Rocket Report with Bryan B. Blair - October 2023
10/26/2023 2:06:00 PM | Athletics
It's a great time of year to be a Rocket fan!
Oct. 26, 2023
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Team Toledo,Â
Late fall just might be the very best time of year for Rocket fans! It's a time when our football team enters the heart-stopping stretch of key Mid-American Conference games that set the stage for the MAC Championship Game and bowl season. It's when our cross country, soccer and volleyball teams are all vying for conference championships. It also marks the beginning of another exciting season for our defending MAC Champion men's and women's basketball teams.Â
The excitement for our football team has never been greater. Our defending MAC Champion Rockets are once again on the verge of a historic season! For the first time since 2015, we are 7-1, one of only 24 teams amongst the 133 FBS programs with one or fewer losses. Head Coach Jason Candle's program is now receiving votes in both the Associated Press and AFCA Coaches polls. With so much to more to play for, I am excited to watch our community rally around our team for the backstretch of this season.Â
MACtion MATTERSÂ
With four critical MACtion games left on the schedule, the potential for this season is extraordinary. Our next two games are home contests on national television, and we will need the full force of #TeamToledo on display when we take on Buffalo on Tuesday, Oct. 31 and Eastern Michigan on Wednesday, Nov. 8. With ESPN programming available in over 72 million households, each MACtion game presents an incredible opportunity to show the country all that makes Toledo such an incredible place! These games create a three-hour national TV commercial for our program, the university, and this city – an opportunity for national exposure that we wouldn't otherwise be able to purchase. I encourage you to bring your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers to the games as we elevate our national brand by showing the country what Toledo is all about!Â
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THE ROCKETS ARE BOWL ELIGIBLE!
For the 14th consecutive season, the Rockets are bowl eligible! This is the eighth-longest streak in the country and second-longest among "Group of Five" schools! That's a testament to the amazing consistency of our football program! Information about our bowl destination will be announced on Sunday, Dec. 3. If you would like to be informed about ticket and travel information, please CLICKÂ HERE to fill out the form.Â
BEHIND THE HELMET: An Inside Look at Toledo Football
The latest editions of our "Behind the Helmet" documentary give an insider's view at the bonds that make a brotherhood for our players and coaches (Episode 4) and a closer look at the man behind the Rockets' success, Head Coach Jason Candle (Episode 5)!Â
A ROCKET SUCCESS STORY:Â Larry Stephens
We are proud of what our student-athletes accomplish in their sports, but we are even prouder of who they are as students and as individuals. Sophomore wide receiver Larry Stephens, who was born with a severe hearing impairment, is another example of a Rocket who is an inspiration to our community! Click HERE to read more. Â
IT'S CRUNCH TIME FOR TOLEDO FALL SPORTS!Â
Our fall sports have had impressive seasons thus far and are looking to make an impact in the post-season. Our women's and men's cross country teams head down to Wood Country to compete in the MAC Championships on Saturday, Oct. 28. Head Coach Andrea Grove-McDonough's women's squad is looking to win its third consecutive MAC title, while Assistant Head Coach Tito Medrano has his men pumped to grab their first-ever league crown!Â
Head Coach Jason Oliver's women's volleyball team is having another fine season and is currently in fourth place in the MAC standings. The top six teams advance to the MAC Tournament, which will be held on the campus of the No. 1 seed on Nov. 19-22.Â
First-year Head Coach Mark Batman has made a huge impact on our women's soccer program! He has taken a team that won just two games in 2022 and led them to seven wins on the year, putting them on the cusp of qualifying for the MAC Tournament! Â
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TOLEDO BASKETBALL ON NATIONAL TV!Â
We are just days away from the start of the basketball season for our defending MAC champions! Head Coach Tricia Cullop's women's squad, the two-time defending MAC champs, opens its home season with a pair of huge games vs. Cincinnati on Nov. 19 and #25 Michigan on Dec. 6. Tod Kowalczyk's men's team, which is seeking an incredible fourth consecutive MAC crown this season, opens with home games vs. Detroit Mercy (Nov. 6) and Louisiana (Nov. 11).
The incredible success of our men's and women's basketball programs also helps to shine the national spotlight on #TeamToledo. It was recently announced that our men's team will play four national TV games in the month of January, with more televised games likely to be added later in the season. In addition, our women's game vs. Michigan, along with a road game at Ball State on Jan. 21, will be televised on the CBS Sports Network. Â
We need Rocket Nation to come out and fill Savage Arena for these games and every game! Please order your basketball season tickets today if you haven't done so already! We led the MAC in home attendance for both programs in 2022-23, which was the first time we led the league in men's attendance in over a decade. We look to create an even greater home-court advantage in Savage Arena this year!
