Meet Your Insider
How ya doin', Rocket fans! Welcome to The Cover Window! I'm Rocco Szczepanski, your Toledo insider. That's Szczepanski. It's silent. nah, it's all pronounced, just fast. I come from a Jeep-plant family here in the Glass City, so I grade offenses the only way I know how: in horsepower. A sputtering three-and-out is a lawnmower engine. A long, physical drive is a big V8 rumbling down Front Street. I travel with this team and I live with this team. When we win, I rev an imaginary engine and do a burnout gesture right there on set. When we lose, I say "engine trouble" and pop the hood on the depth chart. Every week you'll get the players, the coaches and the matchup, Northwest Ohio style. "That's 400 horsepower of run game."
The School in 60 Seconds
Toledo plays at the Glass Bowl, listed at 26,038, a great old stadium in a city built on hard work. The Rockets won the MAC championship in 2022. This season there's a new man in charge: Mike Jacobs came from Mercer to replace Jason Candle as head coach. The rivalry with Western Michigan goes back a long way, and Toledo leads the all-time series 39-24. But the Broncos won last year's meeting 14-13, and you better believe that's been in the garage all year.
The Coach and the Scheme
Mike Jacobs was named head coach on Dec. 10, 2025. The 2026 numbers say this engine is running. Toledo averages 36.3 points (28th in FBS) and 459.0 yards a game (20th). It passes for 273.4 yards a game and runs for 185.6, at 5.09 yards a carry, with 16 rushing touchdowns. Here's the best part, horsepower-wise: the blockers have allowed only 3 sacks all season. And the defense has 20 sacks. On defense, Toledo allows 322.0 yards a game (34th) and 196.6 passing yards (49th), and opponents average only 3.43 yards a carry. The offense has 15 passing touchdowns to go with those 16 on the ground. The one thing needing a tune-up? Penalties: 76.0 yards a game, 126th in FBS.
Players to Know
QB John Alan Richter: 1,853 yards, 14 TD and only 1 INT, with 66.1% completions. Against Eastern Michigan he went 24 of 30 for 288 yards. That's a V8, and that's 80 percent completions.
RB C.J. Miller: 426 yards and 6 TD on 76 carries. RB Autavius Ison: 104 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries last week.
WR Adjatay Dabbs: 32 catches, 468 yards, 5 TD. WR Bryson Hammer: 5 catches, 69 yards last week.
I couldn't verify current defensive leaders from a free source, so I'm keeping the hood closed on that one.
The Conference Picture
Toledo is 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the MAC, 3-1 at home and 2-1 on the road. The Rockets aren't ranked. The losses were at Michigan State, 30-20, and at home to Buffalo, 23-8. The wins: Central Connecticut 63-10, San Diego State 41-16, Ball State 39-24 on the road and Eastern Michigan 34-14. There was also a wild 49-48 win over Temple. Beat the defending MAC champs and we're right back in the race.
This Week: Western Michigan (5-2) at Toledo (5-2)
Saturday, Oct. 24 · Noon ET · Glass Bowl · CBS Sports Network.
Last week: Toledo beat Eastern Michigan 34-14 on the road. Western Michigan won 21-14 at Central Michigan.
Our offense vs. their defense: this is the dyno test. Western Michigan allows only 16.9 points a game (25th), and its red-zone defense ranks 17th. The Broncos have 16 sacks, but we've only allowed 3.
Their offense vs. our defense: Western Michigan runs on 63% of plays, and RB Jalen Buckley ran for 150 yards last week. Its passing game ranks 129th. If we stop Buckley, they'll have a hard time catching up.
Series: Toledo leads 39-24, but Western Michigan won last year 14-13.
One more set of numbers for the notebook: this team has 20 sacks and has allowed 3, with 8 takeaways against 8 giveaways, and it has 16 rushing and 15 passing touchdowns.
Availability: I found no official availability report for either team as of Oct. 18, 2026.
What decides it: (1) Can Richter keep the ball safe against a team that's plus-4 in turnovers? (2) Can our run defense stop Buckley? (3) Penalties. Ours have to come down. Seventy-six yards a game is like driving with the parking brake on. Fix that and this engine purrs. (4) Ball security. We've lost 8 turnovers and forced 8, so it's even, but the Broncos only give it away about once every other game.
And to Corwin Dahlquist, Western Michigan's insider: love the pancakes, buddy. Bring syrup. We'll bring the horsepower.
Local Flavor (unsponsored, not an ad)
Watching in Toledo? Tony Packo's on Front Street. Hungarian hot dogs. Klinger would approve. Hannon's Block Restaurant on Monroe Street works downtown, too.
My call: Toledo Rockets 26, Western Michigan Broncos 22.