Toledo Football Preview, Best Players, Top Transfers, Season Prediction, Win Total 2024

Toledo College Football Preview 2024

This isn’t supposed to be normal.

The MAC is a wild card conference every year. Name the season over the last 15 years, and there’s someone who came from nowhere to be fantastic. Over that same stretch, there’s always some program that’s supposed to be great and flops.

Go back 15 years ago, and Toledo was finishing up its fourth straight losing season after a strong run in the mid-2000s. The 2010 team went 8-5, and the program hasn’t had a losing season since.

There were some disappointments, and there should’ve been more MAC championships than just 2017 and 2022, but 14 seasons, 11 bowl games, and lots and lots of wins.

Head coach Jason Candle is shockingly still around - he replaced Iowa State’s Matt Campbell - and over the last eight years, he has cemented this as the MAC’s premier program. Nothing changes just because it has to replace a whole lot of really, really good players.

It’ll be another great season, there’s a good shot to be in the conference title chase again, and …

Toledo Football Preview 2024: Offense

- This where being really, really successful stinks. The stars in the backfield - QB Dequan Finn (Baylor) and RB Peny Boone (UCF) - are gone. Top guard Vinny Scurry is at Texas Tech, and the other four starters up front - including the great OT Nick Rosi - are done.

Toledo had the MAC’s best passing offense, the best rushing offense, the best scoring offense, and of course, the best total offense. There are some pieces still around, though …

- The receiving corps is the best in the MAC and it isn’t remotely close. The starting trio of Jerjuan Newton, Junior Vandross, and Larry Stephens combine again with TE Anthony Torres to form a deadly, experienced group.

Finn was really, really good, and now it’s likely up to last year’s backup Tucker Gleason to bomb away and make them all shine. There will be other options in fall camp, but Gleason is the veteran to make keep the production going.

- The offensive line is a different story. No, Toledo won’t fall off the map, but it won’t be among the best in the nation in sacks allowed again. There are plenty of good backups from last year returning, and the transfer portal is a big deal - Ohio State’s Jakob James will find a spot somewhere - but this will be a work in progress.

Boone ran for 1,400 yards and 15 touchdowns last year, but his backup should be ready to take over. Jacquez Stuart can move - he ran for 574 yards and six scores - and there’s decent depth behind him.

Toledo Football Preview 2024: Defense

- The defense was terrific last year, but unlike the offense, several of the main guys are back. Top pass rusher Judge Culpepper is gone from the interior, but Darius Alexander is a 300-pounder who can move and D’Andre Ragin should be one of the MAC’s better playmakers in the backfield returning to his edge role on the outside.

- Ragin is more of a linebacker than a true end, and so is solid veteran Deshawn Holt on the other side. Leading tackler Dallas Gant is gone, but Jackson Barrow should fill right in and be terrific in the middle. Daniel Bolden is a 94-tackle problem on the outside with the quickness to do a little of everything.

- Toledo might get a slew of key parts back, but there’s no replacing new Philadelphia Eagle Quinyon Mitchell. Avery Smith and Nasir Bowers are the new corners, and they’ll get help from another strong pass rush.

Maxen Hook and Emmanuel McNeil-Warren might be the MAC’s best safety tandem, and Florida transfer Jadarrius Perkins will be an instant starter at one safety gig.

Key To The Toledo Football Season

Complete passes.
The 2022 Rockets were 8-0 when they completed 55% or more of their throws, and 1-5 when they didn’t. The 2023 team went 10-0 when hitting 55% or more of their passes, and went 1-3 when they didn’t.

We will always promise to not have any math, so … Toledo is 18-0 over the last two years when it completed a reasonable amount of passes, and 2-8 when it didn’t.

Toledo Key Player

QB Tucker Gleason, Jr.

Dequan Finn was really, really good. The former star quarterback is gone - more on that in a moment - and Gleason has to be able to step up in a rebuilt offense and make it shine.

The 6-3, 235-pound former Georgia Tech transfer got in a little work last year, and he wasn’t exactly great in the bowl loss to Wyoming, completing 41% of his passes for 184 yards with a pick.

Toledo Football Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Anthony Dunn, EDGE Jr.
The Rockets landed a terrific pass rusher out of Florida A&M. The 6-4, 250-pounder cranked up 46 tackles with eight sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss last year for the Rattlers.

Top Transfer Out: Dequan Finn, QB Jr.
Losing star RB Peny Boone hurts, too, but Finn was the star playmaker who made the O go over the last three seasons. He threw 63 touchdown passes over the last three seasons and ran for 25 scores. Now he’ll try to keep the production going at Baylor.

Toledo Key Game

Miami University, Oct. 5
Toledo can still rip through the rest of the MAC schedule and play for the conference title - probably in a rematch with the RedHawks - but win with three road games in the next four dates to follow, it would be nice to pull this off.

Oddly enough, these two played last year - Toledo won in the regular season, Miami won the MAC Championship - but the previous meeting was all the way back in 2011.

10 Best Toledo Football Players

1. Maxen Hook, S Sr.
2. Jerjuan Newton, WR Sr.
3. Darius Alexander, DT Sr.
4. Junior Vandeross, WR Soph
5. Jacquez Stuart, RB Sr.
6. Daniel Bolden, LB Sr.
7. Jadarrius Perkins, S Sr.
8. Anthony Torres, TE Sr.
9. D’Andre Ragin, EDGE Sr.
10. Tucker Gleason, QB Jr.

Toledo 2023 Fun Stats

- 3rd Quarter Scoring: Toledo 116, Opponents 65

- 2 Point Conversions: Toledo 4-of-6, Opponents 1-of-6

- Average Yards Per Pass: Toledo 8.2, Opponents 6.2

Toledo Football 2024 Win Total Prediction: What to Expect This Season

Even with all of the changes and all of the key losses, Toledo is still strong enough to be knee deep in the MAC title chase again. Here’s why …

Duquesne, at UMass. The Toledo offense might need time to rebuild and retool, and it’ll get it with those first two games to get everything working before dealing with Mississippi State and WKU on the road.

And then comes the week off before hosting Miami University. That’s it. That’s the tone-setter for the rest of the MAC season.

There will be a few losses along the way - watch out for Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois on the road - and it hurts to miss Ball State, Kent State, and Western Michigan, but it’ll take a bad day from the retooled Rockets to get them.

Set The Toledo Win Total At … 7.5

Likely Wins: at Akron, at Buffalo, Duquesne, at UMass

50/50 Games: Bowling Green, Central Michigan, at Eastern Michigan, Miami University, at Northern Illinois, Ohio, at WKU

Likely Losses: at Mississippi State

2024 Toledo Football Schedule

Aug 29 Duquesne
Sept 7 UMass
Sept 14 at Mississippi State
Sept 21 at WKU
Sept 28 OPEN DATE
Oct 5 Miami University
Oct 12 at Buffalo
Oct 19 at Northern Illinois
Oct 26 Bowling Green
Nov 2 at Eastern Michigan
Nov 9 OPEN DATE
Nov 12 Central Michigan
Nov 20 Ohio
Nov 26 at Akron

Missing: Ball State, Kent State, Western Michigan

Related: College Football Preview 2024: CFN 134 Team Previews, Rankings, Top Players, Win Totals & Schedules