Rocket History Pages 129-160 History of Champions/Timeline
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Rocket History Pages 129-160 History of Champions/Timeline .....................................130-132 35 In A Row! ......................................................................... 133 History of the Glass Bowl .............................................134-136 Rocket All-Americans ........................................................... 137 Rocket All-MAC Performers .........................................138-140 Postseason Honors ................................................................ 141 Academic Honors .................................................................. 142 Letterwinners .................................................................143-147 Team Awards ..................................................................148-149 Team Captains ....................................................................... 150 All-Time Coaching Greats .................................................... 151 Assistant Coaches All-Time List ....................................152-154 Rockets In The Pros/NFL Draft .....................................155-158 Toledo’s Bowl Appearances ...........................................159-160 The first football team at the University of Toledo (1917). HISTORY 129 A Championship Legacy Steeped in tradition, honors for an unprecedented the University of Toledo three consecutive years football program has pro- and numerous All-America duced countless memo- honors from AP, UPI and rable players and great Football News magazine. moments in its history. Ealey also became the first From Mel Triplett in player in MAC history to re- the 50’s to Chuck Ealey in ceive votes for the Heisman the 70’s to Chester Taylor Trophy, receiving receiving and Bruce Gradkowski in 168 points for an eighth- the 21st century, Rocket place finish in 1971. stars have put their unique Chuck Ealey scrambled his way to 35 straight victories as Toledo won its fifth and stamp on college football the Rockets’ quarterback from 1969-71. sixth MAC championships in history. And whether it 1981 and 1984, but it was in was the legendary 35- the 1990’s and 21st century game winning streak from 1969-71, or the GMAC Bowl that the Rockets really took off as a national presence. victory in 2005, Toledo’s football history is rich with A major renovation of the Glass Bowl was completed highlights. in 1990, making the venerable old stadium one of the Rocket football dates back to 1917 when a group of jewels of the MAC. The Rockets were coached in the Toledo University (as it was known then) students put 90’s by Gary Pinkel, who amassed a 73-37-3 record be- together a football team with the help of a young profes- fore departing for Missouri following the 2000 season. sor, John Brandeberry. Toledo lost its first game to the Pinkel’s teams won or shared four titles and cracked the University of Detroit by the incredible score of 145-0, but top 25 three times in his final six seasons. the foundation of the program had been established. Taking the Rockets to even greater heights was Tom Prospects for Toledo gradually improved after that Amstutz, a Toledo native and UT graduate who had spent first season. Coach James Dwyer led Toledo to its first 21 years as an assistant coach. Amstutz led the Rockets winning record and its first Northwest Ohio league cham- to two MAC titles, four division crowns and four bowl pionship in 1923. Eventually Toledo became a reliable games in eight years at the helm. football power, with just one losing season from 1933 In 2008, UT hired a new head coach, Tim Beckman, to 1948. who has the Rockets poised to return to their position Toledo joined the Mid-American Conference in at the top of the MAC and among the nation’s finest football in 1952 and won its first MAC championship in programs. 1967, but the Rockets really jumped onto the national map two years after that. From 1969-71, Toledo captured the country’s eye Toledo’s Championship Seasons by winning 35 consecutive games, Year Record Championship three straight MAC championships 1923 6-4 NWO Champions 1927 5-2 NWO Champions and three straight Tangerine Bowl 1929 4-2-1 NWO Co-Champions titles. In each of the three unde- 1967 9-1 MAC Co-Champions feated seasons, Toledo was ranked 1969 11-0 MAC Champions 1970 12-0 MAC Champions in the top 20. 1971 12-0 MAC Champions The 35-game winning streak 1981 9-3 MAC Champions ended as the second-longest in 1984 9-2-1 MAC Champions major college football history, 1990 9-2 MAC Co-Champions 1995 11-0-1 MAC Champions bettered only by a 47-game string 1997 9-3 MAC West Champions put together by the great Oklahoma 1998 7-5 MAC West Champions teams of 1953-57. 