Toledo opens its 2024 season with plenty of new faces in its lineup, but that doesn’t change expectations for Head Coach Jason Candle’s squad.
The Rockets open their 2024 campaign against Duquesne in Glass Bowl Stadium on Thursday, Aug. 29, in “The Biggest Party in Toledo” (7:30 p.m./ESPN+). A near-capacity crowd is expected with pre-game festivities that will include live music, a beer garden, a fly-over from the 180th Fighter Wing and much more.
Toledo has six returning All-MAC players from last season’s 11-3 team including first-team wide receiver Jerjuan Newton.
Toledo, which was picked to finish in second place in the Mid-American Conference in the league’s coaches preseason poll, has six returning All-MAC players from last season’s 11-3 team. These returners include first-teamers Jerjuan Newton (WR), Jacquez Stuart (KR) and Maxen Hook (S). Also returning are tight end Anthony Torres (second team), placekicker Luke Pawlak (third team) and defensive tackle Darius Alexander (third team).
In addition, Toledo has an experienced quarterback in junior Tucker Gleason as well as a roster full of highly regarded youngsters eager for their chance to shine.
The Rockets will be looking to improve on a team that has gone an impressive 20-8 over the past two seasons with two trips to the MAC Championship Game, including a MAC title in 2022, and bowl berths in each of the past three seasons.
Duquesne, an NCAA FCS opponent, was 7-5 in 2023, winning a Northeast Conference (NEC) title with a 6-1 league mark before falling to Youngstown State in the first round of the FCS playoffs. Senior quarterback Darius Perrantes returns after earning first-team all-conference in 2023. Perrantes, a finalist nod for the Walter Payton Award (FCS National Offensive Player of the Year), threw for 2,324 yards and 21 touchdowns last season.
