Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Quick Hits: The Toledo Rockets
12/10/2021 6:00:00 PM | Football
Following early media availability, here’s a quick look at Toledo’s roster
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — When Middle Tennessee and Toledo kickoff a week from today at noon Eastern Time in Nassau, the unstoppable force of MT's ability to generate takeaways will meet the immovable object of Toledo's ability to prevent turnovers.
Entering the 2021 Bahamas Bowl, both teams rank first nationally in at least one category. For the Blue Raiders, their 31 takeaways top all FBS teams. For the Rockets, their six turnovers, two interceptions and four lost fumbles, are the fewest lost by any team at the FBS level.
"They're very efficient offensively," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said, noting how well Toledo controls the ball. "It's a very balanced team."
It's perhaps a team that had even greater ambitions than where they ended up. Statistically, one could make the argument that Toledo was the best team in the MAC. They had both the number one scoring offense and the number one scoring defense in the conference, after all. But close losses to eventual MAC champ Northern Illinois (22-20), Central Michigan (26-23 OT) and Eastern Michigan (52-49) left the Rockets 5-3 in conference play, and on the outside looking in come Championship Saturday.
But the 7-5 record Toledo finished the season with was polished off by a three game win streak following the loss to Eastern Michigan, including two wins on the road.
"When those things happen, you have a couple of choices as a man," Toledo head coach Jason Candle said of his team's close losses. "You can fold and go one way, or you can rally together and go a totally different direction. Our staff did a good job making sure we stayed the course, our senior leaders (did a good job) of handling and doing what they said they were going to do, leading this football team through some tough moments. I think everyone can lead out front, but it's really hard to lead in adverse times."
With 11 All-MAC selections, it's clear the coaches of the MAC respected what Candle's team put together this year. Ahead of kickoff next week, here's a position by position breakdown of the Rockets, with some highlights from Candle and Stockstill's pre-bowl press conference earlier this week.
Quarterback
Candle said that his QB room "mimicked" Middle Tennessee's a bit, in that they've played multiple quarterbacks at different points this year, and a certain one provided a spark at the right time.
That certain play is redshirt freshman Dequan Finn (#7), who's played in all 12 games for Toledo this season, but did not earn the starting job until the team's seventh game of the season against Central Michigan.
Finn, in Candle's own words, is a "guy that can beat you with his arms and legs." He has 418 yards of rushing this season with eight rushing touchdowns, with a season-high 106 rushing yards coming in a game against Ball State where he served as the change of pace option as signal caller. Since taking over starting duties, he's used his arm more, compiling 1855 yards in the air this season, with a season-high of 461 passing yards in the shootout against Eastern Michigan. Perhaps most impressive, however, is his ability to take care of the football while putting up points. Amid his 16 touchdown passes this season, Finn has only thrown one interception.
Finn's backup during the regular season, Carter Bradley, who began the year as the team's starter, entered the transfer portal after the Rockets' regular season finale against Akron. In Nassau, Finn will be backed up by freshman Tucker Gleason (#11), a transfer from Georgia Tech, who's completed 5-of-9 passes this season for 69 yards and rushed three times for four yards in three games this season.
Running Back
The first player Candle mentioned when asked by Bahamian media which players fans in the Bahamas should watch out for was running back Bryant Koback (#22), a Kentucky transfer that was named first team All-MAC last week after finishing the regular season 10th in the country in rushing with 1,274 yards, running the ball into the endzone for 15 rushing touchdowns on the season as well. His 6.71 yards per carry also put him in the top ten of all rushers in the FBS at the end of the regular season.
The Rockets clearly lean on Koback a lot in the run game. The only other player with at least 100 carries is his quarterback, Finn. Koback averages 15.8 carries per game, with a total of 190 during the season. The next closest running back has 58 carries (Micah Kelly, #3), followed by 46 (Jaquez Stuart, #21).
Koback has also flashed his pass catching ability this season. He's caught the third most passes on the team this year (29) for 333 yards and three touchdowns. He also ended the season on a tear, topping the century mark in rushing in each of his last five games. The junior is just over a 1,000 yards away from passing Kareem Hunt as the Rockets' all-time leading rusher, and just 11 touchdowns away from passing Chester Taylor as the program's all-time leader in rushing touchdowns. And behind the massive Toledo o-line, he'll be a lot to handle for the Blue Raiders.
