TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo outscored Western Michigan 35-7 in the second half to overcome a 10-point deficit and post a 49-31 win in its first Mid-American Conference game of the season at the Glass Bowl on Saturday.

The Rockets uncharacteristically committed three first-half turnovers and found themselves trailing 24-14 heading into the break. The second half was a different story, as Toledo outgained WMU 295-142 and forced three turnovers to turn the tide and cruise to a double-digit victory.

"I'm really proud of the fight our football team showed today," said Head Coach Jason Candle. "All across the board I thought we played a really good second half. We had a few guys who had to step up when the guy in front of them went down, and I thought they played really well. Some guys that started the year on the second team got their moment today and were bright stars in the game. We need to do better in certain phases of the game and address the tape, but we never apologize for wins and we're proud of getting one today."

Toledo (3-1, 1-0 MAC) put together its second-half comeback without starting quarterback Dequan Finn, who left the game early in the third quarter due to injury. In his place, sophomore QB Tucker Gleason led a high-powered offense that scored five second-half touchdowns.

Junior running back Peny Boone rushed for a career-high 211 yards and two scores, including 132 yards in the fourth quarter alone. Gleason completed 6-of-10 passes and threw for 109 yards and two touchdowns. Finn added 119 yards through the air and two scores before leaving the game. Senior wide receiver Jerjuan Newton caught four passes for 72 yards and a career-best three touchdowns, and redshirt freshman wide receiver Cooper Rusk caught a touchdown. Freshman running back Connor Walendzak scored his first-career collegiate touchdown as well.

Three Rockets tallied double-digit tackles on defense. Senior safety Nate Bauer and sophomore Emmanuel McNeil-Warren led the way with 13 tackles apiece, and junior linebacker Daniel Bolden added 12 stops. McNeil-Warren stuffed the box score with two pass breakups, an interception, and a forced fumble. Bauer forced a turnover too, a third-quarter fumble, and junior cornerback RJ Delancy III added an interception.

First Quarter

• Western Michigan took advantage of s short field when it recovered an on-side kick on the opening kickoff. The Broncos took 12 plays to go 53 yards, capped by a two-yard TD run by Jalen Buckley.
• After the teams traded interceptions, Toledo's Dequan Finn hit Jerjuan Newton for a six-yard TD to even the score.
• After a WMU punt, Finn connected with Newton again, this time from 34 yards out to give Toledo a 14-7 lead with four seconds left in the quarter.

Second Quarter

• After Toledo stopped WMU on fourth-and-goal from the two, the Broncos recovered a Toledo fumble on the UT 19-yard line and ran it in for the tying score at the 5:03 mark.
• Western took a 21-14 lead on a 38-yard run by Buckley with 58 seconds left in the half.
• The Broncos took advantage of a late interception to tack on a 36-yard field goal and take a 24-14 lead into halftime.

Third Quarter

• Finn was taken out of the game following a tackle on the first series of the second half.
• Following a pair of fumbles by both teams, Toledo went 88 yards in seven plays, culminating with a 20-yard TD pass from Tucker Gleason to Newton to cut the lead to 24-21 with 4:53 to play in the quarter.
• Toledo took advantage of a Western fumble to take a 28-24 lead, this time on a 16-yard TD pass from Gleason to Cooper Rusk.
• WMU seemingly retook the lead on a 32-yard reverse flea-flicker from Treyson Bourguet to Blake Bosma on the final play of the third quarter but the play was ruled out at the one-yard line following a replay review. An unsportsmanlike penalty on WMU moved the ball back to the 15-yard line.

Fourth Quarter

• WMU scored on the fourth play of the quarter on a one-yard run by CJ Hester to take a 31-28 lead.
• Toledo regained the lead on a one-yard run by freshman Connor Walendzak. The score was set up by a 54-yard run by Peny Boone that was fumbled and recovered by Larry Stephens on the one-yard line.
• Following an interception by Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Boone scored from 19 yards out to give Toledo a 42-31 lead.
• Boone added another touchdown, a two-yard plunge, with 2:01 to play to bring the score to 49-31, which would hold as the final.

• Toledo scored 35 second-half points, the most points it has scored in the second half since Nov. 15, 2017 when it scored 42 after halftime at Bowling Green.
• Dequan Finn threw for 119 yards, giving him 5,096 for his career and making him the 11^th Rocket to throw for at least 5,000 yards.
• Finn also threw for two touchdowns, giving him eight for the season and 49 for his career, which ranks fifth all-time at Toledo.
• Finn left the game in the third quarter after suffering an injury. He was replaced by sophomore Tucker Gleason, who completed 6-of-10 passes for 109 yards and two TDs.
• Jerjuan Newton's career-high three touchdown receptions gives him six for the year and 18 for his career, which ranks tied for 12^th in school history.
• Newton is the 10^th FBS wide receiver to have a three-touchdown game this season and the second MAC wide receiver, joining Miami's Gage Larvadain.
• Junior Peny Boone rushed for a career-high 211 yards and two touchdowns, the most yards by a Rocket since Bryant Koback rushed for 259 yards vs Eastern Michigan on Oct. 26, 2019. Boone moved over the 1,000-yard mark for his career (1,103 yards) including 258 yards at Maryland from 2020-21.
• Boone's performance was the 37^th 200-yard rushing game and the 19th best by a Rocket in program history. He accumulated the bulk of his yardage in the fourth quarter, rushing for 132 yards in the final period.
• Boone is the fourth FBS player to have a 200-yard rushing game and the first MAC player to reach that benchmark. His 211 rushing yards are the third-most in a game by an FBS player this year.
• Sophomore safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren had a career-high 13 tackles, a key fourth-quarter interception and two pass breakups. His previous best was five tackles vs. Texas Southern on Sept. 9.
• Senior safety Nate Bauer also had 13 tackles, besting his previous career high of nine which he achieved on two occasions.
• Junior linebacker Daniel Bolden posted a career-high 12 tackles, topping his previous career high of seven tackles against Central Michigan on Nov. 29, 2019.

Up Next

      The Rockets host Northern Illinois for Homecoming on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU.