MUNCIE, Ind. – Toledo fell behind early and could never catch up in a 52-14 loss at Ball State in Muncie on Saturday. The loss puts Toledo (4-3, 1-2 MAC) two games behind the Cardinals (4-3, 3-0 MAC) in the MAC West Division race.

      Ball State led at halftime, 38-0, scoring 17 points in the first quarter and 21 in the second. The Rockets did not score until the third quarter when senior Ronnie Jones scored on a 44-yard touchdown run. Jones added another TD in the fourth quarter on a one-yard plunge into the end zone.

      The Rockets were playing without senior quarterback Mitchell Guadagni, who was injured in last week's game at Bowling Green. Redshirt freshman Carter Bradley started his first game as a collegian, throwing for 137 yards. Freshman DeQuan Finn also saw time, passing for 34 yards and rushing for 28 more.

First Quarter

      The first quarter belonged to Ball State. On their second drive of the game, the Cardinals cashed in on a 42-yard field goal by Ryan Rimmler. BSU made it 10-0 on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Drew Plitt that deflected out of the outstretched arms of UT safety Nate Bauer and into the hands of Riley Miller. The lead increased to 17-0 when Ball State connected on a double pass back to the quarterback, with Plitt converting on a 39-yard bomb to Miller with 2:17 left in the quarter.

Second Quarter

      The Cardinals reached into their bag of tricks again, scoring on a 51-yard double reverse by Malik Dunner to make it 24-0. Plitt then led BSU on an 11-play, 55-yard drive that was capped off by a three-yard run by Walter Fletcher to make it 31-0. Ball State capped off the half with a 36-yard TD pass from Plitt to Justin Hall to make it 38-0.

Third Quarter

    Senior Ronnie Jones got on the board with a 44-yard run on the opening drive of the half. Ball State came right back with a seven-play, 62-yard drive that hit paydirt on a 12-yard run by Hall. The Cardinals made it 52-7 on a 39-yard run by Malik Dunner with 1:53 to play in the quarter.

Fourth Quarter

      Finn entered the game in the final quarter and led the Rockets on a 14-play, 80-yard touchdown drive. Jones capped his two-score day with a one-yard TD with 35 seconds to play.

Up Next

      The Rockets return home to host Eastern Michigan in a 3:30 p.m. kickoff at the Glass Bowl on Oct. 26.


Head Coach Jason Candle post-game.