TOLEDO, Ohio - Senior quarterback Tucker Gleason threw for 294 yards and a career-best four touchdowns to help the Toledo Rockets rally from an early 10-0 deficit to score 45 straight points in a 45-10 victory over Kent State at the Glass Bowl on Saturday.
 
Gleason completed 21-of-28 passes and connected on scoring passes to four different receivers. Seniors Junior Vandeross III (eight receptions, 76 yards) and Trayvon Rudolph (five receptions, 119 yards) led the receiving corps. Senior running back Kenji Christian tallied a season-high 113 yards on 16 carries to lead the rushing attack.
 
Toledo (4-3, 2-2 MAC) outgained Kent State in total yards, 552-224. The Golden Flashes (2-5, 1-2 MAC),scored on their first play from scrimmage, a 75-yard touchdown reception, but had trouble moving the ball against the Rocket defense the rest of the way.
 
Senior Nasir Bowers led the Rockets' defense with eight tackles. Junior Braden Awls collected four tackles and an interception. Three other defenders – senior Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, senior Doran Ray, Jr. and junior K'Von Sherman totaled five tackles a piece.

Head Coach Jason Candle's comments
"All wins are good obviously. You don't rank them, but I think from our standpoint the strength is in the response. That's just how it is and that's life. That's football. When you get knocked down, you got to get up and fight. That's part of going through a college football season. So proud of our team to get up and fight."
 
First Quarter

• Kent State scored on the very first play from scrimmage, a 75-yard bomb from Dru DeShields to Cade Wolford.
• The Golden Flashes made it 10-0 on a 38-yard field goal by Will Hryszko with 7:33 to play in the quarter.
• Toledo struck back with a 58-yard TD pass from Tucker Gleason to Trayvon Rudolph to cut the lead to 10-7.

Second Quarter

• Dylan Cunanan's 28-yard field goal tied the score at 10-10 early the second quarter.
• Toledo took its first lead of the game on an 11-yard scoring toss from Gleason to freshman Ryder Treadway with 32 seconds left in the half.

Third Quarter

• Toledo padded its lead to 24-10 on a 21-yard pass over the middle from Gleason to Junior Vandeross III.
• Gleason struck again moments later, this time hitting Javon Brown for his fourth TD strike of the game.
• The Rockets made it 38-10 on a blocked punt and recovery by Eric Williams.

Fourth Quarter

• Reserve quarterback Kalieb Osborne entered the game and threw an 18-yard TD pass to Terrell Crosby, giving Toledo a 45-10 margin with 10:00 to play.

Up Next
The Rockets travel to Washington State for a non-conference game on Saturday, Oct. 25. Toledo will kick off against the Cougars at 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT on The CW.
 
Post-Game Notes

• Toledo is now 29-21 all-time vs. Kent State, including the last seven in a row.
• After giving up a 75-yard touchdown pass on the game's first play, the Toledo defense held Kent State to just 149 yards of total offense the rest of the way.
• Senior quarterback Tucker Gleason completed 21-of-28 passes for 294 yards and a career-high four touchdowns. It marked a Toledo QB's first four-touchdown passing effort since DeQuan Finn threw six against Kent State on Oct. 15, 2022.
• Gleason now has 48 career TD passes, moving past Chuck Ealey (45 from 1969-71) and Aaron Opelt (46 from 2006-09) for sixth-place all time among Toledo signal-callers.
• Gleason's 294 passing yards gives him 5,627 for his career, moving him past Tavares Bolden (5,417 from 1999-2001) and Chris Wallace (5,454 from 1995-98) for ninth on UT's all-time list.
• Senior running back Kenji Christian led the Rockets with 113 yards on 16 attempts, his first 100-yard rushing game as a Rocket. Christian got his first start at running back in place of the injured Chip Trayanum.
• Trayvon Rudolph's 119 receiving yards were his most as a Rocket and his 58-yard TD reception in the first quarter was his longest catch of the season.
• Freshman Ryder Treadway caught the first two passes of his career, including an 11-yard touchdown.
• A fifth receiver, Terrell Crosby, Jr., caught a touchdown pass from backup quarterback Kalieb Osborne in the fourth quarter. Those marked Osborne's first touchdown pass and Crosby's first receiving touchdowns of their respective careers.
• Eric Williams' blocked punt for a touchdown in the third quarter was Toledo's second blocked punt of the season (Isaac Zay vs. Akron, Sept. 27). It was Toledo's first blocked punt returned for a touchdown since Reggie Gilliam turned the trick vs. Nevada in 2018.
• Junior Vandeross III caught eight passes for 76 yards, passing Don Fair (1969-71) and Mel Long (1997-2000) for 12th all time with 178 career receptions. He also passed Long and Fair for 12th in career receiving yards, now with 2,195.
• The Rockets eclipsed 500 yards for the fourth time this season, with all four instances coming in the Glass Bowl.