Rockets Stop Falcons in 2020 Season Opener

Wednesday, November 4

Toledo, Ohio

8:00 pm

Bowling Green State University

0-1 , 0-1

Toledo

1-0 , 1-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Bowling Green

TOLEDO

Photo by: Isaiah Vazquez/BGSU Athletics

November 04, 2020 | Football

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Fast start leads UT to 38-3 win

By: TOLEDO, Ohio (BGSU Strategic Communications)

The University of Toledo capitalized on a short field to score a pair of early touchdowns, and the Rockets went on to post a 38-3 win over the Bowling Green State University football team at the Glass Bowl Wednesday night (Nov. 4).

The game was the 2020 season opener for both teams. The Falcons and Rockets entered the evening's festivities deadlocked, 40-40-4, in the all-time series.

After the fast start by the Rockets, the BGSU defense held UT in check over the remainder of the first half. Toledo found the end zone on three-straight possessions to begin the game, but the Falcons stopped the Rockets on downs on the next possession before forcing four-straight punts. The last three of those drives all were three-and-out possessions for the Rockets, with BG allowing UT to gain a total of just seven yards on those three drives.

But, the early deficit proved to be too much for the Falcons to overcome. The Rockets would add a touchdown in the third quarter and another 10 points in the fourth.

UT quarterback Eli Peters threw for 214 yards and four touchdowns, including three in the opening quarter. Shakif Seymour scored the Rockets' final TD on a fourth-quarter run.

HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER
• On his second play as a Falcon, redshirt junior Matt McDonald found redshirt sophomore Julian Ortega-Jones for a 7-yard gain and his first completion in a BGSU uniform. A third-down pass, however, was broken up, and the Falcons were forced to punt it away. An errant snap forced redshirt senior Matt Naranjo to chase the ball down in his own end zone. Naranjo, on the run, was able to punt the ball away, but Toledo had great field position for the Rockets' opening drive.
• On a fourth-and-goal play from the 2-yard line, Eli Peters found Bryant Koback for a touchdown. The PAT try was no good, but the hosts had a 6-0 lead after the 21-yard drive.
• The next BGSU drive saw Nate Bauer come up with an interception on a third-down play. Bauer returned the pick 19 yards to the BG 25. Six plays later, Peters found Devin Maddox for a 12-yard scoring toss. This time, the extra-point attempt was good.
• Redshirt junior Andrew Clair went up the middle for 13 yards on the second play of the ensuing drive, giving the Falcons a first down at the BG 39-yard line. McDonald found redshirt freshman Tyrone Broden for a 24-yard pickup, but Broden fumbled and the Rockets recovered at the UT 25.
• Shakif Seymour and the hosts kept the ball on the ground to move into BG territory, and back-to-back passes, including an an 18-yard scoring toss to Jerjuan Newton, capped the drive. A two-point conversion attempt was successful, as Peters found Bryce Mitchell for a 21-0 lead.
• The next UT drive saw junior Karl Brooks sack Peters, forcing a fumble, but the Rockets were able to recover the ball and a penalty on the Falcons negated the play.

SECOND QUARTER
• The BG defense forced the Rockets to turn the ball over on downs, as a fourth-down pass was incomplete for the Rockets on the first play of the second quarter.
• Naranjo's 58-yard punt put the Rockets at their own 14-yard line to begin their next drive.
• The Falcons forced UT to punt the ball back, and BG picked up first downs on back-to-back plays. McDonald found senior Quintin Morris for a 16-yard gain, and the very next play saw redshirt senior Bryson Denley rush for 12 yards.
• A pass to Ortega-Jones gave the Falcons a 12-yard pickup and a first down in UT territory, but the Rockets held, and a fourth-down play came up a yard short of the first-down marker for the Brown and Orange.
• The BG defense forced a three-and-out, and a poor UT punt gave the Falcons the ball at the Rockets' 42-yard line. But, BG was forced to kick the ball back to the hosts.
• The next drive saw redshirt senior Isaiah Johnson-Mack chase down Peters from behind on a third-down play, forcing the Gold and Blue to punt the ball once again. But, McDonald was hit as he threw on the very next play, resulting in an interception that gave UT the ball near midfield.
• Again, however, the BG defense rose to the challenge, as sophomore Darren Anders and redshirt freshman Jevon Henderson stopped Koback for a loss of two yards on a third-down play. UT was held to a three-and-out for the third-straight drive, and the Rockets were forced to punt for the fourth consecutive drive.

THIRD QUARTER
• The Rockets moved the ball on the opening drive of the second half, but as Peters ran into BG territory, redshirt junior Sy Dabney knocked the ball away and Anders recovered at the BGSU 7-yard line.
• Two Clair rushes gave the Falcons a first down, and a third-down scramble by McDonald gave the Brown and Orange another set of downs to work with. A UT penalty on the run gave BG the ball at the Falcons' 45-yard line. But, the drive stalled near midfield. Naranjo's punt pinned the Rockets inside their own 10-yard line.
• On the next drive, the Rockets scored for the first time since midway through the first quarter, on a Peters to Mitchell 42-yard catch-and-run play.
• The first play of the ensuing drive saw McDonald take off for a 24-yard gain into UT territory. The very next play was a flea-flicker, with McDonald finding Ortega-Jones for a 42-yard gain. The drive culminated with a 25-yard field goal by redshirt senior Nate Needham.
• BGSU came up with a defensive stop, as redshirt junior Jerry Roberts and freshman Jordan Porter stopped Seymour on a fourth-and-1 play at the BG 26 with less than a minute remaining in the quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER
• The Rockets' first drive of the final period resulted in a three-and-out, but after a BG punt, the hosts extended the lead on Seymour's 6-yard run.
• Trevon Raymore carried the ball on the first two plays of BG's next drive, gaining a total of 16 yards, and McDonald then hit redshirt soph Noah Massey on a crossing route for 21 more. But, the Falcons turned the ball over on downs.
• Toledo kept the ball on the ground for the bulk of the next drive, and that time-consuming possession culminated in a Thomas Cluckey field goal that closed the scoring with 2:32 to go.

NOTES
• The Falcons were opening the season against the arch-rivals from the north for the first time since 1919. That 1919 game was the first game in the history of the BGSU program.
• Wednesday's contest was the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams. Bowling Green last faced the Glass City squad in a league opener in 2012. That year, the Falcons lost a two-score game on the road before winning their next five MAC games.
• The Falcons had nine first-time starters on Wednesday night. That list included Tyrone Broden, Matt McDonald, Presley Motes, Cameron Stage and Joe Ware on offense, and Darren Anders, Diata Burns, Sy Dabney and Jordan Murphy on defense.
• Anders led the Falcons with a career-high 11 tackles, while Jerry Roberts had 10 tackles and Caleb Biggers and Jordan Anderson nine apiece. Roberts, like Anders, set a new career best, while Biggers tied his career-best total for tackles.
• Diata Burns recorded a tackle for loss on a UT first-quarter drive.
• Freshman DL Anthony Hawkins batted down a second-quarter UT pass at the line of scrimmage.
• After UT's fast start, the BG defense thwarted the Rocket offense on the final five drives of the first half. UT turned the ball over on downs, then punted on four-straight drives. The Rockets went three-and-out on their final three drives of the half, gaining a total of just seven yards on those last three drives.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons will play the first of five intra-divisional games on Tuesday (Nov. 10), hosting Kent State University. That game, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Perry Stadium, will be televised on ESPN2.

Gallery: (11-4-2020) Football at Toledo - Nov. 4, 2020