Every year, you could list the candidates for starting quarterback at Toledo and never mention Logan Woodside\u2019s name. That might offend some players, but Woodside seems to take it in stride.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven going back to high school, nobody wanted me to play quarterback,\u201d he said. \u201cI just always told myself, ever since I was little, that I was going to play quarterback and I was going to be the best at it. Competition, I like it. It motivates me. I\u2019ve always had to do it my whole life. I don\u2019t know anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are few college football fans in the Midwest that don\u2019t know who Logan Woodside is these days. The 6-foot-2, 201-pound junior leads the nation in touchdown passes with 43 and is second nationally in pass efficiency. In another year, he might own virtually every Mid-American Conference passing record ever established. His career pass completion percentage of 65.4 ranks just behind Ben Roethlisberger (2001-03 at Miami, Ohio) in fourth place, three spots behind former Toledo slinger Bruce Gradkowski (2002-05).<\/p>\n
And that may be the only school record Gradkowski, the previous record holder in most categories, can hold on to.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s one of the better quarterbacks in the country this year,\u201d said Appalachian State coach Scott Satterfield, who is saddled with the responsibility of coming up with a game plan to counter Woodside in the third annual Raycom Media Camellia Bowl on Saturday night at Cramton Bowl. \u201cThe amount of touchdown passes they\u2019ve thrown this year is incredible. If you throw 43 in a career, you\u2019ve had a great career. To do that in one season is phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a freshman in 2013, the Toledo starting job at quarterback was safely in the hands of senior Terrance Owens until Owens suffered a knee injury in the third game of the season against Eastern Michigan. Enter Woodside, who had enrolled in school in January and was forced into action for the remainder of that game and three others that season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was definitely an experience I learned a lot from,\u201d Woodside said. \u201cI came in and did the best of my ability, but being 17 years old and playing at a Division I-A level as a true freshman at quarterback is pretty tough to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was kind of thrown into the fire, so I had to learn quick and adapt to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the next year, you might think Woodside\u2019s game action behind the departing Owens might earn him a position, but the starting role was reserved for Phillip Ely, a transfer from Alabama who had a pair of national championship rings from 2011 and 2012 and had sat out 2013 to comply with NCAA transfer rules.<\/p>\n
Once again, in the second game of the season, an injured knee, this time by Ely against Missouri, thrust Woodside into a starting role for the remainder of the season. He completed 185 of 296 passes for 2,263 yards and 19 touchdowns with eight interceptions, but it didn\u2019t matter. Once again, he was going to back up Ely in 2015.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was thrown into action unfairly as a freshman due to injury,\u201d Toledo coach Jason Candle said. \u201cWhen you recruit a quarterback, you don\u2019t ever want them to play as freshmen and he had to. The same thing happened to him as a sophomore. He\u2019s a guy who lost the job to Phillip Ely two years in a row. Having to tell that kid two years in a row you\u2019re not going to be the quarterback, I think a lot of young people in today\u2019s world would have bagged it and quit, transferred and looked for the next opportunity, chased greener grass.\u201d<\/p>\n
Woodside shrugs at the suggestion, as if leaving would be the last thing on the mind of a true competitor.<\/p>\n
\u201cMe and Phil have a great relationship,\u201d Woodside said. \u201cWe still talk. I didn\u2019t really ever take it (the wrong way). I just used it as motivation for me to be the best player that I could and to prove to people that I could play and be one of the best to play at the school.\u201d<\/p>\n
That second year as Ely\u2019s backup (2015), Woodside was redshirted to allow him to gain an extra year of eligibility. With junior Michael Julian playing in four games as Ely\u2019s backup in 2015, Woodside wasn\u2019t guaranteed anything this season, either. He entered preseason camp listed as a co-starter with Julian.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a unique situation,\u201d Woodside said. \u201cYou can\u2019t really dwell on it. The only thing I tried to do is take it one day at a time and get better in practice. I had a lot of support from my family and teammates. I just tried to be a team player, knowing I would get an opportunity again.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the opportunity came, he didn\u2019t disappoint. The Frankfort, Ky., native has completed at least 23 passes in nine games this season and has thrown at least three touchdown passes in every game. Three times this season, he has completed more than 75 percent of his passes.<\/p>\n
And, of course, there are those 43 touchdown passes this season, 15 less than the NCAA-record 58 thrown by Hawaii\u2019s Colt Brennan in 2006, but 14 more than the school record Gradkowski threw in 2003 and again in 2005.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith all the hard work I had put in and the offense I had been around for four years, I knew that I could play well,\u201d Woodside said. \u201cTo say I would go out and throw 43 touchdowns through 12 games? No, I didn\u2019t think that. I set a goal at 30. It\u2019s all the credit to the offensive line and all the great receivers that we have. I just get them the ball and they do the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n
And while that sounds like the type of answer you\u2019d get from a quarterback who has patiently waited for this time, Satterfield is quick to point out Woodside has plenty of weapons at his disposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cNumber one, their offensive line is really good,\u201d the Appalachian State coach said. \u201cI think they have an outstanding running back. When you have a running game like that, you\u2019re able to have the defense suck up and now you\u2019ve got some free guys running down the field. The third thing is, they have some great skill. Their wide receivers and tight end are great pass catchers and route runners and they keep you on your toes defensively.\u201d<\/p>\n
Candle, however, doesn\u2019t want people to lose sight of the fact that while other quarterbacks may have transferred for more playing time, Woodside\u2019s decision to buckle down and win the job made him a better quarterback.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want your quarterback to be as close to one as you can with the coaching staff,\u201d Candle said. \u201cOne thing you can say about Logan is he\u2019s never disrespected what the process of preparing for a game looks like and the amount of time and preparation it takes to play the most scrutinized position in sports. If you embrace that and if you prepare like a champion, good things are going to happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the credit really goes to him. We call the plays we call and he\u2019s got the ability to get us into good plays and out of bad ones and he certainly does a great job doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n
With three touchdown passes on Saturday, Woodside can tie the MAC single-season touchdown record set last year by Bowling Green\u2019s Matt Johnson, but he isn\u2019t thinking about personal accolades. As usual, he\u2019s thinking about being the best teammate possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to go out and compete one last time with the seniors, a lot of my friends, just to try and get them a win one more time,\u201d Woodside said. \u201cAppalachian State is a really good defense. They take the ball over (through turnovers) a lot. We just have to limit turnovers and just have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Every year, you could list the candidates for starting quarterback at Toledo and never mention Logan Woodside\u2019s name. That might offend some players, but Woodside seems to take it in stride. \u201cEven going back to high school, nobody wanted me to play quarterback,\u201d he said. \u201cI just always told myself, ever since I was little, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n