The Odyssey flies in to Detroit this evening so we can catch one of the most anticipated Glass Bowl games ever. Miami and its turnover chain play Toledo at noon.
Toledo’s strong football tradition has long bedeviled Power 5 teams courageous enough to travel to the Glass Bowl. 15 years ago, the 9th-ranked Pitt Panthers, featuring superstar receiver, Larry Fitzgerald, were upended, 35-31. Toledo native, Joe Tiller, brought his first Purdue team to Toledo only to be upset.
Both teams enter the game coming off slaughters of FCS teams. Toledo’s unusual bye week has given them two weeks of preparation time. In last year’s game, the Rockets led at halftime, 16-10, only to have the roof fall in during the 2nd half in Miami’s 52-30 triumph.
Perhaps memories of last year’s game will give “Maligned Malik” Rosier some much-needed confidence. Rosier threw for 333 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Rockets. However, Miami’s current 4-game losing streak against FBS teams has featured equally problematic play from both Rosier and his offensive line. The Hurricane offense looked dreadful against an admittedly strong LSU defense in their opener.
Toledo has a deep stable of skill position players to trouble Miami’s elite defense if the Rocket’s first-year starting QB (presumably Mitchell Guadagni) can play well. This is the biggest question as to whether the Rockets can pull off another Glass Bowl upset.
After the game, we will travel North on US23 to Ann Arbor (only about a 50-minute drive) to catch the later part of the Michigan-SMU game. It is not often that a trip to the Big House is an afterthought. However, SMU’s performance in the first three quarters of their opener against North Texas was arguably the worst of any FBS team in 2017. To say we expect a noncompetitive game would be an understatement.