For basketball season tickets, CLICK HERE
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DINING WITH THE DEANS
We are excited to resume "Dining With the Deans," which provides an opportunity to bring together Rocket student-athletes, Toledo deans and other University leaders in an informal dining setting. Earlier this month, eight of our student-athletes shared a meal and exchanged ideas with Dr. Anne Balazs, Dean of the John B. and Lillian E. Neff College of Business and Innovation at Calvino's on Central Avenue. We have a fantastic business school at UT, and with nearly one-third of our student-athletes majoring in business, it was a great opportunity for conversation and connection!Â
In the past year, our student-athletes have also met with Linda Lewandowski, Dean of the College of Nursing; Christopher Cooper, Dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences; Mike Toole, the Dean of the College of Engineering; and Sammy Spann, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students. We look forward to more opportunities to engage with University leaders!Â
 ROCKET ACHIEVEMENT AWARDSÂ
About two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that NCAA schools are able to provide an additional $5,980 in educationally related benefits. Since that ruling, schools around the country have assembled various programs and requirements to deliver this new benefit to student-athletes. Today, three of our MAC colleagues are offering these benefits in various ways, while the rest of the institutions are actively searching for ways to provide this new benefit in an increasingly competitive recruiting and transfer landscape.Â
While we haven't dispersed any funding to date, we are actively seeking support for what we've named as the  "Rocket Achievement Awards", which will provide a portion of this benefit to current Rocket student-athletes who achieve pre-determined criteria, including, but not limited to, NCAA eligibility, community service hours, life skills training sessions, lack of disciplinary issues and have not chosen to transfer during the preceding year.Â
College athletics is changing in a number of ways, and we are excited about this new opportunity to reinforce positive behaviors and enhance our student-athlete experience. Â
If you are interested in learning more about the Rocket Achievement Awards and ways to support this important initiative, please visit our 1923 Society webpage or contact our Senior Associate AD for Development, Josh Dittman.Â
NAME, IMAGE, AND LIKENESSÂ
As the landscape of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) has evolved, Toledo Athletics has continued to make investments to strengthen opportunities and resources for Rocket student-athletes. Earlier this year we officially partnered with Campus Ink. The online NIL Store provides custom apparel, including jerseys, of your favorite Rocket, with student-athletes receiving a portion of the proceeds. Since the partnership launched, our department ranks in the Top 5, amongst Duke, Illinois, Purdue, and others in individual and total sales.Â
To shop the NIL Store, CLICK HERE
We've also seen several athletes engage in brand partnerships with regional and national brands such as Powerade, McDonald's, Massage Envy, Lululemon, JupMode and many more. This success represents the positive influence our young men and women have on members of this community and the fine representatives they are of the University of Toledo. The Toledo Rockets lead the MAC in total dollars sent/disclosed to athletes through the Opendorse platform. Female Student-Athletes represent 51% of the total dollars sent through Opendorse Marketplace.
We will remain thoughtful and innovative in our commitment to educating and empowering our young people as they further engage in this new climate of college athletics. I want to thank our donors and business leaders who have inquired about ways to partner. If you'd like to learn more about NIL opportunities, please visit our Liftoff Resource Center or contact our COO Nicole Alderson.
BRAGGING RIGHTS….
I'd like to recognize these fantastic accomplishments from the past month:
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Men's Golf: Barend Botha and Palmer Yenrick both shot a school-record 13-under par 203 to tie for first place at the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational on Oct. 16, leading the men's golf team to a second-place finish. |  |
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Women's Golf: Kyleigh Dull won her first collegiate tournament to help the women's golf team win the Rocket Classic at the Catawba Island Club on Oct. 10. |  |
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Women's Volleyball: Taylor Alt became the career leader in kills in Toledo women's volleyball history when she hammered home 15 kills in a 3-1 win at Akron on Oct. 20. |  |
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Men's and Women's Tennis: The Rockets held their own against some of the best players in our region at the ITA Midwest Regionals this past month. The men competed in Ann Arbor, with senior Pawit Sornlaksup advancing to the quarterfinals, while senior Cassie Alcala made it to the round of 32 in East Lansing. |   |
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Jason Candle: Congratulations to Coach Candle, who moved into second place on our all-time wins list for football coaches when he won his 59th game as head coach in a 41-24 victory over UMass on Oct. 7. |  |
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Jeff Roope: Men's Golf Coach Jeff Roope was honored by his alma mater when he was inducted into Wittenberg Hall of Honor on Oct. 5. |  |
Finally, I'd just like to say THANK YOU! Whether you buy tickets, donate to the Rocket Fund, join our 1923 Society, or support our student-athletes through mentorship/internships and NIL, you play a critical role in helping us realize our collective vision to Rise Together.
The landscape of college athletics, including the MAC, is littered with examples of teams/programs that once achieved unprecedented excellence and over time, have returned to average or even below-average performance. We're achieving a lot of success at the moment and we have the potential for so much more. That said, we have a choice moving forward: we can pat ourselves on the back and maintain status quo or we can kick our efforts into overdrive to ensure that our future is just as bright, if not brighter, than it is today. I know which option our coaches, staff and student-athletes are choosing, and I'm hopeful you too will join us on that journey to reach unprecedented heights. Â
This quote from the NFL Hall of Famer and Super Bowl champion Jimmy Johnson says it best:Â
"The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra."Â
This Community. This University. This Athletics Department.Â
Together, we will accomplish the "impossible."Â
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Go Rockets!Â
