It’s the era of college football where nothing feels sacred. Conferences can collapse in a year, century-long rivalries can suddenly fade into an abyss, and geography seemingly plays a smaller impact in a sport built on a foundational of regionality.
Head coach Eddie George may be brand new to Bowling Green this season, but the former Heisman Trophy winner and Tennessee Titans legend is a football historian, and he already is well-acquainted and adjusted to all of Bowling Green’s history and traditions.
One of those traditions is the annual Battle of I-75 rivalry against Toledo — arguably holding status as the greatest rivalry in the MAC. George will coach his first game against the Rockets on Saturday, Oct. 11 at Bowling Green’s home base of Doty-Perry Stadium.
“Excited about playing in this rivalry game against Toledo,” George said. “Been a fan of college football pretty much all my life and this one here is definitely in the top five of rivalry games. Of course, in my time at Ohio State, I played ‘the team up north’ and was at the Army-Navy game. This one here ranks right up there with that. So, to have had the opportunity to coach in this game is an honor. Thrilled to compete against ‘that team up north.’”
The campus is already prepared for the showdown between arch nemeses, as all “T”s are crossed out with orange tape on campus, ranging from speed limit signs to the names of university buildings — a page out of George’s alma mater Ohio’s State playbook, which crosses out “M”s leading up to its annual rivalry game vs. Michigan. Meanwhile, Toledo famously has a 2,000 pound rocket outside the Glass Bowl where, if launched by a solid propellent booster, would land directly on the 50-yard line of Doyt-Perry Stadium. It’s a rivalry fueled by pure hatred, and George recognizes that emotion supersedes all when the game kicks off.
“In these types of games, it doesn’t matter what you’re ranked, how many games you’ve won coming into this game, if you’re ranked number one in the country in run, pass, it doesn’t matter,” George said. “It’s always different whether it’s on the road, in the backyard, in any cornfield, in between here and Toledo, it does not matter.”
George’s claim has proven true. The underdog has won three of the last six meetings, with the Falcons triumphing despite status as 16.5-point underdogs in 2022 and 25.5-point underdogs in 2019. The Battle of I-75 Rivalry has also been subject to unlikely outcomes, as Toledo overcame an 18-point second half deficit to win in 2023 and erased a 21-point deficit in 2022 although Bowling Green recaptured the lead for a crunch time victory.
“It could be that added pressure,” George said as to why the rivalry rarely unfolds as expected. “I asked a couple guys on the staff, ‘Why has that been?’ We don’t know. I think it’s just less distractions. It could be a multitude of things. But the most important thing is that you’ve got to be present. You’ve got to stay locked in. You have to control the emotions of the game and control the momentum shifts as it happens, both good and bad, to stay even keeled and stay locked in throughout the course of the game.”
Drilling in the importance of the Battle of I-75 was a much easier task a decade ago, but this is a transient era of college football where rosters are largely rebuilt every year through the transfer portal — especially in Bowling Green’s case bringing in a new head coach. George brought up the idea of beating Toledo in his introductory press conference back in March, and he doesn’t want his players to lose sight of what’s been a defining characteristic of wearing the orange and brown since 1919.
“A lot of these guys haven’t played in this game last year,” George said. “There is a sprinkle here and there. There are coaches that have coached in it. I told my staff last week, I think it’s important for them to understand what they’re walking into. What it means to this university, what it means to this community. You look at, nowadays, with the transfer portal, there’s so much turnover in college football. Now almost nationwide, you kind of lost appreciation for the rivalries, because of the close proximity.”
Interestingly enough, Bowling Green has a golden opportunity to even the series in its 90th meeting with Toledo. The Rockets currently lead 43-42-4 after a one-side domination throughout the 2010s. George is eager about the opportunity to knot it up at 43 wins apiece and win consecutive matchups vs. Toledo for the first time since 2007-09.
“It’s important for these kids to understand, they’re part of something special. You’re standing on the shoulders of giants before you,” George said. “We’re playing for men who have worn this jersey before you, so you want to leave it better. We want to continue the tradition. We want to continue to keep the trophy here at Bowling Green. So, it matters. When you come to schools like this, you play in games for this particular reason, to play in games like this. We’re making a real emphasis for them to understand that, hey, this is an important game. This really means a lot to this university.”
One other item George has constantly preached — any player on the roster can become a program legend Saturday. Mention Ta’Ron Keith to any Bowling Green fan, and they’ll immediately tell you about his 42-yard reception with nine seconds left to stun Toledo in 2022. Or Jordan Oladokun, who was forever cemented in brown and orange last October for his two interceptions and a pick-six in a 41-26 victory. And you can’t forget walk-on quarterback Grant Loy, the unlikely hero of the massive 2019 upset who made his first start in the Battle of I-75 rivalry.
“In games like this, it’s just where legends are made,” George said. “That’s the reality if you look at it across the board, whether it’s Army-Navy, the Iron Bowl, The Game — you can pick any one of them and it’s where you play your best football. The Red River Shootout between Texas and Oklahoma. Both teams coming into that one, you just have no idea what’s going to happen because it’s so highly competitive and so many emotions are wrapped around it. So, I expressed to them that this is one that lasts a lifetime. It goes on forever. And I feel the pain. I still feel the pain of the ‘95 loss. You think about the what-ifs, and you don’t want to ever have that so there’s no regrets going into it. Our kids understand what it is. It’s been preached the moment that I’ve got here, the important emphasis around this one and what it means. Players that have played on my staff that are now coaches understand coaching this game. They’re enforcing that same message.”
