Woodside breaks record as Rockets defeat BSU

Junior passes Gradkowski single season passing mark
Toledo, OH –It was Senior Night for Toledo but the evening belonged to junior quarterback Logan Woodside, who threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-19 Rocket victory over Ball State in a fog-filled Glass Bowl Wednesday night.
 
Woodside, who leads the nation with 40 TD passes, set the UT single-season passing yardage record with 3,653, breaking the previous mark of 3,518 set by Bruce Gradkowski in 2004. More importantly, the victory kept the Rockets (9-2, 6-1 MAC) in the hunt for the MAC West Division title and a showdown with division leader Western Michigan on Nov. 25.
 
Not to be overshadowed . . . 

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. . .  by Woodside, senior Kareem Hunt rushed for 107 yards and added a six  receptions and  a career-high 98 receiving yards. Hunt's 71-yard TD reception on the second play of the second half was his career long, and gave Toledo a comfortable 27-10 lead. Junior Cody Thompson also had six receptions for a game-high 105 yards and one score.
 
Toledo's defense held the Cardinals (4-7, 1-6 MAC) in check, limiting BSU to 393 yards of total offense. Seniors John Stepec and DeJuan Rogers led the Rockets with nine tackles apiece.

The Rockets came out firing, finding paydirt on their first possession after moving 93 yards in eight plays.  Jon'Vea Johnson finished the drive by snagging a 28-yard pass from Woodside at the right edge of the end zone to give UT a 7-0 lead. Later in the quarter, Corey Jones returned a punt 63 yards to make the score 14-0.
 
Toledo's next score came after defensive end Zach Quinn recovered a Cardinal fumble, setting up a 37-yard field goal by Jameson Vest.
 
Ball State got on the board with 10:40 left in the first half when Riley Neal hit Corey Lacanaria on a roll-out for a 10-yard score to cut the lead to 17-7. On the Cardinals' next possession, Morgan Hagee knocked down a 24-yard field goal to make the score 17-10. Toledo answered with a 37-yard field goal by Vest with no time left on the clock to take a 20-10 lead into the locker room.
 
Toledo wasted no time getting back on the board in the second half, as Woodside hit Hunt on a short pass on the second play from scrimmage and the senior took it 71 yards for the score. That put UT up, 27-10. That play also that moved Woodside ahead of Gradkowski on UT's all-time single-season list.
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After a Ball State three-and-out, Vest added three more points on a career-long 49 yard field goal to give the Rockets a substantial 30-10 lead midway through the third period.
 
Ball State trimmed the lead to 30-13 on a 37-yard field goal by Hagee, but UT came right back with a 42-yard bomb from Woodside to Cody Thompson to extend the lead to 37-13 late in the third quarter. BSU scored a late TD but failed on the two-point conversion to complete the scoring.
 
The Rockets will finish the regular season at Western Michigan (10-0, 6-0 MAC) on Friday, Nov. 25. Toledo will be playing for at least a share of the MAC West Division title. The winner of the game will represent the West Division at the MAC Championship Game in Detroit on Dec. 2.

Ball State will wrap up its season Tuesday, Nov. 22 at Miami, where the RedHawks will be seeking a sixth straight win that would make them bowl eligible and give them at least a piece of the MAC East title.