2017 mac football championship game
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I stayed as long as I could, then hopped in my car and quickly speeded for Ford Field, arriving a few minutes before the news conference began. He said he would watch it and root for the Rockets, if he was able. Sports had always been a bond for us so it was natural that we talked about the Rockets' game the next day.
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All they could do was to make him as comfortable as possible in his final days. I told him I would come up to see him in the hospital on Friday, right before the MAC Championship Game pre-game news conference at Ford Field.ĭuring that visit, I learned from the doctors that Ted's cancer was inoperable. The eventual diagnosis was as grim as it was shocking: pancreatic cancer.
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Earlier that week, I had received a call letting me know that my older brother Ted had been rushed to a hospital near his home in Detroit with severe stomach pains. I actually recall that pregame news conference very well because I almost missed it. We know they're going to be ready to go." "We're both totally different teams from five weeks ago.
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"That game has no bearing on what's going to happen tomorrow," said Woodside at the news conference at Ford Field the day before the game. Woodside and his teammates were not about to fall for that trap. The Rockets had defeated Akron in the regular season, 48-21, so there were some suggestions that Toledo had its long-awaited league title in the bag. Needing a victory in their final game of the season, Toledo smashed Western Michigan, 37-10, to earn a matchup with the East Division champion Akron Zips. Their lone stumble was a 38-10 loss at Ohio. Woodside and the Rockets were never seriously challenged in league play in 2017. All Woodside needed to cap his brilliant career was a championship ring. That may have helped him in the long run, however, as he put up gigantic numbers in 2016, setting school records for passing yards (4,129), touchdown passes (45) and passing efficiency (183.9). However, he was beat out for the starting QB job in 2015 by Ely, and watched that entire season from the sidelines as a mid-career redshirt. Woodside really blossomed in his sophomore season, throwing for 2,263 yards and 19 touchdowns, and leading the Rockets to a 63-44 win over Arkansas State in the GoDaddy Bowl. He was pressed into duty as a freshman in 2013 due to an injury to starting QB Terrance Owens, and then again as a sophomore in 2014 when Phillip Ely went down. Logan Woodside had a spectacular, if unorthodox, collegiate career. But Head Coach Jason Candle had something going in his favor that some of those previous Rocket squads did not – the best quarterback in the Mid-American Conference. So when the Rockets were picked to win the MAC once again in 2017, you could forgive their fans if they were a little reluctant to make their reservations for Detroit. In five of those years (2005, 2011, 2014, 20) Toledo came within a game – and sometimes within a play – of representing the West Division in the MAC Championship Game. I think the reason is because of how close their team had come to making it to the MAC title game in the years from 2005 to 2016. That was before I was born so you could say that feels like forever.īut for Rocket Football fans, 13 years did seem like a long time. It's been 63 years since my other losing Detroit sports franchise, the Lions, won an NFL championship. It's been 36 years since my Detroit Tigers last won a World Series. In some ways, 13 years does not seem so long. For Toledo football fans in 2017, that was how long it had been since their team had won a MAC Championship. Time is always relative, so the question of whether 13 years is a long time depends on your point of view. 7 on the list is the Rockets' 45-28 victory over Akron at the 2017 MAC Championship Game. 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. Trevon Mathis, Head Coach Jason Candle, Logan Woodside and the Rockets celebrate their 2017 MAC Championship victory. Rocket Blog: My 12 All-Time Favorite Rocket Football Victories