Bio Blast: Toledo Rockets

The ball is teed up. Now we need to play the games. Week 1 of the 2025 college football season has arrived, and things will get going in the Bluegrass on Saturday when Kentucky hosts Toledo for the second all-time meeting between the two programs.

Head coach Jason Candle is now in year 17 overall at Toledo as the 45-year-old enters his 10th year as this program’s head coach. Candle has won 73 games as the Rockets have yet to have a losing season under his watch. With strong returning production (No. 34 overall) this team enters the season with high expectations and is the clear favorite to win the MAC for the third time under Candle.

KSR’s Bio Blast is taking an early look at Kentucky’s first opponent.

Continuity across the board

Jason Candle is in many ways Toledo football. The Mount Union alum has been a part of this program since he was 28 years old and has had a hand in offensive play-calling since 2012. Quarterbacks coach Robert Weiner (sixth season) and offensive line coach Mike Hallett (10th season) are back again as co-offensive coordinators. Each has a long work history with Candle. The Rockets ranked 10th in ESPN’s SP+ offensive rankings in Candle’s first season in 2016 with Kareem Hunt starring at tailback. Since then, the Rockets have ranked between 28-90 but have seen some slippage over the last three years with three consecutive sub-70 finishes after having just one in Candle’s first six seasons.

On the other side of the football, defensive coordinator Vince Kerhes (sixth season) has returned to call the defense in the Glass Bowl. Kerhes was on the defensive staff at Mount Union when Candle played at the Division III powerhouse from 2000-01. Kerhes and Candle then worked on the same Mount Union staff from 2003-06. Candle joined fellow Mount Union product at Toledo in 2009. Kerhes became the defensive coordinator at Mount Union in 2005 and was promoted to head coach in 2013. After leading the Purple Raiders to two national championships in six years, Kerhes decided to make the jump to FBS football and became Candle’s defensive coordinator in 2020. Since his arrival, the 49-year-old has produced a pair of top-35 defenses after taking over a unit that produced consecutive sub-100 finishes in 2018 and 2019. Kerhes has built one of the best defenses in the MAC and should have that again this season.

Georgia Tech transfer Tucker Gleason was a three-star recruit at Tampa (Fla.) Plant who signed with the Yellow Jackets in the 2020 recruiting cycle. After playing in just three games as a true freshman, Gleason entered the transfer portal and signed with Toledo. The transfer was a backup for multiple seasons playing behind former MAC Player of the Year Dequan Finn. However, Gleason played well in spot duty in 2022 and 2023 before becoming the full-time starter in 2024. As a fifth-year player, Gleason threw for 2,808 yards (60.5% completion rate, 7.3 yards per attempt), recorded 448 non-sack rushing yards (5.1 yards per rush), and accumulated 31 total touchdowns.

Gleason threw for 300-plus yards in four games operating in mostly a dink-and-dunk passing game. The quarterback often had to carry an offense that could not run the football (No. 118 overall in yards per rush). Now the sixth-year player who has played 1,216 career snaps is back for year five in this system.

Toledo has true continuity and that is a big reason why many are high on the Rockets entering this season.

The return of Chip Trayanum

The Toledo offense has had a lot of success with the traditional running game under Jason Candle. Since the long-time head coach took over, the Rockets have had five seasons where a running back reached at least 1,100 rushing yards and double-digit touchdowns. Peny Boone and former Kentucky tailback Bryant Koback set high marks of 1,400 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns each in 2021 and 2023.

But that run game (No. 127 overall in rushing success rate) fell off a cliff in 2024 for this shotgun-heavy offense that likes to operate out of 11 personnel. To fix it, the Rockets returned three offensive line starters plus added Pittsburgh transfer Terrence Moore to take over at center. But the biggest addition occurred at running back.

Chip Trayanum is now on his fourth school after making stops at Arizona State (2020-21), Ohio State (2022-23), and Kentucky (2024). The sixth-year player has rushed for 1,258 yards and 13 touchdowns during his career but struggled with injuries during his only season in Lexington. Trayanum gives the Rockets a big back (5-11, 227) that aren’t found a ton in the MAC. Toledo hit big on power conference transfers Boone and Koback. The goal is the same with Trayanum. The former blue-chip recruit is expected to get a true RB1 workload this season.

Optimism is high about Toledo’s passing game due to the return of Gleason, first-team All-MAC wide receiver Junior Vandeross III, and the addition of Northern Illinois transfer Trayvon Rudolph who has received multiple All-MAC honors during his career. But this offense needs balance. The Rockets did not have balance last year.

The hope is that Trayanum can be the latest 1,000-yard rusher for this program.

Secondary should be the strength of this football team

Toledo utilizes a 4-2-5 structure under Kerhes that will ask their cornerbacks to win in isolation while moving the two deep safeties around frequently.

The Rockets were well-rounded across the board on defense last season. Unfortunately, this unit must replace a third-round pick at defensive tackle (Darius Alexander) and eight of the 14 players who played at least 300 snaps last season. Most of this turnover occurred in the front six.

Toledo will be breaking in six new starters along the front and only UMass EDGE transfer Louce Julien was added from the portal. This defense is banking on some in-house development. The biggest question for this football team might be how they transition here.

While there are valid concerns with the front, the secondary has a chance to be lights out. Avery Smith returns at cornerback after recording 14 pass breakups and two interceptions last season. The second-team All-MAC performer is the next star for this group. Braden Awls returns at nickel after recording 72 tackles and four interceptions last season. Nasir Bowers is another playmaking cornerback who recorded seven pass breakups last season. Emmanuel McNeil-Warren recorded 61 tackles in just seven games last season and might be the best player on the defense.

Toledo is loaded in the secondary and should receive some very good playmaking from this group. If this defense holds up at the point of attack, they will give offenses some fits all season. The Rockets have a chance to become a terrific havoc defense in the backend.