Central Michigan University
2-3 , 0-1
Toledo
3-2 , 2-0
CMU Football Falls At Toledo, 42-28
9/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
Final Stats
TOLEDO, Ohio - Central Michigan hung tough and hung in, but in the end could not get over the hump.
Logan Woodside threw for a career-high 339 yards and two touchdowns Saturday as Toledo handed CMU a 42-28 loss in the Chippewas' Mid-American Conference opener at the Glass Bowl.
It was the third consecutive loss for CMU (2-3), while Toledo improved to 3-2, 2-0 MAC.
Woodside, a sophomore, completed 23-of-34 pass attempts and triggered an offense that finished with 543 yards and 29 first downs.
"We certainly had our opportunities," said CMU coach Dan Enos, who saw his team pull to within six points in the fourth quarter after trailing by 20 at one point in the third. "We didn't make enough plays and I thought their offense basically just played better than ours did, just made more plays the end of the day."
Wide receiver Titus Davis and running back Thomas Rawls returned to the CMU lineup and both made major contributions.
Davis, who had not played since a 20-16 win over Chattanooga in the season-opener, made six catches for 128 yards. Rawls, who missed the last two games, carried 17 times for 65 yards and scored two touchdowns.
CMU quarterback Cooper Rush completed 24-of-31 passes for 291 yards and two touchdowns, both to Jesse Kroll. Kroll finished with seven receptions for 83 yards, and the Chippewas gained a respectable 386 yards in total offense and collected 20 first downs.
"When we have all of our pieces together on offense, we can be very explosive, we can be very good," Enos said.
But when the Chippewas needed to put the clamps on the Toledo offense, they couldn't.
"At the end of the day our defense has got to play better," Enos said. "It was very disappointing the way our defense played today. We've got to get back to square one and play better on defense."
Down 20-7 at halftime, the Chippewas drew to 20-14 on a 4-yard Rush-to-Kroll touchdown pass to cap their first drive of the third quarter.
Toledo answered when Woodside hit Alonzo Russell with a 12-yard scoring strike to restore the Rockets' advantage to two TDs, 27-14.
On the ensuing kickoff, Toledo's Jeremiah Detmer hit a perfect chipshot onside kick that landed perfectly in teammate Christian Dukes' hands at midfield. Five plays later, Damon Jones-Moore scored on a 3-yard run to extend Toledo's lead to 34-14 with under two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
"Great play by them, great kick," Enos said. "(Detmer) put it in the perfect spot. … You've got to give them credit. I was very impressed with their kicker. He did a nice job. That was a perfect kick."
The Chippewas, however, rallied as Rawls scored on a 3-yard run with 3 seconds to play in the third quarter and on a 6-yarder midway through the fourth to draw CMU within 34-28.
The Rockets, however, responded with a textbook clock-consuming scoring drive, finishing it with a 12-yard Woodside run. Terry Swanson, who led Toledo with 97 yards on the ground, set up the TD with a back-breaking 41-yard gain to CMU's 14-yard line.
Toledo used nearly five minutes of precious game time on the drive and scored with under three minutes remaining.
"They made plays, that was the difference in the game," CMU safety Kevin King said. "As a defense we've got to kind of go back to square one, go back to our roots and get better, be as physical as we can this week.
"We've got to find ourselves and get ready for next week. When it's crunch time we just have to make plays, and that's something we need to improve on."
The Chippewas return home next Saturday to play Ohio in a MAC game at Kelly/Shorts Stadium. The Bobcats defeated Eastern Illinois, 34-19, on Saturday for their second consecutive victory. They are 3-2 overall, 1-0 MAC. Their conference victory came at Kent State, 17-14, in the first game of the season.
"There's a lot of season left," Kroll said. "We know that we can win out and we can still take the MAC. We're optimistic about the season. We're not going to hang our heads."
Team Stats
CMU 0, TOLEDO 3
TOLEDO - DETMER,Jeremiah 32 yd field goal 15 plays, 64 yards, TOP 4:51
CMU 7, TOLEDO 3
CMU - KROLL, Jesse 3 yd pass from RUSH, Cooper (EAVEY, Brian kick) 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:06
CMU 7, TOLEDO 6
TOLEDO - DETMER,Jeremiah 21 yd field goal 10 plays, 73 yards, TOP 5:16
CMU 7, TOLEDO 13
TOLEDO - SWANSON, Terry 3 yd run (DETMER,Jeremiah kick), 6 plays, 72 yards, TOP 2:57
CMU 7, TOLEDO 20
TOLEDO - RUSSELL, Alonzo 6 yd pass from WOODSIDE, Logan (DETMER,Jeremiah kick) 7 plays, 85 yards, TOP 2:18
CMU 14, TOLEDO 20
CMU - KROLL, Jesse 4 yd pass from RUSH, Cooper (EAVEY, Brian kick) 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:51
CMU 14, TOLEDO 27
TOLEDO - RUSSELL, Alonzo 12 yd pass from WOODSIDE, Logan (DETMER,Jeremiah kick) 5 plays, 35 yards, TOP 2:26
CMU 14, TOLEDO 34
TOLEDO - JONES-MOORE, D. 3 yd run (DETMER,Jeremiah kick), 5 plays, 50 yards, TOP 1:57
CMU 21, TOLEDO 34
CMU - RAWLS, Thomas 3 yd run (EAVEY, Brian kick), 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:41
CMU 28, TOLEDO 34
CMU - RAWLS, Thomas 6 yd run (EAVEY, Brian kick), 11 plays, 85 yards, TOP 5:44
CMU 28, TOLEDO 42
TOLEDO - WOODSIDE, Logan 12 yd run (JONES-MOORE, D. pass), 8 plays, 80 yards, TOP 4:48
