The End Zone: UT 09-09

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Get Toledo coach Tim Beckman away from the TV cameras, tape recorders and notepads. Sit down with him on the sofa in his office, flick on the TV, and get him talking about football. Maybe then he might open up and express just how difficult the first six weeks of the season are going to be for his team.

After enduring a beating from Arizona last week, the Rockets take on Mid-American Conference opponents Ohio and Western Michigan on the road the next two weekends before traveling to Purdue. Then it's back home to face Wyoming, a bowl team a year ago, before heading out to Boise State. Yes, that Boise State.

Beckman repeatedly deflected questions about UT's arduous schedule at his weekly news conference Monday, pointing to the fact that he didn't have any say in his team's slate of games and there's nothing he can do to change it now. Beckman knows the challenge in front of his team and understands there's no use complaining about it. Either they'll go out there and “perform through it,” as Beckman said, or the hopes of a MAC title will take a serious hit.

It's silly to label any game as a “must win” because in college football they're almost all must wins. That being said, the Rockets are staring 0-6 directly in the face right now. They need to at least split the next two contests, otherwise their season could be finished before the leaves even start falling from the trees.