Wideouts/Tight Ends
In another parallel with the Middle Tennessee offense, Toledo does not have one receiving threat that's head and shoulders above all others on the roster, but has a lot of depth and speed that make them difficult to handle as a unit.
Slot receiver Devin Maddox (#8) leads the team with 38 receptions and 562 yards, while outside receiver Isaiah Winstead (#14) trails close behind with 34 catches for 489 yards. Winstead's back up on the depth chart, Matt Landers (#15), is third on the team in receiving yards with 377, but all on just 16 catches, good for an average yards per catch of 23.56, with a long reception of 85 yards. Danzel McKinley-Lewis (#4) will also travel down to the Bahamas with over 200 yards receiving this season.
One thing to know for Blue Raider fans is that Toledo has size on the outside at wideout. Winstead is listed at 6-3, 210 lbs, while Landers is 6-5, 200 lbs. They'll be a challenging matchup for MT's corners on the outside.
Jamal Turner (#9) is Toledo's starting tight end and has good size at 6-6, but has been mostly a non-factor in the receiving game, failing to record a catch in seven of the team's 12 games this season, all of which he played in.
O-Line
Stockstill was very complimentary of Toledo's size up front on the offensive line, and its not hard to see why. Toledo's shortest starter on the depth chart is listed at 6-3, and their lightest starter weighs in at 290 lbs.
Nowhere is that more evident than at center, where Bryce Harris (#72) earned first team All-MAC honors while being listed at 6-3, 295 lbs. It was Harris' third All-MAC selection since he's been at Toledo, and the seventh-year senior recently became Toledo's all-time leader in games played (56) and games started (51).
Vitaliy Gurman (#78), one of two transfers from DII Edinboro in the o-line room, also earned an All-MAC nod this year, making the third team after starting all 12 games, including the final five at left tackle. He's listed at 6-4, 307 lbs. Right guard Tyler Long (#60) also got some love in post season awards, making the PFF All-MAC second team. And the awards don't even include right tackle Mitchell Berg (#68), who's listed at 6-6, 310.
All in all, it's a tough unit that's clearly helped the Rockets out this season, particularly in a run game that's proven itself to be successful.
Defensive Line
The final parallel Candle in advertently drew between his team and Middle Tennessee during media availability was on defense, where he said that Middle had a "superstar" at each level of their defense. He then went on to highlight a stud player at each level of his own defense when asked who to watch out for.
The first of these guys Candle highlighted was Desjuan Johnson (#99), who earned his second ever All-MAC second team selection this season after finishing fifth on the team with 67 tackles and second with 12 tackles for loss at outside linebacker. With good size at 6-3, 255 lbs, Johnson made his presence felt in passing situations as well, tallying 4.5 sacks and five QB hurries this season.
On the opposite side of the line, Jamal Hines (#91) earned first team All-MAC honors after leading the team in tackles for loss (14.5) and sacks (10.0), the latter of which puts him in the Top 20 in the nation in sacks this season. It was the 6-3, 250 lbs down lineman's third all-conference selection in his career.
The d-line is another unit Stockstill said he thought had good size. All four starters are listed at least 6-3, with both interior linemen listed at 290 and 310 lbs.
Linebackers
Candle's second highlighted player was linebacker Dyontae Johnson (#2), who starts at weak-side linebacker in Toledo's 2-4-5 defensive scheme. The junior earned third team All-MAC honors after compiling 76 tackles on the season, including 7.5 tackles for loss. He was named the MAC West's defensive player of the week following Toledo's 32-29 loss to Notre Dame, where he had a career-high 10 tackles, including 1.5 TFL and a QBH in South Bend, Ind.
The team's leading tackler is its other starting linebacker, Jonathan Jones (#30), a Notre Dame transfer who tallied 91 tackles this season with 9.0 TFL and 4.0 sacks on the way to All-MAC second team honors. Jones had four games this season with at least ten tackles, topping out with a career-high 14 against Ohio.
