Nov. 16, 2002

Final Stats| Quotes| Notes

From AP and UT staff reports

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - - Brian Jones threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a career-high 94 yards and another score on Saturday as Toledo defeated Western Michigan, 42-21.

The Rockets (7-3, 5-1 Mid-American Conference) never trailed but had to answer a strong third-quarter run by Western Michigan, which scored 21 straight points to draw within six.

The win kept the defending MAC champion Rockets in the running for a second consecutive title. But Toledo must win at Northern Illinois next week and Bowling Green on Nov. 30 to earn a share of the MAC West title and advance to the MAC Championship Game on Dec. 7.

Jones, who entered the game as the nation's leader in completion percentage (.771), threw scoring passes of 27 and 3 yards to help Toledo build a 27-0 first-half lead.

Jones also was the game's leading rusher, including a career-long 52-yard run in the second quarter. He also had a brilliant scramble on a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter.

Toledo turned the first of three Western Michigan turnovers into a field goal on its first possession, and scored three of the next five times it had the ball, including a 73-yard punt return by Donta Greene that gave the Rockets a 24-0 lead with 7:36 left in the second quarter.

Greene extended his streak to 29 straight games with at least one catch. He had eight for 70 yards.