Military Bowl

2011

Toledo 42

Air Force 41

Toledo Fight Song

WASHINGTON (AP) – Even the youngest head coach in the country knows not to expect the conventional from Air Force. After all, the Falcons had already scored three fourth-down touchdowns, including the one that had tied the Military Bowl with 52 seconds to play.

So 32-year-old Matt Campbell, leading Toledo for the first time, wasn't surprised when Air Force lined up to kick the extra point and ran a fake, going for two points to win the game instead of forcing overtime.

The Rockets were ready.

Holder David Baska got bottled up trying to run the option. The ball squirted toward kicker Parker Herrington, who chased it until it went out of bounds in the end zone, and Toledo started celebrating its 42-41 victory Wednesday at RFK Stadium (video).

"We talked about it, first and foremost, because they fake some extra points and fake some field goals," said Campbell, the Toledo offensive coordinator who was promoted this month to the head job after Tim Beckman left for Illinois. "Ironically, we were in the same situation last year in our bowl game. I give credit to our staff. We got ourselves into a defensive call. We were not in a 'block' look."

Toledo succeeded in taking a one-point lead with a two-point conversion near the end of last year's Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, but the Rockets lost the game to Florida International on a field goal on the game's final play.

This time, the wild ending to a wild game went their way in the school's first bowl win since 2005.

Bernard Reedy's third touchdown of the game- a 37-yard catch, spin and run on a pass from Terrance Owens- gave Toledo a 42-35 lead with 5:01 remaining and put the Rockets (9-4) over the 40-point mark for the sixth consecutive game.

"We have 1,000 playmakers on our team," said Reedy, who had a career-high 126 yards receiving on four catches and was named the game's MVP. "You never know who's going to step up. It's fun to watch everybody catch and run with it."

The game matched two of the top 25 scoring teams in the country, and they wasted little time living up to their reputations. It was Mid-American Conference member Toledo's spread offense against Mountain West Air Force's triple option, and the idea of a huddle seemed an antiquated concept.

Back and forth they went. A kickoff return for 87 yards. A pitch around left end for 60. Touchdown passes for 49 and 37 yards. Two botched onside kicks.

And that was just the first half.

Toledo's Adonis Thomas finished with 108 yards on 22 carries. Paul Hornung Award finalist Eric Page caught 13 passes for 59 yards, but his biggest play was an 87-yard kickoff return in the first half.

Owens, getting most of the work at quarterback, completed 19 of 24 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns. Owens got the nod over Austin Dantin, who started the first 10 games of the season before sitting out the last two with a concussion.

Tim Jefferson, the first quarterback in service academy history to lead his team to four consecutive bowl games, completed 13 of 22 passes for 159 yards with two touchdowns and one interception for Air Force (7-6). Jonathan Warzeka had a career-best 60-yard run to set up one touchdown, and his 37-yard reception on fourth-and-3 tied the game at 28 heading into halftime.

There was even room for a defensive score: Toledo safety Jermaine Robinson's 37-yard interception runback after he corralled a tipped pass deep in the secondary.

"At the pregame meal, all the DBs will sit together," Robinson said, "and we talk about what we're going to do in the game, and I told them I'm like Eric Page and Adonis together. … I almost dropped it, and finally I got it together. Once I get it in my hands, the rest is history."

But it all came down to a gutsy decision on a two-point conversion. It appeared that Baska tried to pitch the ball to Herrington, but Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said the ball just popped out.

Either way, the coach wasn't about to second-guess himself.

"I thought we had an excellent chance to seal and win the game right there. It didn't work out," Calhoun said. "We didn't convert it, so you better be able to live with it. We're a group that over the last six years, we're going to go for it on fourth down if we think there are chances we can take. When we have a pretty darn good opportunity to convert one, we're going to do it. That's the way we're going to play."

Baska's pitch to Herrington (above) was kicked through the endzone and out of bounds (below).

Air Force quarterback Tim Jefferson scored on a 22 yard run in the seconds quarter.

Falcon Asher Clark tied it, 21-21, in the second on a leaping one yard run.

Adonis Thomas finished with 108 yards for Toledo.

Eric Page had an 87 yard second quarter kickoff return.

Mike DeWitt had two short touchdown runs for Air Force.

Attendance: 25,042

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

TOL- Reedy 17 yard pass from Owens (Casano kick)

TOL- Thomas 41 run (Casano kick)

AFA- Jefferson 22 run (Herrington kick)

TOL- Page 87 yard kickoff return (Casano kick)

AFA- DeWitt 3 run (Herrington kick)

Second Quarter

AFA- Clark 1 yard (Herrington kick)

TOL- Reedy 49-yard pass from Owens (Casano kick)

AFA- Warzeka 37 yard pass from Jefferson (Herrington kick)

Third Quarter

TOL- Robinson 37 yard interception return (Casano kick)

AFA- DeWitt 2 run (Herrington kick)

Fourth Quarter

TOL- Reedy 33 yard pass from Owens (Casano kick)

AFA- Kauth 33 yard pass from Jefferson (Baska two-point conversion failed)

Individual Statistics

Rushing

TOL- Thomas 22-108, Fluellen 5-28, Dantin 1-10

AFA- Cobb 14-45, Jefferson 14-61, Clark 12-14, DeWitt 7-24, Warzeka 6-95

Passing

TOL- Owens 19-24-210, Dantin 2-3-6

AFA- Jefferson 13-22-159

Receiving

TOL- Page 13-59, Reedy 4-126, Thomas 3-15, Stafford 1-16

AFA- Kauth 4-77, Warzeka 3-50, Hunter 1-18

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