Live Blog: Football vs. Toledo ... on a Tuesday Night

FOURTH QUARTER

FINAL ... Toledo 30, Kent State 20

A good effort in the second half, but just not quite enough.

Strock led Kent State to one more first down on the final possession before being intercepted.

Strock finished with 67 yards on 9-of-18 passing, including two touchdowns and the one pick. He also had 71 rushing yards on 5 carries, including the 65-yarder in the third quarter.

0:58 ... Kent State has the football back, but needs a miracle with inside a minute to play and the ball at the Flashes 11.

The Flashes nearly caught a break, though, as another poor snap was fielded by Toledo punter Nick Ellis, who just got the kick away.

5:31 ... The Flashes have punted the ball back to the Rockets with only one time out remaining. They are counting on the Rockets not being able to do anything behind their backup quarterback.

Strock was nearly picked off on 3rd-and-10. He had Calhoun breaking open on a crossing pattern, but missed the receiver. Fortunately, the Rockets dropped their fourth pick of the half.


6:33 ... The Kent State defense has forced a punt. The Flashes keep throwing guys in, and they make plays. Freshman James Alexander dropped Toledo's Swanson for a 7-yard loss on third-and-9 to set up the kick.

This drive will start at the Flashes own 25-yard line. Time is working against Kent State. Need to score quickly.

9:39 ... Nathan Strock was marching the Flashes down the field again, but the young quarterback lost the handle of the football as he tucked the football away. Toledo recovered the football at its own 28.

Strock appeared to have an open field for about a 10-yard gain as he scrambled across the line of scrimmage. The ball just popped out.

12:10 ... Toledo offense is clearly not the same with redshirt freshman Michael Julian at quarterback and Josh Hendershot moving over from left tackle to center.

A quick three-and-out has given the ball back to Kent State.

13:15 ... Toledo 30, Kent State 20

Nathan Strock to Casey Pierce for a 2-yard touchdown has cut further into the Toledo lead. 

The Flashes tried for two to make it a one-possession game, but the pass attempt fell incomplete with Strock rolling to his right.

Strock is 5-for-9 for 27 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also has 75 rushing yards on 3 carries.

Good decision, I think, to go for two. With the way the Kent State offense has struggled, I think you take the shot at making it a one-possession game.

Toledo likely to continue with a backup quarterback and center in this fourth quarter.

THIRD QUARTER

0:00 ... Toledo still hasn't punted ... although the Rockets tried to punt in the final seconds of the third quarter. When the snap sailed over the head of punter Nick Ellis, the Flashes took over at the Toledo 25 yard line.

The Flashes will face a 2nd-and-8 from the Toledo 23 to open the fourth quarter.

1:58 ... Toledo 30, Kent State 14 

Finally a few fireworks from the Golden Flashes offense.

On their first play from scrimmage following a season-long 50-yard run by Holley, quarterback Nathan Strock gets a new long run for the Kent State offense, sprinting 65 yards before running out of gas at the Toledo 11.

Strock was nearly picked off on the very next play, but fortunately Toledo cornerback Trevon Mathis dropped the interception in the end zone.

Granted second life, Strock found a wide open Ernest Calhoun for a 4-yard score.

3:53 ... Toledo 30, Kent State 7

Toledo answered Kent State's lone touchdown with an 8-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Woodside's third touchdown pass of the day – a 2-yard connection with Kishon Wilcher.

A poor decision by Elcee Refuge helped Toledo on its way to the score. Refuge made a great open-field tackle early in the drive, dropping Terry Swanson for a 2-yard loss and setting up a 2nd-and-12, except Refuge made a throat-slashing motion that drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

The Flashes have been flagged six times for 59 yards tonight.

Total yardage is now 391-to-190 in favor of Toledo.

8:25 ... Toledo 23, Kent State 7

The Flashes are on the scoreboard thanks to a great individual effort by sophomore running back Nick Holley, who broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage on a 4th-and-1 carry, then found himself running free in the secondary on his way to a 50-yard touchdown.

Surprised to see Toledo sell out on the run they way it did on that fourth down considering the Flashes struggles in short yardage this season and their difficulty moving the football tonight.

11:20 ... Toledo 23, Kent State 0

The Rockets have added to their lead with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Woodside to Alonzo Russell. 

Toledo did suffer a potential blow as center Greg Mancz left the game with an injury.

Kent State will turn to Nathan Strock at quarterback on its next series.

Reardon is 10-for-23 for 96 yards and the one interception.

13:00 ... The Flashes need to get something going in this third quarter when they will have the benefit of the wind.

Unfortunately, the Flashes are not off to a good start to second half as Colin Reardon was just picked off by Toledo's Jordan Haden. The 13-yard return ended with a15-yard personal foul penalty against Toledo's Treyvon Hester, so the Rockets will begin their first drive of the third quarter at their own 48.

SECOND QUARTER

HALFTIME ... Toledo 16, Kent State 0

Safety Nate Holley was at risk for being ejected from the game for "targeting" a Toledo ballcarrier ... but only for a brief moment.

The officials took a look at the replay and must have realized how absurd the call was ... Holley harmlessly fell on the back of the Toledo player.

referee Jeff Maconaghy: "After further review, there is no penalty."

They finally got it right, but you have to wonder what the official who threw the flag saw in the first place.

The Flashes are fortunate to be in this one at halftime considering the Rockets have outgained them almost three-to-one (293-to-104) and had possession of the football almost twice as long (19:52-to-10:08).

1:35 ... The Flashes finally found a big play as Reardon hit Ernest Calhoun for 32 yards and a first down at the 40. But once again, the drive stalled in Toledo territory.

Kent State had another scary moment as Wayne Scott was attended to on the field late in the drive. Fortunately, the big left guard was able to walk off under his own power.

Terrell Johnson left with an apparent leg injury earlier in the game.

The injury to Scott led to sophomore Tad France seeing his first action of the year at left guard.

2:54 ... Toledo 16, Kent State 0

The differential in total yardage is now 280-to-69 in favor of Toledo after another long Rockets drive ending with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Woodside to Justin Olack.

The Flashes had a few chances to get off the field during the Rockets' 12-play, 82-yard drive, but couldn't get the stop they needed as Toledo faced four third downs. The big play was a 27-yard screen pass to Terry Swanson on 3rd-and-7 that could have gone for a long touchdown if not for the hustle of safety Nate Holley, who raced down Swanson at the 29.

12:42 ... Toledo 9, Kent State 0

The Rockets have outgained the Flashes 193-to-50, but the Kent State defense is limiting Toledo to just field goals. This last one was a season-long 45-yarder by Detmer. Kicked with the gusting wind, that last field goal would have been good from 55 or more.


15:00 ... The Kent State offense couldn't do anything with the first turnover of the game.

Toledo's Marc Remy lost the football on a sweep to the left, and Kent State's Nick Cuthbert recovered at the KSU 48.

FIRST QUARTER

4:46 ... Toledo 6, Kent State 0

The Golden Flashes are getting a bad whistle here in the early going. Officials missed what should have been a clear intentional grounding penalty on Toledo quarterback Logan Woodside, who threw into an area occupied only by two Rockets linemen as he avoided a sack.

On the next play, the Rockets had their drive extended by a phantom roughing the quarterback penalty. Nobody in the Kent State press box could figure out what Kent State's Elcee Refuge did to draw the penalty after watching instant replay.

Fortunately for Kent State, Toledo misfired on its next third-down throw and was forced to settle for a 28-yard Detmer field goal.

7:39 ... Penalties have spoiled a promising first drive by the Kent State offense.

After a 12-yard pass from Colin Reardon to Casey Pierce, the Flashes were set up with a 1st-and-10 at the Toledo 34. But back-to-back penalties on a false start by young wide receiver Kris White and immediately an illegal formation, both on first down, stalled the drive.

9:54 ... Toledo 3, Kent State 0

First drive for Toledo was a long 11-play, 66-yard march, but the Rockets were forced to settle for a 26-yard field goal by Jeremiah Detmer. 

Toledo faced a 3rd-and-3 from the Kent State 9, and appeared to have an easy throw and a catch opportunity with wide receiver Alonzo Russell finding a big cushion on the far side of the field. The Rockets passed on the quick throw for the first down as Logan Woodside lobbed the ball high for the 6-foot-4 wide receiver in the left corner. The ball sailed high.

With Terence Waugh getting the start at Leo and Dustyn Moore at wide receiver, the Flashes had their 18th and 19th first-time starter of the season.

PREGAME

7:59 p.m. ... Toledo won the toss and will receive the opening kickoff.

7:31 p.m. ... Toledo has worn similar white helmets before. According to the Toledo sports information department, tonight's helmets are a throwback to what the Rockets wore in 1963.

According to the Helmet Project website, the Rockets wore a blue version of this helmet with similar Rockets font in 1973. If that's true, it's been 40 years since the word "Rockets" last appeared on the Toledo helmet.

7:10 p.m. ... Rain is starting to fall here at Dix Stadium, and while it isn't coming down particularly hard at the moment, the conditions feel worse due to wind gusting 30 to 40 mph.

I was just talking to Record-Courier beat writer Allen Moff, and he said he wouldn't be surprised to see some crazy weather effects in this game ... maybe a punt sailing backwards?


6:59 p.m. ... Specialists for both teams are on the field for pre game. Strange to see Toledo in white from head to toe. Almost feels like a home game vs. Ohio University.

This is a rare visit from Toledo here at Dix Stadium.

The Rockets haven't won here in over 20 years going all the way back to 1993 – which was my first year of graduate school here at Kent State.

This is just

6:28 p.m. ... Kent State is relatively healthy coming into this game, although Nathan Puthoff is unlikely to play as Terrell Johnson will slide to the starting right guard spot. He could also see some action at tackle tonight as Jim Katusha should see more action this week.

At linebacker, Marcus Redmond is expected to miss another game this week with Marques Moore getting the start in his place.

6:10 p.m. ... The Toledo Rockets will be sporting a new look tonight with white helmets featuring a curved "ROCKETS" in blue letters.

Here's a look at the helmets courtesy of the Mid-American Conference's Phil Burwell:

5:58 p.m. ... For the second week in a row, ESPN3 has Kent State ahead and there are still two hours to go before kickoff.

Apparently the person running the ESPN3 telestrator is also a big Kojak fan.