TOLEDO, Ohio — MAC Football is back and the Rockets can't wait!

The University of Toledo held its first restricted contact practice of the fall on Monday, the start of the ramp up leading to the Mid-American Conference season that begins on Wednesday, Nov. 4. The six-game conference-only season will culminate with the MAC Championship Game at Ford Field in Detroit on Friday, Dec. 18 or Saturday, Dec. 19. Schedules for all 12 MAC schools will be announced at a later date.

"We're excited for the opportunity to get back out on that football field and give our players a chance to do what they love to do," Head Coach Jason Candle said on Monday. "A lot of work went into making these decisions to get the ball rolling, so thank you to our conference, administration, and our athletic training staff for helping make this opportunity possible."

The MAC originally announced on Aug. 8 that all fall sports would be postponed until the spring, but recent improvements to COVID-19 testing and player safety helped the push towards a reversal that allowed fall football to return. That official announcement was made last Friday.

"It's been a real challenge to wake up every day and not have clarity as to what's going to happen," Candle added. "It's been a roller coaster for everybody, certainly for our guys as they try to navigate football and school and everything else. We tried to stay the course as much as we could and get our work in and hope that everything would work out in our favor, and I think it did."

The conference will implement a COVID-19 testing program requiring four antigen tests per week with all positive tests needing confirmation with a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. Any student-athlete with a positive test will enter a cardiac screening protocol. The MAC's approved COVID-19 testing protocols, including four tests per week, will begin Monday, Oct. 5.

The MAC is establishing criteria relative to contest interruptions/cancelations, monitoring and reporting of test results as well as other COVID-19 regulations consistent with the NCAA resocialization guidelines. The return of football contests is subject to national, state and local health guidelines.

The Rocket players were eager to return to the playing field and excited about the resumption of competition for the fall.

"It put a smile on our face," said senior offensive lineman Bryce Harris. "There were a lot of up-and-downs for a while, we didn't know what was going to happen. So when we found out we were going to be able to play we were excited."

While it has been an extra-long offseason for Toledo, it has afforded the team with extra time to prepare for the first game of the season.

"We've had a lot more time than we normally would to prepare as a team," senior punter Bailey Flint said. "Our team has a lot of faith in our coaching staff and Coach Candle does a great job of putting us in a position to play our best."


Head Coach Jason Candle press conference.


Senior Bryce Harris press conference.


Senior Bailey Flint press conference.