2000 10-1 MAC West Co-Champions 2001 10-2 MAC Champions The most famous star of the 2002 9-5 MAC West Co-Champions The Rockets celebrate their 2004 1969-71 teams was the legendary 2004 9-4 MAC Champions MAC Championship Game quarterback Chuck Ealey. Ealey 2005 9-3 MAC West Co-Champions victory. earned MAC “Back of the Year” 130 HISTORY Rocket Football Timeline 1917 vised by WSPD-TV13 (now • John Brandeberry, an en- WTVG). gineering professor, is “se- lected” coach when he begins 1952 conversing with some stu- • Toledo plays its first season dents on the gravel field near in the Mid-American Confer- the 11th Street UT campus. ence, which at the time also Team member Charles Mor- includes Cincinnati, Miami, gan later says, “Nobody else Ohio, Bowling Green, Kent, wanted the job.” Each of the Western Michigan and West- team’s 13 members purchases ern Reserve. his own uniform. The team has no practice scrimmages 1953 prior to playing the first game • The cannon is fired off at in school history, a contest home games following Toledo at powerful Detroit. UT not scores for the first time. only loses the game, 145-0, it loses four players to injury. 1961 But the program is sustained • A U.S. army Nike-Ajax by the whopping $150 guar- missile is first installed in antee it receives for playing Frank Lauterbur (with ball) and his coaching staff from 1970. the north end zone. Later it the game. Toledo finishes the is moved to just outside the season 0-3, outscored 262-0 stadium. by its opponents. 1933 1967 1918 • Jerry Welling, a halfback, is the first • Toledo wins its first MAC title. After a • The first win in school history comes over Rocket voted All-Ohio (by AP). He leads season-opening loss to Ohio, the Rockets Defiance, 19-12. UT finishes the season Ohio college scorers with 66 points. reel off nine straight wins. with a 1-1 record. 1934 1969 1920s • The first night game is played, a 20-0 vic- • A 45-18 win over Villanova marks the • The Blade newspaper refers to the team as tory over Capital, at Swayne Field. beginning of Toledo’s famed 35-game win- “Munies,” short for Municipal University, ning streak, second only in NCAA history and also as the “Fighters.” 1935 to Oklahoma’s 49 straight. • A Toledo game is broadcast on radio for • The Rockets win their second MAC title 1922 the first time as the Rockets defeat Den- and end an 11-0 season by defeating David- • The first football field, usually refered nison, 13-0. son, 56-33, in the Tangerine Bowl. to as University Stadium, is built at Scott Park. Seating, consisting of seven rows • Toledo defeats Bowling Green, 63-0. 1970 of wooden bleachers, is added in 1923. BGSU drops UT from its schedule until • Toledo thrashes William and Mary, 40-12, From 1918-1936 games are also played at the 1948 season. in the Tangerine Bowl, finishes 12-0 and is Armory Park, and Waite, Scott, Libbey and ranked 12th in the final AP poll. St. John’s high schools. 1936 • Glass Bowl Stadium (then called “Univer- 1971 1923 sity Stadium”) is built on the present-day • Mel Long becomes the first consensus • Toledo acquires its current nickname UT campus. A Works Progress Administra- All-American in MAC history. Long later following a game with powerful Carnegie tion project, it is paid for with a $272,000 plays with the Cleveland Browns. Tech. Surprised to learn that Toledo has no grant from the federal government and • The Rockets win a third-consecutive MAC nickname, Pittsburgh sports writers pres- $41,558 from the city of Toledo and the title and their fourth in five years. sure James Neal, a UT student working in university. • Toledo is 12-0 and ranked 14th in the the press box, to come up with one. Neal, final AP poll following a 28-3 victory over impressed with his team’s flashy perfor- 1937 Richmond in the Tangerine Bowl. mance against a superior Carnegie Tech • The Glass Bowl debuts in a game versus • Rocket quarterback Chuck Ealey is named team, labels UT the “Skyrockets,” which Akron. MAC Player of the Year for the third time, the writers shorten to “Rockets.” and finishes eighth in the Heisman Trophy • Toledo wins its first football champion- 1938 balloting. ship (Northwest Ohio Conference), also • Players use the towers in the Glass Bowl the school’s first in any sport. as living quarters. 1974 • Jim Pierce is the first African-American • UT hosts and defeats 12th-ranked Mar- • Astroturf is installed in the Glass Bowl team captain, and becomes a professor shall, 13-7, in front of 9,500 fans. for the first time. upon graduation. 1943 1975 1929 • With the country at war, football is sus- • Quarterback Gene Swick becomes the • The UT marching band, 30 members pended from 1943-45. first player in NCAA history to reach 8,000 strong, appears for the first time at a home yards in career total offense. Swick leads football game. 1946 the nation in total offense and finishes 10th • The football annual budget grows to • After lying dormant for almost four sea- in voting for the Heisman Trophy. $2,000. sons, University Stadium is renovated and renamed “Glass Bowl.” Lights are installed 1980 1931 for the stadium’s first night games.