At Mid-American Conference media day, University of Toledo coach Jason Candle stated it very simply.
There is no way around it — the Rockets must play great defensively to be as successful as they hope to be.
That may seem obvious. Toledo was 7-6 overall, 5-3 in the conference in part because of a defense that was in the bottom half of the league in scoring defense (eighth at 30.5 points per game) and total defense (ninth at 432.3 yards per game).
Toledo defensive coordinator Brian George said last season forced him to take a long look and a measured evaluation of what he wanted the defense to be.