The 1970 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

1970 NCAA University Division football season The 1970 NCAA University Division football season was marked by tragedy, due to two airplane crashes. On October 2, one of the planes carrying the Wichita State football team crashed on the way to a game against Utah State, killing 31 people on ...

. In their eighth and final 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 a 12–0 record, outscored all opponents by a combined total of 384 to 88, and won the MAC championship. The season ended with a 40–12 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 William & Mary in the

1970 Tangerine Bowl The 1970 Tangerine Bowl was held on December 28, 1970, at the Tangerine Bowl stadium in Orlando, Florida. The game pitted the #15 AP-ranked Toledo Rockets against the William & Mary Indians (now the Tribe), and ended with a 40–12 victory for th ...

. The Rockets were ranked No. 12 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 ...

and No. 17 in the final UPI Poll. After the Tangerine Bowl, William & Mary head coach

Lou Holtz Louis Leo Holtz (born January 6, 1937) is an American former football player, coach, and analyst. He served as the head football coach at The College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the New York ...

said, "Toledo can play football with anyone – that includes teams like Ohio State and Texas." The 1970 season was part 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. The defense led the way for the 1970 team, allowing 104.8 rushing yards, 185.8 total yards, 3.7 turnovers forced, and 7.3 points per game. In a game against

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

, Toledo allowed only 44 yards of total offense, zero rushing first downs, and zero passing yards, each of which remains a program record. In a 52–3 victory over

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

, the team forced seven turnovers. Defensive tackle

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 ...

was selected as a first-team All-American by the

Newspaper Enterprise Association The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) is an editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1902. The oldest syndicate still in operation, the NEA was originally a secondary news ...

. Eleven Toledo players received first-team All-MAC honors: Mel Long, 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 ...

, fullback Charlie Cole, end Don Fair, offensive guard Bob Caverly, offensive tackle Ken Wilson, defensive end Bob Rose, linebacker John Niezgoda, middle guard Steve Schnitkey, and defensive backs Tom Duncan and Gary Hinkson. For the second consecutive year, Chuck Ealey was named MAC Back of the Year, and Frank Lauterbur was named MAC Coach of the Year. Mel Long was also named MAC Lineman of the Year. Ken Crots, who converted six of 18 field goal attempts, Ealey also won the Jim Nicholson Award as the player contributing the most to the team's success. The team captains were Tom Duncan and Tony Harris. The team's statistical leaders included Chuck Ealey with 2,026 passing yards, Charles Cole with 774 rushing yards, Don Fair with 949 receiving yards, Tom Duncan with 76 points scored, Steve Schnitkey with 178 tackles, and Gary Hinkson with seven interceptions. 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 six home games was 93,120, an average of 15,520 per game.2015 Media Guide, p. 199. One day before the Rockets' appearance in the Tangerine Bowl, Frank Lauterbur confirmed a leak that he was leaving the program to become the head football coach at

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. Lauterbur compiled a 48–32–2 record in eight seasons at Toledo.

Schedule

Roster

References

{{Mid-American Conference football champions Toledo 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 ...