TOLEDO, Ohio – Senior quarterback Eli Peters threw for a career-high four touchdowns to lead the Toledo Rockets to a 38-3 victory over arch-rival Bowling Green in the season opener for both teams at the Glass Bowl Wednesday night. Toledo's defense forced three turnovers to help the Rockets return the Battle of I-75 trophy to Toledo.

"It was awesome night in the Glass Bowl for our team," said Head Coach Jason Candle. "We obviously had a unique set of challenges this offseason and starting the season out with a rivalry game and I'm really proud of our team for overcoming all that adversity. There were mistakes in all three phases, but there were a lot of good things there too."

Peters finished the night 20-of-32 for 214 yards and four touchdowns. He threw touchdowns to four different receivers. Junior Shakif Seymour paced the running attack with 93 yards and one touchdown on 13 carries.

"Our team stepped up in all facets of the game tonight," said Peters. "Hats off especially to our defense. It was a good team effort, but there are obviously still things to improve upon. It'll feel good to enter week two at 1-0."

Toledo's defense was impressive in the debut of defensive coordinator Vince Kehres. The Rockets held Bowling Green to 267 yards of offense, including just 111 in the first half. The Falcons completed just eight of 30 pass attempts and had two interceptions.

Toledo took advantage of Bowling Green turnovers and miscues to score three touchdowns in the first quarter. The Rockets tacked on scores in the third and fourth quarters to put the game away.

First Quarter

Toledo got on the board first thanks to a Bowling Green miscue on special teams. After the Falcons went three-and-out on their first possession, a bad snap sent punter Matt Naranjo into the end zone. He has able to get off a punt to the BG 27-yard-line that was returned to the 21. The Rockets then converted a two-yard touchdown pass from Peters to Koback on fourth down to give Toledo a 6-0 lead.

An interception by safety Nate Bauer set up another Peters' touchdown throw, this time a nine-yarder to Devin Maddox to make the score 13-0 with 8:05 left in the quarter. Another Falcon turnover lead to Toledo's next score. Sophomore cornerback Chris McDonald forced a fumble that was recovered by senior linebacker Jonathan Jones on the UT 25-yard line. Peters then led the Rockets on a seven-play drive that was capped off with an 18-yard touchdown pass to redshirt freshman Jerjuan Newton, the first of his career. Peters hit Bryce Mitchell for the two-point conversion to make the score 21-0.

Second Quarter

No scoring.

Third Quarter

Peters threw his career-best fourth touchdown of the night, this time a 42-yarder to Bryce Mitchell, who made a nifty cut inside near the 20-yard line to break free into the end zone and make the score 28-0 with 5:42 left in the quarter. Bowling Green then got on the board with a 25-yard field goal by Nate Needham.

Fourth Quarter

The Rockets tacked on seven more points on a six-yard run by Shakif Seymour to make the score 35-3 with 10:40 remaining. Sophomore Thomas Cluckey added a 19-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter to push Toledo's advantage to 38-3.

Up Next

The Rockets travel to Kalamazoo to face Western Michigan on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.


Highlights from Toledo's win over Bowling Green.


Head Coach Jason Candle Post-game. 


Senior Eli Peters Post-game. 


Senior Shakif Seymour Post-game. 


Senior Samuel Womack Post-game.