket offense was rolling, scoring touchdowns on four consecutive possessions.
Gradkowski: I couldn't really grip the ball tightly but I could hold it well enough to loft it downfield. The plan was to run the ball as much as possible and throw off play-action. We had a dominating offensive line and Scooter McDougle was running great that day. It just all came together.
Amstutz: Once Bruce got back in the game, we didn't think about his hand too much. From then on, we were focused on winning the game.
Gradkowski would go on to complete 9-of-11 passes in the second half with three touchdown passes, earning MVP honors in the 35-27 victory.
Gradkowski: The second half was just a blur. The defense played great. We got a pick six from (safety) Keon Jackson. I was able to throw just good enough and Scooter was unstoppable.
Amstutz: That was the most amazing performance of leadership I ever witnessed as a coach. His leadership spread throughout the team. I heard defensive players talking about it, saying, "If Bruce is out there playing with a broken hand, then we need to fight even harder." He definitely inspired the team.
Bruce Gradkowski celebrates with his family.
After the game, Gradkowski celebrated with his team, posing for photos, first with his teammates, then with his family. In the photos, you can see the splint on his right hand, the black tape on it starting to fray.
Gradkowski: What an amazing feeling. We had just won the MAC Championship and I had no idea how I was able to do that. I just took a deep breath and thanked God for giving me the strength to get through that.
Kruse: Talk about a tough kid. In all my years, that's the toughest situation I've ever seen a player endure. And to come through and throw three touchdown passes? Just an amazing performance.
Amstutz: It just tells the story of Bruce and how much of himself he gave to the game. That's just the kind of player he was.
Paul Helgren's All-Time Favorite Rocket Victories
4. Toledo 35, Miami 27 (Dec. 2, 2004 - MAC Championship Game)
5. Toledo 35, Pittsburgh 31 (Sept. 20, 2003)
6. Toledo 49, Bowling Green 41 (Nov. 23, 2004)
7. Toledo 45, Akron 28 (Dec. 2, 2017 - MAC Championship Game)
8. Toledo 16, Arkansas 12 (Sept. 12, 2015)
9. Toledo 33, Northern Illinois 30 (Nov. 23, 2002)
10. Toledo 42, Air Force 41 (Dec. 29, 2011 – Military Bowl)
11. Toledo 44, Bowling Green 41 (2OT) (Nov. 22, 2005)
12. Toledo 32, Temple 17 (Dec. 22, 2015 - Marmot Boca Raton Bowl)
