Thursday promises to be the biggest party in Toledo as we welcome in Mike Robinson from the Rocket radio network Mike Rob thank you so much for joining us hey thanks for having me Mark are you ready for that Thursday night party look you know what so much going on Thursday you got high school football kicking off in Michigan with Whiteford and these guys I definitely want to see them guys get going but you know what here in the glass City too rockets taking on Duane is definitely going to be the biggest party in this city let's talk about the difference between this year's rocket team and last year as Toledo lost some key guys to the transfer portal you've got Tucker gleon ready to start in as quarterback and if you haven't seen Tucker geson in a couple of years he is a big quarterback and he's also mobile yeah you know and having him out there uh during the bowl game I think people got an opportunity to see him scrambling around obviously not for some of the best reasons but his Mobility is there people didn't know how quick he was but his physicality mix with that he is very durable and rugged and I expect to see coach kandle maybe open it up and allow him to run the ball a little bit more because he's a lot bigger than what the former quarterback was and with the weapons he has at tight end and in the backfield and at receivers we could perhaps see some run pass options some RPO stuff with him yeah absolutely you know that's kind of one of Jason candle's Staples you know motioning the running back out in the back out the back field you know creating space and creating mismatches and this football team has so many mismatches with speed on the outside skill on the inside and obviously at the quarterback spot and the running back spot you got some options there as well but off offensive line wise everybody is really concerned about what's happening up front but when you got so many pieces on the outside it just get the ball to your Playmakers and let them dominate geran Newton is back Anthony Torres is back jacz Stewart is back Ander Ross but as you hinted at the offensive line you're replacing all five starters from a season ago you know what and it and it seems like uh one of the craziest things that can happen to a football team but you know what it's pretty much normal you know it's the next man up Mantra you know you want to find out who's up you recruit all these guys you bring and all these transfers they're expected to play and they're expecting their opportunity to get on the field so these aren't just guys who just you know you pick up off the street that haven't been in the program some of them are transfer players who've coming in obviously none of them have any career starts but that doesn't mean that they're going to have a bad start on this first week one because they should be Juiced up with all the experience around them and Coach Mike howlet has done an excellent job of of coaching and mentoring these offensive linemen in this program since he's gotten here and I don't expect it to change let's talk a little about defense Darius Alexander back on that defensive line he's perhaps that next big stud defensive lineman for the Rockets you know what he is athletic and mobile I feel like we can just say this about the whole uh Rockets football team and having Darius Alexander back is key because for a while I feel like a lot of people in rck nation didn't know if he was going to leave if he was going to hit the portal or even go to the draft early because he is definitely getting looked at as a potential draft prospect but having him on that defensive line him and Butler up front you know being able to combine uh you know and make make plays and make stops in the back field I think that is key for Toledo because when they get pressure on a quarterback I feel like that's when they play their best because they have a really good second uh second line behind them with the linebackers and even better with the secondary a year ago quinan Mitchell made the decision to return to Toledo ended up being a firstr draft pick by the Philadelphia Eagles that leaves a hole in the secondary but you got some talented guys back in that secondary and those guys were tested quite a bit last year because teams were throwing away from quinan yeah and and people have tried them too they want try Quin but you you learn quick you know don't throw the ball his way or run his way he tackled really well in space and that's one of the best things that about this Toledo defense is is they got so many guys that sat back and watched wac they've had to watch the rest of these guys you know quinan Mitchell and all these guys in front of them have these opportunities to play at a high level in the Mac they think they can do the exact same thing so now you when you think uh you know Toledo hasn't gotten any better you still look back there in the secondary and you you look and see number 25 is still out there floating around Max and hook one of the best safeties in the country and then you got EMW back there as well and then also Avery Smith he's another dominant guy and Braden alls so so many guys that float in and out of this defense and in that secondary you got a few transfers we'll see where they fit in into the mix this team is probably better defensively than they were last year in my opinion we haven't talked a whole lot about the opponents the Duane Dukes a FCS team a pretty good FCS team but is the talent Gap that great between the Rockets and the Dukes um you know it's college football and experience matters you know but when you talk about playing football for 15 minutes four times over a course of a hot day and you're out in a road and that's the biggest party in Toledo it's going to be tough because the glass bowl is going to be a rocking environment this place is going to have your adrenaline going and if you're on the road you know and and and for Dukan you know they've only home opened or played against uh division one teams 10 times you know they played two teams this year and so coming into the glass bowl a lot of these guys have played in this kind of environment and this atmosphere we'll see if they can adjust but this is no team to sleep on they've made the playoffs they are uh looked at looked at to be able to win their conference and one thing also matters is coaching they've had a head coach that's been in place for nearly you know two decades and plus so when you have someone that understands the game of football there are nuances of a game that you don't want to um fall asleep on so it's not necessarily the Rockets worried about losing to this team it's letting this team hang around and letting us be competitive Rockets have only lost to an FCS team twice both of those losses coming to mckn State it's the home opener and Mike RB when was the last time they lost the home opener you know what it was been a while I think it was in 2009 versus Purdue and it was a doozy but I don't expect to see that at all this time around all right thank you very much Mike Robinson from the Rocket radio network