TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) -Toledo coach Tom Amstutz insists there’s no magic involved when the Rockets play ranked teams at home.
Toledo has beaten all four Top 25 teams that have come calling since 2001 and will get another shot at an upset Saturday against No. 25 Fresno State.
The Bulldogs (1-1) are coming off a 13-10 loss to No. 8 Wisconsin last week, a huge hit to their BCS hopes in what was the biggest home game in school history.
Next week, they’ll play at UCLA, but sandwiched in between those two big games is Toledo.
Amstutz smiled when asked whether the Bulldogs could be looking past the Rockets. “I’m just hoping we can hang in there and play with them,” he said.
Fresno State coach Pat Hill said how his team bounces back will be up to his veterans who must get past the missed opportunities against Wisconsin – two turnovers that led to 10 points and three missed field goals – and forget about the BCS.
“You’ve just got to keep playing,” Hill said.
Senior quarterback Tom Brandstater said after last week’s loss his job is to make sure the season doesn’t spiral downward.
“There are too many young guys on this team that can go either way, and it’s up to the leaders to make sure that we go in the right direction,” Brandstater said.
Toledo’s last victory over a Top 25 team came over No. 9 Pitt in 2003. The Rockets have stumbled the last two seasons, posting back-to-back losing records for the first time since 1977-78.
“We’re still trying to make a name for ourselves,” said cornerback Joe Bates, who’s well aware of Toledo’s history in big games at home. “We’re not in the Pac-10 or the Big 10. At the same time, we’re teams that have been known to stop teams in those conferences.”
Bates, who grew up in Oakland, Calif., wanted to play at Fresno State and knows a couple of the Bulldogs fairly well.
“They’re going to come into this game expecting the most,” he said. “They’re not going to take us lightly.”
Toledo opened the season with a loss at Arizona and rebounded with a 41-17 victory at Eastern Michigan in their Mid-American Conference opener.
The win may have given the Rockets some of the confidence they were missing during last year’s 5-7 season.
“We needed that,” said running back DaJuane Collins, who rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns against Eastern.
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