Stockstill highlighted the strength of Toledo's tackling as a team in the Bahamas Bowl presser, and that starts with these all-conference backers in the middle of the field.
Secondary
Toledo defaults to having two corners, two true safeties and a hybrid safety/nickel back in their base set on defense. The defensive backs are anchored, however, by two studs at each level of the secondary. Samuel Womack (#0) at corner and Tycen Anderson (#1) were each first team All-MAC this season at corner and safety respectively.
Womack is the Rockets' career leader in pass breakups, with 40 total in his career dating back to 2017. He's currently third in the nation with 15 pass breakups this year alone. He's got one interception this season to go with 31 tackles as well.
Anderson missed the team's first three games this season, but came on strong in the second half, playing in nine games and starting seven at free safety. He finished the year with 41 total tackles and a forced fumble. He finished the 2019 season, his last full season, with 84 tackles, including 3.5 TFLs.
On paper, Toledo is a bit undersized at corner. Womack is only 5-10, their tallest listed corner on their two-deep (Quinyon Mitchell, #27, who starts opposite Womack) is only listed at 6-0. But as a group, they've done a good job limiting opposing passing attacks. They're 17th in the nation in both passing yards allowed and passing yards per catch, supplementing Stockstill's observation they don't give up big plays all too often.
Specialists
Devin Maddox was named second team All-MAC at return specialist after averaging 9.1 yards per return on punts this season. Jaquez Stuart is the primary kick returner for the Rockets, and has a touchdown on a kickoff this year, taking one to the house against Norfolk State in the season opener.
As for the kicking and punting itself, Aussie Bailey Flint (#49) takes the long snaps on the punt team, averaging 39.96 yards per punt this season, with 21 of his 57 boots coming to rest inside the opponent's 20 yard line. Despite the low average, he has shown the ability to kick it long: he has 11 punts of 50 or more yards this season.
Placekicker Thomas Cluckey (#17) is a fairly solid college kicker, making 13 of his 21 attempts at field goals this season with a long of 50 yards, while being a perfect 49-for-49 on PATs. He hasn't attempted a field goal, however, since he missed a 48-yarder in the first quarter of Toledo's three point loss to Eastern Michigan four games ago.
Entering the 2021 Bahamas Bowl, both teams rank first nationally in at least one category. For the Blue Raiders, their 31 takeaways top all FBS teams. For the Rockets, their six turnovers, two interceptions and four lost fumbles, are the fewest lost by any team at the FBS level.
"They're very efficient offensively," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said, noting how well Toledo controls the ball. "It's a very balanced team."
It's perhaps a team that had even greater ambitions than where they ended up. Statistically, one could make the argument that Toledo was the best team in the MAC. They had both the number one scoring offense and the number one scoring defense in the conference, after all. But close losses to eventual MAC champ Northern Illinois (22-20), Central Michigan (26-23 OT) and Eastern Michigan (52-49) left the Rockets 5-3 in conference play, and on the outside looking in come Championship Saturday.
But the 7-5 record Toledo finished the season with was polished off by a three game win streak following the loss to Eastern Michigan, including two wins on the road.
"When those things happen, you have a couple of choices as a man," Toledo head coach Jason Candle said of his team's close losses. "You can fold and go one way, or you can rally together and go a totally different direction. Our staff did a good job making sure we stayed the course, our senior leaders (did a good job) of handling and doing what they said they were going to do, leading this football team through some tough moments. I think everyone can lead out front, but it's really hard to lead in adverse times."
With 11 All-MAC selections, it's clear the coaches of the MAC respected what Candle's team put together this year. Ahead of kickoff next week, here's a position by position breakdown of the Rockets, with some highlights from Candle and Stockstill's pre-bowl press conference earlier this week.
Quarterback
Candle said that his QB room "mimicked" Middle Tennessee's a bit, in that they've played multiple quarterbacks at different points this year, and a certain one provided a spark at the right time.
That certain play is redshirt freshman Dequan Finn (#7), who's played in all 12 games for Toledo this season, but did not earn the starting job until the team's seventh game of the season against Central Michigan.
