Dawson peaks at Marshall
9/13/2003HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The two best games in Trinity Dawson's career have come at Marshall.
The sophomore from Oklahoma rushed for 156 yards on 21 carries last night for the Rockets.
Dawson's previous best was 130 yards, against Marshall in last year's MAC Championship Game.
“I attribute all of that to the offensive line,'' Dawson said. “The biggest stat is that `W' for the win. No matter what you do, it puts a dent in everything if you don't win the game.”
SOLID RETURNS: Toledo junior Lance Moore had a lot to say about the field position in last night's game. Returning punts and kicks, Moore had 105 yards in four returns.
“Football is usually a game of field position, and so was this one tonight,” Moore said. “All I have to do is catch the ball and run - the blocking on the return teams did the rest. I give a lot of credit to our defense - holding Marshall to 17 points on its home field is great.''
QUICK HITS: The Rockets have now beaten Marshall in three of the last four meetings between the two schools. The Rockets routed the Herd 42-0 in the Glass Bowl in 2000, and then split the past two MAC Championship Games with Marshall. ... The last time Toledo and Marshall met in the regular season and the Rockets won 42-0, it was Gary Pinkel's last season as Toledo coach. ... The last time Toledo won at Marshall was 1980, by a 38-10 score. Since then, Toledo has lost four straight in Huntington, with all of those coming since 1997 when Marshall came back into the MAC. The two schools did not meet from 1983-96 when Marshall competed at the Division I-AA level. ... Toledo and Marshall have two of the best records in Division I-A since the start of the 2000 season. Toledo is 31-10 while Marshall is 31-11. ... Miami (Fla.) has the top record over that time period at 37-2. ... Marshall had five turnovers last night, while UT had none. ... Quarterback Bruce Gradkowski recovered two fumbles for the Rockets . . . Marshall is now 95-6 all-time at Marshall Stadium. ... Toledo holds the lead in the all-time series with the Thundering Herd 22-18-1.