Rockets rebound

The University of Toledo’s football team squeezed out a 28-23 win over Central Michigan just one week after their first loss of the season.

The Rockets (8-1, 5-1 MAC) were led by junior running back Kareem Hunt who rushed for 113 yards on 20 carriers.

“I felt that I could help my team win the game if they just gave me the ball,” Hunt said. “I was feeling myself and wanted to help put my team in the position to win.”

Senior quarterback Phillip Ely had a solid performance tossing for 322 yards and two touchdowns on 23 of 39 passing.

Ely’s top target was senior Alonzo Russell who finished the night with 86 receiving yards on just four catches including a game-long 51-yard reception.

The Rockets finished the night with 490-yards of total offense.

The Chippewas (5-5, 4-2 MAC) were led by senior quarterback Cooper Rush. He finished with nearly 400 yards of total offense, including two touchdown passes and the game-ending interception.

Toledo won the toss and selected to receive to start the game. The Rockets opened up the game with a 12-play 70-yard drive capped off with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Ely to junior tight end Michael Roberts to jump out to an early 7-0 lead.

Toledo’s defense responded well, forcing the Chippewas to punt after just four plays.

Toledo jumped out to a 14-point lead after a 41-yard touchdown run by Hunt with 1:48 remaining in the first quarter.

Toledo kept the offensive momentum going into the second quarter with a quick three-play drive capped off with a 36-yard touchdown pass from Ely to freshman wide receiver Diontae Johnson.

Ely escaped the CMU pressure and rolled out to his right finding Johnson just seconds before being brought to the ground.

CMU answered the Toledo touchdown with three points of their own off of a 48-yard field goal from senior kicker Brian Eavey. Central could’ve gained more on their 10-play 51-yard drive but a 55-yard touchdown reception was called back due to a holding penalty.

The CMU defense came out fired up after the field goal and forced UT into a three and out. On the ensuing punt, junior punter Nick Ellis shanked the ball off the side of his foot giving the Chippewas ideal field position from the CMU 42.

The Rockets’ defense held CMU to a fourth-and-four from the Toledo 40-yard line but failed to stop the Chippewas, giving up a gain of 37 on the play. CMU would need just one more play to score.

Central’s junior running back Jay Roberson fumbled the ball on the one-yard line before being covered by offensive lineman Derek Edwards in the end zone for his first career touchdown, cutting the Toledo lead to 21-10 with just 3:45 left in the opening half.

After the break, Toledo’s defense came on the field to force the Chippewas into three-and-out to start the second half.

The Rockets offense struggled finishing their opening drive of the second half stalling out at the CMU 46-yard line.

The Chippewas would respond after the punt with their second touchdown of the night on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Rush to junior Corey Willis to cut the Toledo lead to 21-17. Central needed just six plays to cover 92-yards for the touchdown.

With the third-quarter touchdown grab, the Chippewas broke a UT streak of where the Rockets had yet to give up a touchdown in the third quarter.

Toledo responded well on the ensuing drive making their way inside the CMU 10.

The Rockets offense would get stuffed inside the five and was forced to attempt a 21-yard field goal that freshman kicker Jameson Vest pushed just wide right.

After the missed field goal CMU drove the length of the field all the way down to the UT 2-yard line.

On first down the Chippewas were called for a pass interference call that backed them up 15-yards. The very next play, Ja’Wuan Woodley came up with a huge sack to pushing Rush and the Chippewas back to the 33.

Central was then forced to attempt a 51-yard field goal but Eavey’s kick came up just short to keep Toledo’s lead at 21-17.

On the ensuing Central possession, CMU moved the ball down the field before being stopped at the UT 47 on a third down and four. After a Toledo timeout the Chippewas decided to go for it on fourth down but CMU’s fourth down pass was broken up by senior defensive back DeJuan Rogers.

After getting away from the running game in the third quarter, offensive coordinator Jason Candle went with a heavy dosage of Hunt in the fourth quarter.

The junior running back finished off the 10-play 64-yard drive with a much needed 3-yard touchdown run to extend UT’s lead to 28-17 with 7:01 remaining in the game.

The Chippewas answered the Rocket touchdown with one of their own with a little help from the Zebras on the field. Cheatham Norrils got called for what looked like two very questionable pass interference calls, one that negated a Toledo interception.

Central scored just one play after the second pass interference called on Norrils making the game 28-13. The Chippewas elected to go for two but Rush’s pass attempt was no good with 3:26 remaining in the game.

Following the failed two-point conversion, Central attempted an onside kick in hopes to gain the ball back but the kick failed to travel ten yards and the Rockets recovered the football.

UT would milk as much clock as possible. Vest came on to attempt to put the Rockets up by seven with a 33-yard field goal but the kick sails wide for Vest second miss of the game with 21 seconds on the clock.

On the second play of the CMU drive Cheatham Norrils came down with the game-sealing interception to give UT its eighth win of the season.

The Rockets will travel to Bowling Green next Tuesday to take on the first-place MAC East division leaders in the battle of I-75 at 6 p.m. UT has won the previous five meetings against BGSU.