Finn, in Candle's own words, is a "guy that can beat you with his arms and legs." He has 418 yards of rushing this season with eight rushing touchdowns, with a season-high 106 rushing yards coming in a game against Ball State where he served as the change of pace option as signal caller. Since taking over starting duties, he's used his arm more, compiling 1855 yards in the air this season, with a season-high of 461 passing yards in the shootout against Eastern Michigan. Perhaps most impressive, however, is his ability to take care of the football while putting up points. Amid his 16 touchdown passes this season, Finn has only thrown one interception.
Finn's backup during the regular season, Carter Bradley, who began the year as the team's starter, entered the transfer portal after the Rockets' regular season finale against Akron. In Nassau, Finn will be backed up by freshman Tucker Gleason (#11), a transfer from Georgia Tech, who's completed 5-of-9 passes this season for 69 yards and rushed three times for four yards in three games this season.
Running Back
The first player Candle mentioned when asked by Bahamian media which players fans in the Bahamas should watch out for was running back Bryant Koback (#22), a Kentucky transfer that was named first team All-MAC last week after finishing the regular season 10th in the country in rushing with 1,274 yards, running the ball into the endzone for 15 rushing touchdowns on the season as well. His 6.71 yards per carry also put him in the top ten of all rushers in the FBS at the end of the regular season.
The Rockets clearly lean on Koback a lot in the run game. The only other player with at least 100 carries is his quarterback, Finn. Koback averages 15.8 carries per game, with a total of 190 during the season. The next closest running back has 58 carries (Micah Kelly, #3), followed by 46 (Jaquez Stuart, #21).
Koback has also flashed his pass catching ability this season. He's caught the third most passes on the team this year (29) for 333 yards and three touchdowns. He also ended the season on a tear, topping the century mark in rushing in each of his last five games. The junior is just over a 1,000 yards away from passing Kareem Hunt as the Rockets' all-time leading rusher, and just 11 touchdowns away from passing Chester Taylor as the program's all-time leader in rushing touchdowns. And behind the massive Toledo o-line, he'll be a lot to handle for the Blue Raiders.
Wideouts/Tight Ends
In another parallel with the Middle Tennessee offense, Toledo does not have one receiving threat that's head and shoulders above all others on the roster, but has a lot of depth and speed that make them difficult to handle as a unit.
Slot receiver Devin Maddox (#8) leads the team with 38 receptions and 562 yards, while outside receiver Isaiah Winstead (#14) trails close behind with 34 catches for 489 yards. Winstead's back up on the depth chart, Matt Landers (#15), is third on the team in receiving yards with 377, but all on just 16 catches, good for an average yards per catch of 23.56, with a long reception of 85 yards. Danzel McKinley-Lewis (#4) will also travel down to the Bahamas with over 200 yards receiving this season.
One thing to know for Blue Raider fans is that Toledo has size on the outside at wideout. Winstead is listed at 6-3, 210 lbs, while Landers is 6-5, 200 lbs. They'll be a challenging matchup for MT's corners on the outside.
Jamal Turner (#9) is Toledo's starting tight end and has good size at 6-6, but has been mostly a non-factor in the receiving game, failing to record a catch in seven of the team's 12 games this season, all of which he played in.
O-Line
Stockstill was very complimentary of Toledo's size up front on the offensive line, and its not hard to see why. Toledo's shortest starter on the depth chart is listed at 6-3, and their lightest starter weighs in at 290 lbs.
Nowhere is that more evident than at center, where Bryce Harris (#72) earned first team All-MAC honors while being listed at 6-3, 295 lbs. It was Harris' third All-MAC selection since he's been at Toledo, and the seventh-year senior recently became Toledo's all-time leader in games played (56) and games started (51).
Vitaliy Gurman (#78), one of two transfers from DII Edinboro in the o-line room, also earned an All-MAC nod this year, making the third team after starting all 12 games, including the final five at left tackle. He's listed at 6-4, 307 lbs. Right guard Tyler Long (#60) also got some love in post season awards, making the PFF All-MAC second team. And the awards don't even include right tackle Mitchell Berg (#68), who's listed at 6-6, 310.
