KALAMAZOO. Mich -- Both teams lost their quarterback during first half action, but the offenses continued to have their moments Thursday as Toledo rallied behind sophomore QB Eli Peters to defeat hosting Western Michigan 51-24 Friday.
Facing a Broncos team that had not lost in conference play and was riding a six-game winning streak, Thursday’s tilt was probably a “must” game for UT, and it rose to the occasion.
Western Michigan standout quarterback Jon Wassink went down with a lower leg injury in the first quarter. He had thrown just four passes, completing two for 14 yards to that point.
Untested freshman Kaleb Eleby came in to take over, and shined in his debut. He completed 23-of-28 passes overall, good for 293 yards and two touchdowns with no picks.
Mitchell Guadagni was still at the held for Toledo, and the Rockets responded quickly with a nine-play drive that finished with Guadagni hitting Diontae Johnson on a two-yard score. UT would never trail again. The Rockets put three field goals on the board before intermission, while WMU scored one touchdown.
It was on the final field goal drive that Guadagni took a hit that knocked him out of the game. Eli Peters entered and took a hit himself on the next play, which drew a penalty and set up Jameson Vest’s 45-yard field goal.
Peters and the Rockets came roaring out in the second half as Toledo scored 21 straight points. Two of those scores came off passes -- one to Reggie Gilliam for 34 yards and one to Cody Thompson for 18 yards.
When Bryant Koback ran in from three yards out, the Rockets enjoyed a 44-17 lead with 9:25 left in the third quarter.
Western Michigan did get one touchdown back on a Jamauri Bogan 1-yard run at 4:43 of the third period, but the only score after that was an 8-yard strike from Peters to Thompson at 8:13 of the fourth quarter. Peters finished the night completing 8 of 14 for 107 yards and three touchdowns in basically one half of play.
Toledo helped him with a big night frmo the running game. Four players registered at least 48 yards rushing and the Rockets totaled 268 yards on the ground to go with 247 passing yards (Guadagni and Peters, who also combined for six passing TDs).
Freshman Bryant Koback led UT’s rushes with 10 carries for 99 yards. Thompson six catches for 63 yards and three scores paced Rocket receivers.
Bogan’s 10 carries for 66 yards and a score led Western Michigan’s ground game, which totaled 125 yards on 34 trips. Reed caught six balls for 103 yards with two Bronco touchdowns.
Junior linebacker Drake Spears notched
12 tackles (7 solo) for WMU, while senior LB Richard Oleknma led Toledo with nine hits (6 solo). The Rockets had five sacks and seven tackles for loss to help UT’s cause.