FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Sophomore running back Bryant Koback rushed for a career-high 228 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead Toledo (2-1) to a 41-35 victory over Colorado State (1-3) in Fort Collins Saturday night in front of a national television audience.

      Koback rushed for 168 yards and three TDs in the third quarter alone, helping Toledo extend a 14-13 halftime lead to 35-27. His touchdown rushes went for 37, 75 and 47 yards. Koback also caught an eight-yard TD pass in the first quarter.

      Both offenses started out slowly, with Toledo only managing 172 yards of total offense in the first half. However, Koback caught fire in the third quarter and senior quarterback Mitchell Guadagni picked up the pace in the final 30 minutes. Guadagni finished with six-of-15 passing for 111 yards. He also rushed for 119 yards on 12 carries and scored one touchdown.

      The outcome of the game was not decided until the final play when a last-gasp pass by Colorado State from the Toledo 25-yard line was completed to E.J. Scott near the goal line. Scott was tackled by Jordan Fisher and DeDarallo Blue at the two-yard line as time ran out, giving Toledo the victory.

      "It's hard to win college football games," said head coach Jason Candle. "Going to a different time zone, I felt like that was going to be our biggest challenge and it was to a certain extent. We played a team and caught them in a good environment tonight. It's a physical team that has some playmakers, a tough running back and good running game. It's hard to stop. I give our kids a lot of credit. They fought till the very end in all three phases and did a good job getting the win."

First Quarter
      Colorado State got on the board on its first possession, marching 75 yards in 3:25 to take a 7-0 lead. The drive was capped on a six-yard TD pass from Patrick O'Brien to Warren Jackson. Toledo answered later in the quarter with an eight-yard TD pass from Gudagni to Koback, capping a 10-play, 60-yard drive.

Second Quarter
      The Rams took a 10-7 lead following a 40-yard field goal by Cayden Camper. Camper made it 13-7 later in the quarter with a 22-yarder. Toledo struck back quickly, taking a 14-13 lead on an eight-yard run by Guadagni with 6:22 left in the half. The score was set up by a 56-yard bomb from Guadagni to Bryce Mitchell.

Third Quarter
The third quarter was a scoring blitzkrieg, with the two teams combining for five touchdowns in the first 6:21 of the period. Toledo scored on the first three plays of the quarter to extend its lead to 21-13. Guadagni hit Danzel McKinley-Jones for a 29-yard completion, followed by a 37-yard TD run by Koback. CSU came right back, however, trimming the Rocket lead to 21-20 on a 74-yard bolt up the middle by Marvin Kinsey. On the very next play from scrimmage, Koback raced down the sideline for a 75-yard touchdown, pushing the lead back to 28-20. Kinsey answered with another rushing TD for the Rams, a 14-yarder that cut the lead back to one, 28-27, with 10:10 left in the quarter. Koback came right back to do it again, this time going 47 yards down the left sideline to make it 35-27.

Fourth Quarter
      Colorado State missed a chance to edge closer when its 35-yard field-goal attempt went wide left. Freshman Evan Davis provided the Rockets some breathing room with a 34-yard field goal with 6:20 remaining. The Rams crept to within a field goal, 38-35, with 4:33 remaining on O'Brien's one-yard plunge and a two-point conversion.  Toledo pulled ahead 41-35 on Davis' second field of the night, a 23-yard with 31 seconds left. Colorado State nearly came back to win, but wide receiver E.J. Scott was tackled at the two-yard line on the final play of the game following a 23-yard reception.

Up Next
      The Rockets return home to face BYU on Saturday in a noon kickoff at the Glass Bowl.