No. 25 Fresno State at Toledo
Toledo, OH ? Glass Bowl
Sept. 20, 2008
Toledo played its fifth career overtime contest vs. nationally-ranked Fresno State this evening and suffered its second loss in those games.
vs. Fresno State, L, 54-55 (9/20/08), 2OT
vs. Kansas, W, 37-31 (9/15/06), 2OT
at Iowa State, L, 43-45 (8/31/06), 3OT
vs. Bowling Green, W, 44-41 (11/22/05), 2OT
vs. Nevada, W, 40-37 (12/14/95) Las Vegas Bowl
The Rockets (54 pts.) and the Bulldogs (55 pts.) combined for a Glass Bowl record 109 points. The previous record was 91 points from UT (70 pts.) and NIU (21 pts.) on Oct. 27, 2007.
Toledo scored a season-high 54 points. It marked the 32nd-time in Head Coach Tom Amstutz's tenure (90 career games) that the Rockets have tallied at-least 40 points in a game. UT is now 29-3 in those contests.
UT's 54 points scored are the most in a loss in school history. The previous high was 45 points at Marshall in the MAC Championship Game on Dec. 7, 2002.
Toledo finished the game with 598 yards of total offense (301 passing, 297 rushing). The Rockets had 178 more yards of total offense than Fresno State (420 total, 231 passing, 189 rushing).
With tonight's setback, the Rockets fall to 43-7 in the last 50 games in the Glass Bowl. The streak goes back to the middle of the 1999 season. Since 2003, the Rockets are 24-6 in the Glass Bowl.
Tonight's one-point loss was UT's first against a ranked opponent at home (4-1 mark). It also served as the Rockets' first meeting against a ranked team since the 2004 season. UT falls to 6-8 all time against ranked competition.
Junior RB DaJuane Collins rushed the ball 15 times for 138 yards (9.2 ypc) and two touchdowns. This marked Collins' fourth career 100-yard effort and second this season.
Redshirt freshman RB Morgan Williams carried the ball a career-high 23 times for a collegiate-best 142 yards (6.2 ypc) and one touchdown. It was Williams' first career 100-yard game.
The Rockets finished the game with 297 yards rushing and had two 100 yard runners. The last time UT had two players gain at least 100 yards occurred against Northern Illinois on Oct. 27, 2007 when Jalen Parmele had 106 yards and Collins accumulated 132 yards.
Junior QB Aaron Opelt finished 22-of-41 for 265 yards and three touchdowns. Over the last two games, Opelt has six TD tosses.
Senior TE John Allen hauled in a career-high eight catches for 93 yards and two scores. It was Allen's first TD receptions since his freshman year when he had five.
Redshirt freshman P Bill Klaus punted the ball three times for 34.7 yards per punt, including a career-long 49-yard boot in the first quarter. Klaus also completed his first collegiate pass on a fake punt for 12 yards to Barry Church in the second period.
Junior PK Alex Steigerwald booted a pair of fields covering 37 yards (third quarter) and 33 yards (fourth quarter) and has now made a MAC record 20-straight field goals. Steigerwald's career field-goal percentage is 96.2 percent (25-of-26).
Senior FS Tyrrell Herbert was credited with a career-high 14 tackles, including his first career sack, good for a six-yard loss.
Junior SS Barry Church finished with 10 stops, marking his sixth career-game with double-digit tackles. After three games, Church leads the team with 27 tackles.
Junior WR Stephen Williams had six catches for a game-high 114 yards and two TDs. With the two TD receptions, Williams moves into a five-way tie with teammate Nick Moore for ninth place in school history with 12 career TD catches.
Sophomore CB Desmond Marrow recovered an on-side kick in the fourth quarter and was also credited with a forced fumble.
Toledo was a perfect 6-of-6 in red-zone chances tonight and for the season is 12-of-14 (.857).
For the second-consecutive game, the Rockets started the game with a two tight-end set (John Allen and Tom Burzine).
