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. 10 on the list is the Rockets' 42-41 win over Air Force in the 2011 Military Bowl.
 
Toledo 42, Air Force 41 (Dec. 28, 2011 – Military Bowl)
Watch Air Force attempt a two-point conversion with 52 seconds left
 
A lot of crazy things happened to the Toledo Rockets during the 2011 season, so its wild victory over Air Force in the Military Bowl was a fitting climax.
 
Before we get to that, let's recap the regular-season insanity first. The 2011 season was Year 3 of Head Coach Tim Beckman's brief three-year reign in Toledo, and Beckman had put together an outstanding team. The Rockets should have beaten a rebuilding Ohio State team in Columbus in Week 2, but their final drive ended at the 16-yard line in a 27-22 loss. A trio of head-scratching illegal formation calls on Rocket punts led to two Buckeye touchdowns and cost Toledo the upset. By 2011 standards of wackiness, however, this was child's play.
 
Two weeks later, the Rockets lost at Syracuse in overtime, 33-30. Or did they? Replays showed that Syracuse actually missed the extra point that put the Orange up, 30-27, with two minutes left, so Ryan Casano's 20-yard field goal with no time left in regulation should have been the game-winner. In case you're wondering, there was instant replay in 2011, but for some reason a missed extra point could not be detected (on a personal note, I got my own private revenge at Halloween. My son and his two friends dressed up as three "blind" football referees, complete with Stevie Wonder sunglasses and canes. My son allowed me to put the finishing touch on his costume – a sign on his back that read "Big East Replay Official").
 
A showdown with Northern Illinois late in the season ended with a devastating 63-60 Toledo loss. NIU's Tommylee Lewis set the tone for the evening with a touchdown on the opening kickoff…then did it again on Northern's second kickoff return! Fourteen touchdowns later, the Huskies scored the game-winner with just 19 seconds left. The Rockets then moved to NIU's 40-yard line but ran out of time; frustrated Toledo fans noted that UT actually ended the game with a pair of timeouts still left on the scoreboard.
 
A week later, Toledo turned the tables, this time defeating Western Michigan 66-63. Thus, Toledo became the answer to the following trivia question: what college football team, in consecutive weeks, scored 60 points and lost, and then gave up 63 points and won?
 
Fortunately, the hard-luck Rockets were rewarded with a trip to the Military Bowl in Washington D.C. to face Air Force. They would have to do it without Beckman however, who accepted a position at Illinois at the end of the regular season. Offensive coordinator Matt Campbell stepped in as head coach, at age 32 becoming the youngest head coach in the NCAA-FBS. Though he now sat in the big chair, Campbell decided to keep his coordinator's seat up in the press box for the bowl game.
 
Campbell witnessed one amazing game from his perch. Toledo had a superstar, junior wide receiver/kick returner Eric Page, who came through with 13 receptions and an 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. But it was sophomore Bernard Reedy who stole the show. Reedy caught three TD passes that night, the final one a 33-yarder from sophomore quarterback Terrance Owens that put the Rockets up, 42-35. Reedy was later named the game's Most Valuable Player.
 
Air Force had a great offense, and the Rockets had a hard time solving it. The Falcons ran the ball a lot, of course, but actually hurt Toledo just as much through the air. A 33-yard touchdown reception to a wide-open Zack Kauth with 52 seconds left put Air Force to within an extra point of sending the game into overtime.
 
The Falcons lined up for the kick, but holder David Baska took the snap and rolled to his left. He was hit by Rocket defensive end Jayrone Elliott just as he pitched the football to kicker Par Herrington. The pitch ended up at Herrington's feet, and he proceeded to inadvertently boot the ball into the end zone and out of bounds. While the Rockets celebrated, an Air Force player pounded his helmet into the ground in frustration, an image that was replayed endlessly on ESPN and on local TV stations throughout the country for the next 24 hours.
 
As the clock ran down to 0:00, the Rockets celebrated their 42-41 victory with the emotion of a team that knew it deserved better than the 2011 season had given them. The victory was vindication for the season's frustrating losses, and other challenges too. Injuries, a bugaboo all year long, nearly derailed the Rockets' hope for a bowl victory. Three key defensive players went down early in the contest (including two linemen on the same play!), but in the end, it didn't matter. This time, there were no curious penalties, no phantom extra points, no wasted timeouts. This time, it seemed, fate was finally on the Rockets' side.
 
It was a perfectly wild ending to a perfectly unpredictable year.
 
Paul Helgren's All-Time Favorite Rocket Victories
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)