The aftermath of the win at #18 Arkansas has many saying its Toledo's best win ever. I am not sure I agree.
To be factual it was UT's first road win over a top 20 opponent. That is an amazing stat to me, and, with this programs proud history, is impressive.
With that said, I feel like other wins were more important/impressive to the program.
Off the top of my head:
- at Penn St (when Joe Pa was still mostly on top of his game)
- Purdue (1997)
- Pitt (2003)
- Marshall (2001 MAC Championship)
- at Michigan (1st and only team to win in the Big House, but against a bad Mich team)
I'm sure I'm leaving more out, including some great MAC wins.
So, what do you guys think?
Not even close...
Those 5 you listed were bigger wins for the program...
(09-13-2015 03:08 PM)Rocket_Fanatic Wrote: [ -> ]Not even close...
Those 5 you listed were bigger wins for the program...
First three words that came to my mind. Unless Ark makes it to a Big bowl,... Right now it's just a solid win. No one really knows how good they are or we are.
On the road against a #18 SEC team. I would say it may very well be the biggest win ever.
Michigan was on the road, too, but they were not ranked I don't believe. And don't minimize that win by saying they were having a down season. Look, we were in a slump, too. Toledo still went in there and won. Toledo beat Michigan. The but's don't matter.
When Pitt came into the GB weren't they ranked #11 in one pole and #9 in another?
I don't think Penn St. was ranked when we went in there, were they? That win was a mile stone, though, because it was the beginning of a new era. We could now compete with the Big Money conferences and win, and we followed it up the next year by beating down Minnesota in the Glass Bowl.
Hopefully we can follow this up now by running the table and making this a truly special season.
First signature win in awhile and definitely Coach Campbell's biggest as a UT coach.
One other thing, I though Coach's post game was one of the best post game I ever saw from a coach. At no point did he indicate this was small-against big or anything other than what it should be or even the end-all.
(09-13-2015 03:04 PM)cincyrocket Wrote: [ -> ]The aftermath of the win at #18 Arkansas has many saying its Toledo's best win ever. I am not sure I agree.
To be factual it was UT's first road win over a top 20 opponent. That is an amazing stat to me, and, with this programs proud history, is impressive.
With that said, I feel like other wins were more important/impressive to the program.
Off the top of my head:
- at Penn St (when Joe Pa was still mostly on top of his game)
- Purdue (1997)
- Pitt (2003)
- Marshall (2001 MAC Championship)
- at Michigan (1st and only team to win in the Big House, but against a bad Mich team)
I'm sure I'm leaving more out, including some great MAC wins.
So, what do you guys think?
i was thinking of those same games, although I would add the home win over minnesota. they were a lower tier big ten team, but to dominate them in front of a huge home crowd at the peak of the pinkel years was big time.
my favorite win of all time was at michigan, for the symbolism and because i was there.
biggest statement win was at penn st. again, we dominated the game, and penn st - while not great that year- was still considered one of the top 10 programs in the country. and their place was packed, 100,000 and not an empty seat.
(09-13-2015 04:29 PM)pono Wrote: [ -> ]i was thinking of those same games, although I would add the home win over minnesota. they were a lower tier big ten team, but to dominate them in front of a huge home crowd at the peak of the pinkel years was big time.
That was Stutz's first year as HC. Showed what he could do with Pinkels' players
That whole season was awesome, THREE games over 30,000 in attendance, every game over 20k, capped off with Nerd up the middle and the MCB victory.
(09-13-2015 03:04 PM)cincyrocket Wrote: [ -> ]The aftermath of the win at #18 Arkansas has many saying its Toledo's best win ever. I am not sure I agree.
To be factual it was UT's first road win over a top 20 opponent. That is an amazing stat to me, and, with this programs proud history, is impressive.
With that said, I feel like other wins were more important/impressive to the program.
