Toledo draws a Power program for their postseason, taking on Pitt of the ACC.
The Toledo Rockets (7-5, 4-4 MAC), one of the preseason favorites to play in the MAC title game, will end up in Detroit for the postseason after all, drawing the Pittsburgh Panthers (7-5, 3-5 ACC) in the newly-christened GameAbove Bowl.
Kyle Rowland of the Toledo Blade was first to report Toledo’s bowl bid against a to-be-determined opponent, with Action Network’s Brett McMurphy confirming Pitt as the selected opponent later.
The Rockets started the season off hot, getting out to a 4-1 start in their first five games, including a massive 41-17 road upset against Mississippi State and a league-opening 30-20 win over defending champion Miami, but suffered two losses to Buffalo (30-15) and Bowling Green (41-26) in their next three MAC games to put their season on life support early.
A loss to eventual conference champion Ohio would effectively end a chance of going to Detroit for the Rockets, but they still finished with seven victories to assure a postseason game to extend the program’s streak to four seasons. Toledo has qualified for a bowl in every full campaign since 2010, declining a bowl bid in 2019 despite picking up the requisite wins on the season.
Toledo was fifth in the MAC in scoring offense (26.7 points per game), scoring defense (21.3 points per game) and total defense (352.5 yards allowed per game) in 2024, and sixth in the league in total offense (366.5 total yards)— including the league’s best mark in passing offense (246.2 passing yards per game.)
The Pitt Panthers share a similar story though their title aspirations were not as strong.
Pitt started the season 7-0, including wins over rivals Cincinnati and West Virginia to open the season in non-conference play, and wins over North Carolina, California and Syracuse to start ACC play, putting themselves in prime position to make a run to the ACC title game— and possible the College Football Playoff.
However, a 48-25 loss to SMU was a harbinger of performances to come, as the Panthers would lost five-straight games to end the season, struggling to score more than 20 points in all but one contest through that stretch. During the losing streak, Pitt also lost starting QB Eli Holstein to an injury, forcing them to go to Nate Yarnell over their final three games of the regular season.
Pitt was a firm middle-of-the-road team in the newly-expanded 17-team ACC, finishing eighth in total offense (406.3 yards per game) and 11th in total defense (373.8 yards allowed per game), while sitting at third in passing offense (277.8 passing yards per game) and fifth in rushing defense (115.5 rushing yards per game). Pitt also ties for the ACC lead in total sacks (40.)
The GameAbove Bowl, previously known as the Quick Lane Bowl, is scheduled to kick off on Thursday, December 26th, 2024 at 2 p.m. Eastern time.