Akron, OH  - In their first game since Tom Amstutz announced his resignation, the Toledo Rockets lost to Akron, 47-30, at the Rubber Bowl Wednesday night. Amstutz announced on Monday that this would be his last season as the Rockets' head coach.

 

Rocket junior QB Aaron Opelt threw for 277 yards on 23-of-35 passing with three TDs but it wasn't enough to stop an Akron offense that piled up 458 yards of total offense. Junior WR Stephen Williams led all receivers with 10 catches for a season-high 136 yards and two scores.

 

Toledo (2-7, 1-4 MAC) rallied from a 21-point first-half deficit to cut the lead to 26-23 6:29 to play in the third quarter when Williams caught an eight-yard TD pass from Opelt. But Akron (5-4, 3-2 MAC) countered with touchdowns on its next three possessions to put the game away.

 

The Zips jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and took a 24-10 advantage into halftime. Jeremy Bruce capped a seven-play drive on Akron's opening possession with a 23-yard TD reception from QB Chris Jacquemain. After UT was stopped on its initial drive, Akron blocked a punt by Bill Claus and Aaron Williams recovered it in the back of the end zone to make the score 14-0.

 

Akron went up 21-0 on a 19-yard pass from Jacquemain to Merce Poindexterwith 4:22 to play in the first quarter.

 

Toledo fought back with a 28-yard field by Alex Steigerwald with four seconds left in the first quarter. The Rockets made it 21-10 on a six-yard run from Opelt on a busted play with 5:11 to play in half. The Zips capped the first-half scoring with a 23-yard field goal by Igor Iveljic with two seconds left in the first half.

 

The Rockets will be off until Nov. 15 when they travel to Kalamazoo for a West Division matchup at Western Michigan.