SEASON ENDS ON A SOUR NOTE

November 24, 2007 - Toledo's season ended pretty much how it began - with a thud.

Beginning with a first quarter that saw UT gain a total of seven yards, to a fourth quarter where they were held scoreless, Toledo's offense never got on track and its defense continued to give up big plays.

Bowling Green won 37-10, leaving Rocket fans wondering what the future holds for the team that completed its second consecutive 5-7 season.

Even though Toledo wasn't doing much offensively, they were still in the game at the half, trailing 16-3. Head coach Tom Amstutz replaced starting quarterback D.J. Lenehan with Clint Cochran on the final series of the second quarter, and Cochran finished the game for the Rockets.

Amstutz said about the quarterback change, "We were in a situation where we had to go with our backup quarterbacks. We gave D.J an opportunity, but we just didn't have a spark. We decided to give Clint a shot. He's been working hard trying to get back from his injuries. I thought we did move the ball some, but didn't come up with the big plays."

Cochran drove Toledo down the field to open the third quarter, and hooked up with Nick Moore for a 37-yard touchdown play. UT was back in the game trailing 16-10, but that was the last score for the Rockets.

BG shut down Toledo's running game and picked off three of Cochran's passes as they dominated the rest of the game.

Jalen Parmele had a tough day gaining only 82 yards, as the Falcons dared UT to pass and ganged up on the run. And BG's defense gave Cochran fits as he tried to find receivers with defenders hanging on him.

Toledo finished the game with only 66 net yards rushing out of 322 total yards, while BG amassed 443 yards.

This game wasn't about the Falcons being so much better as it was about Toledo's uninspired play and mistakes. Maybe it's best that the season is over so that the coaching staff can immediately begin to correct the errors of the past two seasons.