2011 Military Bowl, Toledo Vs. Air Force: Rockets Left Standing After 42-41 Shootout

59: Receiving yards pulled in by Air Force’s Zack Kauth on the Falcons’ final drive. You know what also almost won the game for the Falcons? Some heroic late-game passing. Air Force’s leading receiver, Kauth had been targeted by quarterback Tim Jefferson just twice all game, but when the Falcons fell behind by a touchdown with five minutes left, Jefferson leaned on him. Kauth caught three of six passes thrown his way, including a 13-yarder on third-and-11 and a 33-yard touchdown on fourth-and-3. His stat line says “four catches for 77 yards,” but that ignores the timeliness factor.

13: Air Force’s scoring margin after I tweeted this (with Toledo having just gone up 14-0):

While the Rockets receive the hardware from this game, the Falcons won the Commander-in-Chief Trophy for a second year in a row. It is certainly a reward the Falcons are proud of even with a loss to close out the season.

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After the Falcons also failed to recover an onside kick, the Rockets were left standing as the smoke cleared.

Falcons rushers combined to gain 248 yards on the ground.

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For more college football, stay tuned to SB Nation’s college football news coverage. For more on the 2011 Military Bowl game, visit MAC blog Hustle Belt and Mountain West blog Mountain West Connection, plus SB Nation Denver.

At the break, it’s 28-28.

Click for up-to-the-minute Military Bowl score update. Here’s your Military Bowl FAQ from SI.com.

Air Force quarterback Tim Jefferson BOMBARDED Toledo with a 15-yard pooch punt on the following drive, and the hits just keep comin’. We were getting nowhere, but we’re getting there in a hurry, as both teams are living up to their swift reputations.

ROOTABILITY FACTORS: Toledo is trying to out patriotize the Air Force Falcons, an impossible task since Air Force are the Air Force, and will have to go straight from playing this game to training in the mountains, flying huge flammable death machines over hostile territory, or studying calculus in the name of national security. It is futile to try to keep up with them, but it’s a nice gesture nonetheless.

Toledo makes up for their inability to be as outrageously American as Air Force with another very American trait: uneven and spectacular entertainment. Toledo played in three of the most watchable and lunatic games this year: their near-upset of Ohio State, and the back-to-back Wednesday MACtion classics against Northern Illinois (a 63-60 loss) and Western Michigan (a 66-63 win over the Broncos.) Toledo only goes in one direction: all of them, scoring points and allowing them with equal flair. In defeat or victory, they do not bore.

To hear the Washington Post’s Gene Wang tell it, Military Bowl officials were scrambling to find a solution. Enter Air Force:

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NOTE: Confused? See the quick glossary at the bottom.

Defense will come to the forefront when Texas and California match wits tonight in San Diego. As a natural counter-balance, then, we present the Military Bowl, where two incredibly different offenses will try to keep pace with each other. At first glance, Toledo has far too many weapons for the Falcons, but a coaching change and Air Force’s unique offense could negate a good portion of their advantage.

The Falcons are known best for their triple-option, run-heavy attack, and they’ve made their living on it this season. They were second in the nation with 320.3 ground yards per game, and quarterback Tim Jefferson, Jr. has rushed for 10 touchdowns as the catalyst of the scheme.

Game date, time: 4:30 PM ET, Wednesday, Dec. 28

Air Force boats the nation’s sixth-ranked pass defense and will also have the majority of the crowd behind them. Toledo has sold less than 25 percent of their 5,000-ticket allotment, while Air Force were over 10,000 in ticket sales, Frank Schwab of the Colorado Springs Gazette noted in this extensive preview of the Wednesday’s game.

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It also doesn’t help that neither team is exactly stocked with NFL-ready prospects. Of course, that doesn’t mean that either team has lacked standout performers.

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At rocket speed, Toledo has named its new head coach. Its the briefly-interim Matt Campbell, who’d been serving as offensive coordinator. Campbell will next lead the Rockets into a battle that actually does sound like a battle, the 2011 Military Bowl against Air Force in Washington, D.C.

Here’s Campbell on the promotion:

Beckman, nearly going meta:

And though, by most accounts, he did win the press conference, Illini blog Hail to the Orange raises two big questions Beckman will have to address:

(Also worth noting another Rockets coach has Twitterly critiqued Beckman’s decision to leave.)

The MAC aficionados at Hustle Belt are accustomed to this sort of thing, and have turned to assessing the job Beckman did at Toledo:

However: Do not call it The Military Bowl. You will refer to it by it’s full name, The Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman. You will show the Military Bowl the respect it deserves.

Of course, you might remember it as the EagleBank Bowl as well. Regardless, it will be played Wednesday, December 28 at 4:30 p.m. and likely feature an ACC school versus a Conference USA school. The game will be televised on ESPN.