SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Toledo Rockets nearly pulled off one of the biggest victories in their 105 years of football, but came up three points short, falling to No. 7 Notre Dame, 32-29, before 62,009 fans at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend on Saturday.
     The Rockets took a 29-24 lead with 1:35 left when redshirt freshman quarterback Dequan Finn bolted for a 26-yard touchdown on third-and-one. Notre Dame came right back and took the lead on an 18-yard TD pass from Jack Coan to Michael Mayer with 1:09 left. Kyren William caught the two-point conversion to put the Fighting Irish ahead, 32-29.
     Toledo had one last chance but the game ended when a Carter Bradley fumble on a sack at the UT 29-yard line was recovered by Notre Dame.
     Toledo's defense held Notre Dame in check most of the game, racking up three turnovers, six sacks and five pass breakups. Junior cornerback Chris McDonald had a pick-six late in the first half and junior lineman Terrance Taylor had a pair of sacks.
     Sophomore quarterback Carter Bradley completed 18-of-28 passes for 221 yards and one touchdown. His top target was sophomore Devin Maddox, who had a career-high nine receptions for 135 yards. Junior Bryant Koback paced the rushing attack with 114 yards on 21 carries.
    "When you play a Top 10 team like Notre Dame, you try to throw punches, take punches and try to be there at the end and try to win," said Head Coach Jason Candle. "I thought our team was able to accomplish that but just came up a little bit short. I'm really proud of our team, the fight in that locker room and our coaches sticking with a good plan throughout the entire 60 minutes. We have nothing to hang our heads about and we should come away from this with some confidence moving forward. I like the direction we're going.
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   "It was back and forth right to the end and I think both teams thought they had it won once or twice. That's the beauty of college football. That's the pageantry we all have missed and what we love about our great game."
First Quarter
     Notre Dame won the coin toss and elected to take the ball. The Irish moved down the field methodically, taking six plays to go 75 yards for the opening touchdown. Michael Mayer caught a four-yard pass for the score. Toledo countered with a 31-yard Thomas Cluckey field goal that set up by a 66-yard completion from Carter Bradley to Devin Maddox. Toledo's defense set up the next score when freshman cornerback Quinyon Mitchell forced a fumbled from Irish quarterback Jack Coan on a sack and recovered the fumble. The Rockets settled for a 32-yard field goal to narrow the Notre Dame lead to 7-6 with 4:14 left in the quarter.
Second Quarter
     Notre Dame extended its lead to 14-6 when Kyren Williams broke loose for a 43-yard TD run early in the second quarter. Toledo's defense then came through with two big plays to end the half. Dyontae Johnson stopped Chris Tyree for no gain on fourth-and-one from the UT 40-Yard line. The Rockets converted that into three more points on a 23-yard field goal by Cluckey with 1:04 to play in the half. On Notre Dame's ensuing possession, Chris McDonald picked off a Coan pass and took it into the endzone from 27 yards out, giving the Rockets a 16-14 halftime lead. The Irish attempted a Hail Mary with no time left in the quarter, but Coan's pass to Mayer was broken up by a swarm of blue.
Third Quarter
     Toledo defense stopped Notre Dame on its first two drives of the half, forcing a missed 55-yard field-goal attempt on the Irish's second possession. But the Rockets also came up empty on their three possessions in the quarter.
Fourth Quarter
     The Rockets stopped Notre Dame's first drive of the quarter thanks to a sack by Jamal Hines and Desjuan Johnson, forcing the Irish to settle for a 48-yard field goal that game them a 17-16 lead with 12:25 left. After a Toledo punt, Notre Dame struck on the next play from scrimmage with a 55-yard touchdown pass along the sidelines from Tyler Buchner to Chris Tyree, pushing the Irish lead to 24-16. Toledo responded with a six-play drive that culminated with an eight-yard shovel pass from Bradley to Koback. The two-point conversion was no good, leaving Notre Dame with a 24-22 edge with 7:48 to play. Notre Dame was moving down the field when junior defensive lineman Desjuan Johnson forced a fumbled that was recovered by Zachary Ford at the UT 27-yard line. Toledo moved into Notre Dame territory when on third-and-one from the 26-yard line, Dequan Finn called his own number and took into the end zone with 1:40 to play to give Toledo a 29-24 lead. Notre Dame needed just 26 seconds to score in three plays. The two-point conversion made it 32-29. Toledo's final drive ended when Bradley fumbled on a sack and the Irish recovered.
Up Next
     The Rockets return home next Saturday to host Colorado State (4:00 p.m./ESPNU).
Head Coach Jason Candle post-game.
Sophomore Carter Bradley post-game.
Sophomore Chris McDonald post-game.
