Football Drops MAC Opener At Toledo

TOLEDO, Ohio – Central Michigan got hit with a flurry in the second quarter and never fully recovered on Saturday in falling to Toledo, 38-17, in the Mid-American Conference opener for both schools at the Rockets' Glass Bowl.

CMU is 1-4, 0-1 MAC and entertains Ball State (2-3, 1-1) in a MAC game, and the Chippewas' homecoming, on Saturday, Oct. 8 (3:30 p.m.). Toledo is 3-2, 1-0.

Toledo scored four consecutive touchdowns in the second quarter in putting the Chippewas in a 31-3 halftime hole.

"Obviously, we're really disappointed," CMU coach Jim McElwain said. "Still think we have a pretty decent football team, just haven't been able to put it all together.

CMU, as it has done in all four of its losses this season, showed some life in the second half. The Chippewas forced a fumble and blocked two punts after halftime and drew to 31-17 on a Daniel Richardson-to-Joel Wilson 18-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter.

"I was proud of the way they came out after halftime," McElwain said. "We knew we had to create some things. They came out, they challenged themselves a little bit and you know what, they came up with some plays which is what's got to happen."

Down 28 points to start the third quarter, the Chippewas could not afford to squander scoring opportunities. And while they cashed in twice, they also came away empty on golden opportunities to draw even closer.

CMU drove to the Toledo 4-yard line before eventually fumbling the ball away; they then blocked a punt and took over at the Rocket 31-yard line, but then could not covert on fourth down at the Rocket 19.

"You just can't do that, but we're doing it and that's on me," McElwain said.

The Chippewas surrendered 447 yards. Toledo's dual-threat quarterback Dequan Finn threw for 186 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 84 yards.

"We knew we had to contain that quarterback going in (to the game) and he hurt us when he had to," McElwain said.

The Chippewas struggled on offense, rushing for just 33 yards.

Richardson completed 25 of his 46 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns. His other TD pass, covering 47 yards, went to Noah Koenigsknecht.

It was the first TD as a Chippewa for Koenigsknecht, a graduate transfer.

"Obviously this one hurts especially being the first conference game," Koenigsknecht said. "Stuff's there and we know stuff's there. We've got the right guys in the right spots. It's just small things that we'll tweak, we'll figure it out and get it corrected and we'll come back. No doubt in my mind. We've got the guys for it."

The Chippewas got a 42-yard field goal from Marshall Meeder in the first quarter to seize a 3-0 lead. Toledo answered with a 45-yard field goal, leaving the game tied, 3-3, after 15 minutes.

Finn tossed two touchdown passes and the Rockets got a pair of rushing TDs in the second quarter to seize command. One of the Rockets' scoring drives was set up when CMU fumbled deep in its own territory.

"There's some things we did decent," McElwain said. "I told (my players) I'm disappointed. I'm certainly not going to quit on them. We've got league games from here on out. … We've got to figure out how to go get a win."

Next Event

Team Stats

Daniel Richardson

Players Mentioned

Noah Koenigsknecht

Marshall Meeder

Daniel Richardson

Joel Wilson

Players Mentioned

Noah Koenigsknecht

Marshall Meeder

Daniel Richardson

Joel Wilson