All in all, it's a tough unit that's clearly helped the Rockets out this season, particularly in a run game that's proven itself to be successful.
Defensive Line
The final parallel Candle in advertently drew between his team and Middle Tennessee during media availability was on defense, where he said that Middle had a "superstar" at each level of their defense. He then went on to highlight a stud player at each level of his own defense when asked who to watch out for.
The first of these guys Candle highlighted was Desjuan Johnson (#99), who earned his second ever All-MAC second team selection this season after finishing fifth on the team with 67 tackles and second with 12 tackles for loss at outside linebacker. With good size at 6-3, 255 lbs, Johnson made his presence felt in passing situations as well, tallying 4.5 sacks and five QB hurries this season.
On the opposite side of the line, Jamal Hines (#91) earned first team All-MAC honors after leading the team in tackles for loss (14.5) and sacks (10.0), the latter of which puts him in the Top 20 in the nation in sacks this season. It was the 6-3, 250 lbs down lineman's third all-conference selection in his career.
The d-line is another unit Stockstill said he thought had good size. All four starters are listed at least 6-3, with both interior linemen listed at 290 and 310 lbs.
Linebackers
Candle's second highlighted player was linebacker Dyontae Johnson (#2), who starts at weak-side linebacker in Toledo's 2-4-5 defensive scheme. The junior earned third team All-MAC honors after compiling 76 tackles on the season, including 7.5 tackles for loss. He was named the MAC West's defensive player of the week following Toledo's 32-29 loss to Notre Dame, where he had a career-high 10 tackles, including 1.5 TFL and a QBH in South Bend, Ind.
The team's leading tackler is its other starting linebacker, Jonathan Jones (#30), a Notre Dame transfer who tallied 91 tackles this season with 9.0 TFL and 4.0 sacks on the way to All-MAC second team honors. Jones had four games this season with at least ten tackles, topping out with a career-high 14 against Ohio.
Stockstill highlighted the strength of Toledo's tackling as a team in the Bahamas Bowl presser, and that starts with these all-conference backers in the middle of the field.
Secondary
Toledo defaults to having two corners, two true safeties and a hybrid safety/nickel back in their base set on defense. The defensive backs are anchored, however, by two studs at each level of the secondary. Samuel Womack (#0) at corner and Tycen Anderson (#1) were each first team All-MAC this season at corner and safety respectively.
Womack is the Rockets' career leader in pass breakups, with 40 total in his career dating back to 2017. He's currently third in the nation with 15 pass breakups this year alone. He's got one interception this season to go with 31 tackles as well.
Anderson missed the team's first three games this season, but came on strong in the second half, playing in nine games and starting seven at free safety. He finished the year with 41 total tackles and a forced fumble. He finished the 2019 season, his last full season, with 84 tackles, including 3.5 TFLs.
On paper, Toledo is a bit undersized at corner. Womack is only 5-10, their tallest listed corner on their two-deep (Quinyon Mitchell, #27, who starts opposite Womack) is only listed at 6-0. But as a group, they've done a good job limiting opposing passing attacks. They're 17th in the nation in both passing yards allowed and passing yards per catch, supplementing Stockstill's observation they don't give up big plays all too often.
Specialists
Devin Maddox was named second team All-MAC at return specialist after averaging 9.1 yards per return on punts this season. Jaquez Stuart is the primary kick returner for the Rockets, and has a touchdown on a kickoff this year, taking one to the house against Norfolk State in the season opener.
As for the kicking and punting itself, Aussie Bailey Flint (#49) takes the long snaps on the punt team, averaging 39.96 yards per punt this season, with 21 of his 57 boots coming to rest inside the opponent's 20 yard line. Despite the low average, he has shown the ability to kick it long: he has 11 punts of 50 or more yards this season.
Placekicker Thomas Cluckey (#17) is a fairly solid college kicker, making 13 of his 21 attempts at field goals this season with a long of 50 yards, while being a perfect 49-for-49 on PATs. He hasn't attempted a field goal, however, since he missed a 48-yarder in the first quarter of Toledo's three point loss to Eastern Michigan four games ago.
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