The 1969 Toledo Rockets football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team that represented the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of T ...

in the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

(MAC) during the

1969 NCAA University Division football season The 1969 NCAA University Division football season was celebrated as the centennial of college football (the first season being the one in 1869). During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the major college football teams, later known a ...

. In their seventh season under head coach

Frank Lauterbur Francis Xavier Lauterbur (August 8, 1925 – November 20, 2013) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Toledo from 1963 to 1970 and at the University of Iowa from 1971 to 1973, compiling a care ...

, the Rockets compiled an 11–0 record (5–0 against MAC opponents), outscored all opponents by a combined total of 385 to 160, and won the MAC championship. The season began with a 45–18 victory over Villanova and concluded with a 56–33 victory over

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

champion

Davidson Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA * ...

in the

1969 Tangerine Bowl The 1969 Tangerine Bowl was held on December 26, 1969, at the Tangerine Bowl stadium in Orlando, Florida. The Toledo Rockets of the Mid-American Conference defeated the Davidson Wildcats of the Southern Conference by a score of 56–33. The Tange ...

. The Rockets were ranked No. 20 in the final

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

taken before bowl games. The defense led the way for the 1969 team, allowing only eight rushing touchdowns and intercepting 22 passes in eleven games. The 1969 season marked the beginning of a 35-game winning streak that consisted of three consecutive seasons from 1969 through 1971. During the streak, Toledo won three consecutive MAC championships and three consecutive bowl games, led the nation in total defense all three years, and outscored opponents by a combined total of 1,152 to 344. It remains the second longest winning streak in modern Division I-A college football history behind

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

's 47-game streak in the 1950s. Cornerback Curtis Johnson, who intercepted seven passes in 1969, received first-team All-America honors from the

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and second-team honors from the

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. Eight Toledo players received first-team All-MAC honors: Curtis Johnson, quarterback

Chuck Ealey Charles "Chuck" Ealey (born January 6, 1950) is a former American Canadian football player for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. He became the first black quarterback to win the ...

, tailback Tony Harris, defensive tackles

Mel Long Mel Long (born November 22, 1946) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at Toledo and high school football for Macomber. In 1998, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. The 6-1, 230-pound Long p ...

and Jim Rance, defensive end Jim Tyler, linebacker John Niezgoda, and placekicker Ken Krots. Chuck Ealey was named MAC Back of the Year, and Frank Lauterbur was named MAC Coach of the Year. Ken Crots, who converted six of 18 field goal attempts, won the Jim Nicholson Award as the player contributing the most to the team's success. The team captains were Curtis Johnson, Dave Penn, and Jim Rance. The team's statistical leaders included Chuck Ealey with 1,428 passing yards, Tony Harris with 889 rushing yards (including 217 in the season opener against Villanova), Don Fair with 469 receiving yards, Charles Cole with 78 points scored, and John Niezgoda with 201 tackles. The Rockets played their home game in the

Glass Bowl The Glass Bowl is a stadium in Toledo, Ohio. It is primarily used for American football, and is the home field of the American football team of the University of Toledo Rockets. It is located on the school's Bancroft campus, just south of the ba ...

. The attendance at five home games was 75,282, an average of 15,056 per game.

Schedule

After the season

NFL Draft

The following Rockets were selected in the

1970 NFL Draft The 1970 National Football League Draft was the 35th National Football League Draft and the first of the league's modern era, following the merger of the National Football League with the American Football League. It was held on January 27–28, 1 ...

following the season.

References

{{Mid-American Conference football champions

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Orur ...

Toledo Rockets football seasons Mid-American Conference football champion seasons Citrus Bowl champion seasons College football undefeated seasons

Toledo Rockets football The Toledo Rockets football team is a college football program in Division I FBS, representing the University of Toledo. The Rockets compete in the Mid-American Conference. Toledo began playing football in 1917, although it did not field teams in ...