TOLEDO - Western Michigan shot down Toledo with a 58-26 victory before a disappointed Homecoming crowd at the Glass Bowl Saturday night.
Western Michigan (3-3, 2-1 MAC) charged out to a 20-0 lead before many of the 18,029 fans had even settled into their seats and the Rockets never recovered.
On its first play from scrimmage, WMU quarterback Tim Hiller hit Jordan White for a 54-yard TD pass. After Toledo was forced to punt on a three-and-out, the Broncos struck again on a five-play drive, capped by a 19-yard pass from Hiller to Jordan White. Toledo fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and this time the Broncos needed just three plays to score. Running back Brandon West hit Juan Nunez on a 12-yard halfback pass to put WMU up, 20-0, with 9:54 to play in the first quarter.
Toledo (3-3, 1-1 MAC) answered with consecutive field goals from Alex Steigerwald to close out the first quarter, but WMU scored three straight TDs in the second quarter to put the Broncos up, 41-6, and effectively put the game on ice. West scored two of the touchdowns on runs of 15 and 19 yards, sandwiched around a two-yard TD pass from Hiller to Nunez.
Toledo scored with eight seconds left in the first half on a six-yard pass from Austin Dantin to Eric Page to make the score 41-12 at halftime.
WMU scored on its first possession of the second half, while the Rockets put together a pair of touchdown drives in the half. Dantin connected with Stephen Williams for an 18-yard touchdown to complete an 11-play drive, and Dantin later found Matt Shumaker on an eight-yard score midway through the fourth quarter.
The Broncos were led by Hiller, who completed 16-of-26 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns. White led the receiving corps with five catches for 117 yards and two TDs. West rushed for 153 yards and three scores.
To make matters worse for Toledo, senior quarterback Aaron Opelt came out of the game with a shoulder injury in the second quarter. Dantin, a true freshman, finished out the game as the signal-caller. Opelt, whose status for next week is unknown, was 6-of-15 for 80 yards. Dantin was 17-of-28 for 160 yards and three TDs.
Stephen Williams led the Rockets with six catches and 59 yards receiving, while Morgan Williams tallied 97 yards on the ground to lead a Rockets rushing attack that churned up 209 yards. The Rockets gained 449 yards of offense and totaled 28 first downs in the loss.
The Rockets will return home next Saturday to host Northern Illinois at 7 p.m. in the Glass Bowl.
