Toledo Football: Rockets look for bounce-back season in 2020

Toledo looks for turnaround season from defense

The Rockets’ struggles on the defensive side of the ball in 2019 left them on the outside looking out of the bowl picture.

Toledo’s defense finished 123rd in the nation in total defense and dead last in the MAC as they allowed 475.7 yards per game.

Things won’t be getting any easier in 2020 for the Rockets defense as they will be without their leading tackler from a year ago in linebacker Jordan Fisher and defensive back Kahlil Robinson who led the team with three interceptions.

There will, however, still be plenty of returning talent that could help lead the unit to significant improvement.

Toledo’s group of defensive returners is highlighted by a talented secondary led by defensive back Samuel Womack who broke up a team-high 15 passes with two interceptions and 59 total tackles, Tycen Anderson who made 84 tackles with five pass breakups and Saeed Holt who recorded a team-high 11.5 tackles for loss from his safety position.

Up front, Terrence Taylor will look to anchor a Toledo pass rush that recorded just 15 sacks as a team a year ago, ranking 118th in the country. Taylor recorded three sacks a year ago, which was a half a sack behind Holt for the team lead.

The team will also look for their defensive line to slow down opposing running backs at an improved rate as the team allowed 226.4 yards per game on the ground a year ago, which ranked 119th in the nation. The players Toledo will be counting on to improve the run defense include Devan Rogers, Desjuan Johnson and Jamal Hines.

If Toledo’s defense can improve with continuity, there’s little doubt the Rockets have enough talent on both sides of the ball to get back to a bowl game but climbing back from being one of the top 10 defenses in the country in just one year is a tall task for any team.