End Zone: Toledo 8-28

8/28/2014

After a half-year dance around the issue, Toledo coach Matt Campbell named his starting quarterback this week — and he made the right call.

In choosing Phillip Ely, an Alabama transfer, Campbell picked the UT quarterback with the highest ceiling but also the highest floor.

Toledo has the best idea of what it will get from Ely, who brings a certain degree of comfort to a Toledo team that expects to win this season.

Michael Julian and Logan Woodside will have their days at some point, but the current group of Rockets can't afford growing pains at quarterback.

New Hampshire is ranked No. 4 in FCS and has national championship hopes, and UT's schedule only will become more difficult from there.

Ely has been part of a college program for four years.

He won't be surprised by anything on the field or off, and his adjustment period will be virtually nil. Ely's laid-back demeanor masks what a quick decision-maker he is, a savvy that his teammates respect. He's not always vocal, but what he says matters to his teammates. As a quarterback, that counts.

With only 12 opportunities in a regular season, so much about college football is having the correct timing. Championship teams play the right players at the right times.

Toledo made its first such decision in Ely. It was the correct one.

Contact Nicholas Piotrowicz at: npiotrowicz@theblade.com, 724-6110, or on Twitter @NickPiotrowicz