Toledo was trailing Appalachian State, 31-28, late in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Camellia Bowl in Montgomery. The Rockets lost by that same score, and they came by their loss in a hard-to-explain-why way.
Toledo took an inexplicable delay of game on 4th down, then narrowly missed a game-tying field goal
You don’t see end-of-game developments like this often.
The Rockets’ offense faced a fourth-and-2 at the Mountaineers’ 8-yard line. They lined up and appeared ready to try for a conversion, playing for the win and not the tie. But then they never ran a play.
Toledo coach Jason Candle didn’t call a timeout. Maybe he tried to, and we’ll hear about it later. But Toledo took a delay of game penalty, backing up a 25-yard field goal try to a 30-yarder for kicker Jameson Vest. You know what happened then:
Vest’s 30-yarder cut it extremely close, flying over the right upright. The officials called it no good, which it probably was. These comparisons don’t work perfectly because plays unfold different from different spots, at different times. But: that thing was hooking, and if the same kick went off from five yards closer, it would’ve gone in.
We’ll surely hear more from Candle about this shortly, and this post will be updated. If Toledo’s delay of game was intentional, that’s a pretty shocking bit of over-coaching, and it probably cost the Rockets a shot at overtime in their bowl game.
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