Off the top of my head:
- at Penn St (when Joe Pa was still mostly on top of his game)
- Purdue (1997)
- Pitt (2003)
- Marshall (2001 MAC Championship)
- at Michigan (1st and only team to win in the Big House, but against a bad Mich team)
I'm sure I'm leaving more out, including some great MAC wins.
So, what do you guys think?
I agree with your list. Of course I might be a bit biased because I listened to the Arkansas game on radio but I was at all the other games in person except for the Penn State game which I watched live on TV. My son and daughter went to the Penn State game, unfortunately I backed out on that trip because I had some other stuff to do.
On paper, the Arkansas game should be the toughest challenge in the Rockets' 2015 schedule so if they can keep their focus, stay injury free and keep improving this has the potential to be a very, very special season in which case I may revise my opinion on the Arkansas game. I certainly hope it turns out that way, because the Arkansas game alone will probably get Matt Campbell a few offers come December----hopefully, unlike Beckman, he will at least hold out for "a good situation" like Pinkel did and no take the first big $$$$ offer that comes his way.
Unless your name is John Wooden it is almost impossible to go undefeated for an entire season which is why it is so special when does happen. It is just too difficult for a coach to get his team to show up with their A game every week as well as avoid devastating injuries---you have to be both good and be lucky to win out.
The 1997 win over Purdue you list is a good example. Purdue beat a high ranked Notre Dame team the week after losing to Toledo and kept on winning and moving up the polls carrying an undefeated Toledo along with them. The Rockets seemed to be headed toward a very special season until the wheels totally came off the wagon (injuries and IMHO also burnout) and Toledo lost 3 of their last 4 games----at Ball State, at UCF and at Marshall in the MACC game.
(09-13-2015 04:29 PM)pono Wrote: [ -> ]i was thinking of those same games, although I would add the home win over minnesota. they were a lower tier big ten team, but to dominate them in front of a huge home crowd at the peak of the pinkel years was big time.
biggest statement win was at penn st. again, we dominated the game, and penn st - while not great that year- was still considered one of the top 10 programs in the country. and their place was packed, 100,000 and not an empty seat.
The 2001 Minnesota game was another big win that was actually Tom Amstutz's debut at the Glass Bowl as UT head coach (and it was his birthday too as I recall). But at that time the team still very much bore the Pinkel trademark.
Toledo's win at Purdue in 1992 was the first of these bigger OOC wins. My cousins future husband (also a Purdue student was livid, and said, "Rest assured that will NEVER happen again!" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!! 2 more times - oops!
I believe that game started it all. The wins at Penn State and Michigan were incredibly important. Penn State started their down hill slide after that. The #9 Pitt Panthers with Larry Fitzgerald in the Glass Bowl was a huge win, and probably the most important win for the program. An OOC win against a ranked SEC team on the road is a notch that was considered very elusive, but possible. This win was huge, and great to experience first hand. The Rocket fans showed up nicely, and I think the team responded to the TOL-EDO's fan support . What is killing me is the idiots on the radio are talking about how poor Arkansas played. That is crap. Toledo played great, and totally stuffed the run. All the Razorback fans I spoke too had so much respect for Toledo's effort.
The team is gonna have to come back down to earth, because this could be a special season. Focus on next week!!
I don't think we went to a bowl game the year we beat PSU. That was the season we lost to WMU and didn't win the MAC. The Defense was incredible that year and allowed like an average of 10 pts a game (probably an exaggeration, but they were stiff). I just remember having to stay home after a great season, a win over PSU and one loss.
(09-13-2015 05:16 PM)PTLROCK Wrote: [ -> ]The team is gonna have to come back down to earth, because this could be a special season. Focus on next week!!
It is easy for the team to know that they need to put that game behind them and concentrate only on the next one but that is much easier said that done. As you point out this could be a very special season, as Arkansas was the most difficult game on the schedule but there are 10 games left and a loss at home to Iowa State would squander the opportunity that the great win at Arkansas has presented to the team.
