TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo Rockets will close out the regular season against Central Michigan on Friday, Nov. 29 in Mount Pleasant, Mich. (Noon/ESPNU). With a win, the Rockets (6-5, 3-4 MAC) would be assured of a winning record in 2019, the 10th-consecutive winning campaign for the program.

The Rockets are coming off a 49-30 loss at Buffalo last Wednesday. The loss knocked Toledo out of contention for the Mid-American Conference West Division title. The Chippewas are still alive in the MAC West race. They need a win over the Rockets and a Western Michigan loss at Northern Illinois on Tuesday, Nov. 26. With a win at NIU or a CMU loss, WMU will win the MAC West Division and face Miami in the MAC Championship game on Saturday, Dec. 7.

    Toledo was unable to stop the Bulls' run game in the loss at Buffalo last week. The Rockets trailed by just eight points at halftime, 28-20, but UB outscored them 21-10 in the final 30 minutes. The Bulls racked up 503 yards of total offense, 331 on the ground. Jaret Patterson, the MAC's second-leading rusher, ran for 192 yards and scored five total touchdowns, four on the ground and one in the air.

    Central Michigan (7-4, 5-2 MAC) will be entering Friday's game with plenty of rest, having played just twice in the month of November. CMU's last game was a 45-44 win at Ball State on Nov. 16, its fifth win in six games. After winning just one game in 2018, first-year head coach Jim McElwain has Central Michigan in MAC West title contention. Running back Jonathan Ward is third in the MAC in rushing yards per game (107.6) and has rushed for at least 100 yards seven times. Wide receiver Kalil Pimpleton leads the MAC with 69 receptions and 738 receiving yards and has caught six TDs.

Toledo vs. Central Michigan

• TEAM RECORDS: 
    Toledo (6-5, 3-4 MAC)
    Central Michigan (7-4, 5-2 MAC)

• SERIES RECORD: Toledo leads, 26-18-3. The Rockets won at home last year, 51-13, and have won nine consecutive games in the series.

• THE COACHES: 
    Jason Candle, 34-18 (4th year) at Toledo, same overall. 3-0 vs. CMU.
    Jim McElwain, 7-4 (1st year) at CMU, same overall. 0-0 vs. Toledo.

• TV/STREAMING: ESPNU
  Play by Play: Jay Alter 
  Analyst: Rocky Boiman 

• ROCKET RADIO NETWORK: Pregame begins at 10:30 a.m.
   Play by Play: Brent Balbinot
    Analyst: Jack Miller
    Sideline: Mike Robinson

• WEB-AUDIO: Free live audio streaming of the UT Rocket Radio Network broadcast on UTRockets.com. 

• COACH'S SHOW: Coach Jason Candle and host Brent Balbinot talk Rocket Football every Monday beginning Aug. 26 from 6-7 p.m. at Stubborn Brother Pizza. Carried live on WSPD-AM1370 and UTRockets.com,  with live streaming video on the BCSN Now app.

• TWITTER: 
    @ToledoFB: Regular updates on Toledo  Football, live updates on Game Day.

Rocket Round-Up
    • Toledo (6-5, 3-4 MAC) is coming off a 49-20 defeat at Buffalo on Wednesday, Nov. 20. The loss eliminated Toledo from MAC West title contention.
    • Toledo leads the series with Central Michigan, 26-18-3, and has won nine in a row against CMU. The Rockets won last year at the Glass Bowl, 51-13.
    • Toledo ranks first in the MAC and 14th in the nation in rushing offense (237.4) and third in the MAC in total offense (450.3).
    • Bryant Koback rushed for 99 yards on 17 carries at Buffalo and became the 18th player in program history to reach 2,000 career rushing yards (2,082). He will soon be joined by teammate Shakif Seymour, who enters Friday's game with 1,995 career rushing yards.
    • Koback is third in the league and 15th in the nation with 1,165 rushing yards. That total ranks 15th on Toledo's all-time season rushing list.
    • Ronnie Jones is averaging 25.9 yards per kickoff return, second in the MAC. He had returns of 54 and 41 yards at Buffalo last week.
    • Junior Sam Womack (15) and freshman Chris McDonald (10) rank 1-2 in the MAC in passes broken up. Womack's total is second in the nation.
    • Toledo has used three different starters at quarterback this year due to injuries: Mitchell Guadagni (6), Eli Peters (4) and Carter Bradley (1).


Head Coach Jason Candle gives final thoughts on game against Buffalo; previews the upcoming matchup against Central Michigan.