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Rockets mauled 49-24 by Pinkel’s Tigers

UT quarterback Ely injured as Toledo falls to No. 24 Missouri

Blake Bacho, Sports Editor

The University of Toledo football program lost more than a nationally televised game Saturday afternoon in the Glass Bowl.

UT suffered a shakeup at the quarterback position during a 49-24 defeat at the hands of No. 24 Missouri when junior signal caller Phillip Ely went out with a knee injury late in the third quarter.

The injury will more than likely sideline Ely for next week’s matchup against Cincinnati, but Toledo head coach Matt Campbell wasn’t ready to go into anything concrete when he met with media after the loss.

“Right now I think it’s too early to give a final,” he said. “It doesn’t look good, that’s all I know.”

The time Ely spent on turf Saturday was not any more productive than his time in the locker room with UT’s trainers. The Alabama transfer finished the game with 204 yards, no touchdowns and an interception on 17-of-34 passing.

“Phillip started the game with some confidence, and I felt like he kind of had his highs and lows, not that consistency that he played with before,” Campbell said.

Toledo’s veteran offensive line was unable to keep their junior quarterback upright, allowing him to be sacked twice by Mizzou’s potent defensive unit.

The Rockets also fumbled the ball four times during the loss, losing both the position battle and the possession battle to Mizzou’s defense.

“They’re a very talented group, they played hard,” said UT senior center Greg Mancz. “They had some good defensive ends who were getting jumps and they had some good defensive tackles and they were getting good jumps.

“The coaches put us in the best position, we just didn’t execute well enough.”

The Rockets’ defense allowed Missouri to get on the board first with a 16-yard touchdown run from Mizzou junior running back Russell Hansbrough.

Toledo sophomore running back Kareem Hunt tied the score up on a 38-yard run less than six minutes later. Hunt finished with 148 yards and all three of his team’s touchdowns, but he and the Rockets didn’t record a second score against Mizzou until late in the third quarter.

“I’m pretty irritated,” Hunt said about the loss. “I think everybody played hard, but we didn’t execute in big situations and I feel like that hurt us a lot.”

Missouri sophomore quarterback Maty Mauk led his offense in a brutal hammering of the Rockets. Mauk finished 21-of-32 passing for 325 yards and five touchdowns, rushing for another 36 yards and a score.

“We’ve played a lot of good quarterbacks, but I think Maty Mauk is definitely up there,” said UT junior linebacker Chase Murdock. “He moves well in the pocket and he’s got a good offensive line in front of him and he’s also got some big receivers to catch the ball for him.”

Toledo entered halftime trailing Missouri 28-7, and the Rockets managed only 17 more points the rest of the day.

Sophomore quarterback Logan Woodside replaced Ely after UT’s starter stayed sprawled on the turf following a failed scramble. Woodside finished 6-of-10 for 52 yards during Toledo’s failed comeback attempt.

“I feel bad that [Toledo] lost their starting quarterback,” said Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel, who coached at UT from 1991 to 2000. “That’s always difficult, because we’ve had those things happen to us the last couple years.”

This was Toledo’s second loss in as many years to Pinkel, who admitted it wasn’t easy having to return to the Glass Bowl as an opponent.

“I’m glad this day is over with and we can move on,” he said. “I have some great memories here as well as some tough ones. We had some great games here and that helped us build the program at Toledo.

“The people here at UT are great.”

On top of Ely’s injury status, which Campbell will address during Monday’s media session, the Rockets will have to deal with a quick turnaround this week. Toledo will face the University of Cincinnati next Friday night at Paul Brown Stadium. Kick off is set for 7 p.m.

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