I suspect that Kareem Hunt and Allen Covington are two players who will not be hung up on the Arkansas game and will be seriously looking at the Iowa State game as an opportunity to make up for some lost time and hopefully that attitude will be shared by the entire team. All of our games with Iowa State have been close but we need a win on Saturday to even the series at 2-2. Maybe it is wishful thinking but if the weather cooperates I would hope that the Glass Bowl would be close to being sold out Saturday after the Arkansas win and the team will put on a good show for the home crowd.
How many UT fans would you guess showed up at Little Rock? Hopefully you and all the rest who post here will give us a full report on your trip and the game.
The pre-game party had 200 reservations. We connected at the concert with 3 Rockets from Nashville that didn't buy tickets through the UT ticket office, or go to the pre-game. 200 plus, I guess. Our presence was noticed. It was a great time. We heard moments about Razorback fans saying Toledo fans were everywhere downtown the night before the game. Would love to see 2k, but this was a good showing.
All the wins over Bg come before the rest of the list starts. My parents' influence.
Prestige wise, Penn St and Michigan are better wins. Nothing like saying Toledo beat those guys, especially given the proximity. Technically, it may be neck and neck with Pitt. They're all good wins in my book.
The Penn St year we didn't go to a bowl even though we were ranked at the of the season
I would argue Michigan and Penn State (for prestige, neither was good that year), and Pitt (since they were #9 at the time) for sure. However, I might venture to add yesterday's win to this list as well. When you talk about the biggest wins, you have to consider the amount of publicity and how all that buzz is weighted between local, regional, and national markets. With social media, there is more buzz now than ever before. Arkansas was #18 and they are from the SEC, which is the hottest controversial topic around currently in college football. Arkansas was predicted by some to be a dark horse to potentially win their division. So, they were feared for sure by those that knew them. I was told this by an Auburn fan last week before the game. For this reason, there are A LOT of people talking about yesterday's game in SEC land and nationally. I caught the MAC Commish on satellite radio today being interviewed after a panel of analysts and callers were talking about latest SEC controversy, the upset by Toledo, near loss by Auburn etc. Whether you think the SEC has the strongest teams and schedules or not, they have a HUGE fan base and a rich history. Since our upset falls into the SEC cauldron that was already brewing, this win may be being discussed more often and in more heated circles than in our other wins. If Arkansas has a decent season in the SEC and we prove to be legit as well, then the win will be even more special. Only time will tell. Will this be the year Toledo cracks the code we have all been waiting for, or are Arkansas and Toledo both just middle of the pack top 30-60 teams? The voters have Toledo at number 30 in the AP currently.
I think the win in the Glass Bowl against Pitt was the best win. Penn State was pretty sweet, and I got to witness that one, as well as Pitt. But that doesn't take away from how big this win in Arkansas was. What I saw in that 1/2 non-game against Stony Brook was not the same team in Little Rock! A new O line that struggled a week ago grew up some on Saturday. Ely played well (and his numbers would have looked even better had some receivers held on to more passes). We played our 3rd & 4th string running backs. And a D that in past seasons has not only bent but broke, stiffened instead. Well done.
So, yes this was a big win...but now this Saturday is the next big win to pursue!
(09-13-2015 07:39 PM)pono Wrote: [ -> ]The Penn St year we didn't go to a bowl even though we were ranked at the of the season
Yes and because we did not go to a bowl, we fell out of the final polls taken after the bowls.
Our last hope was to get an invitation to the Silicon Valley bowl and they did send reps to our last game of the season (and Gary Pinkel's last game as a Rocket coach), that frigid (but well attended) Bowling Green night game. However, Silicon Valley ending up picking a 6-5 Arkansas team over a 10-1 Toledo team. Arkansas lost and closed its season 6-6.
Hmmmmm----maybe there was a little karma at work in Little Rock yesterday.