Rockets Pound Eagles 41-17

The Toledo Rockets won a road game for the first time since November of 2006 as they blasted the Eastern Michigan Eagles 41-17 in Ypsilanti, MI today.

Junior running back DaJuane Collins led the way as he rushed for 168 yards on 19 carries (8.8 ypc average) and scored two touchdowns. Redshirt freshman Morgan Williams added 35 yards (3.9 ypc average) and a touchdown, while true freshman Jake Walker accounted for 27 yards (5.4 ypc average). Williams and Walker played most of the 4th quarter, while the Rockets got some young players playing time after Toledo led 41-7 late in the 3rd quarter.

Junior QB Aaron Opelt was 8 of 18 passing for 114 yards and three touchdowns, along with one interception. Stephen Williams led the way through the air with 3 receptions for 48 yards and 2 TD's. Nick Moore had 2 receptions for 42 yards, while Robin Bailey had one catch for a 14 yard touchdown. John Allen and Sam Gaymon each caught one pass as well.

Toledo struggled offensively in the first half, as the pouring rain seemed to keep the Rocket offense out of sync. Toledo turned the ball over three times in the first half, two were fumbles. Despite the turnovers the Rockets led 14-7 at halftime.

The Rockets caught fire in the 3rd quarter, scoring 27 straight points to take a 41-7 lead with 2:27 left in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Williams rushed for his first collegiate touchdown on a 9 yard gain to make the score 41-7.

EMU started to move the ball a little in the 4th quarter with their starters playing against the 2nd and 3rd team Rocket defense. UT bent a little, but held Eastern Michigan to a 30 yard field goal with 12:18 left in the 4th to make the score 41-10.

Archie Donald intercepted two passes for Toledo, his first two interceptions of his career. He also added 5 tackles.

Barry Church led the defense with 10 tackles, 9 of them were solo tackles. Lester Richond also accounted for 6 tackles. MyShan Pettis and Derrick Summers each recovered fumbles for Toledo. Summers fumble recovery led to a DaJuane Collins TD, but was almost a touchdown for Summers. He scooped up the ball at the EMU 40 yard line and had no one near him, but tripped and fell down at the Eastern Michigan one yard line.

The Eagles scored a touchdown with 3:44 left in the 4th quarter to make it 41-17. The Rockets then ran the clock out to end the game.

Toledo (1-1 overall, 1-0 MAC) will host Fresno State at the Glass Bowl next Saturday night at 8:15pm. The game will be aired nationally on ESPNU. Fresno State is 1-0 after winning at Rutgers in the opening week, 24-7. They were idle last weekend and host Wisconsin later today.