Toledo Rockets vs UMass Minutemen Match Player Stats On Oct 24, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Oct 24, 2015

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- No. 19 Toledo spotted Massachusetts an 18-point halftime lead but roared back with a huge second half and posted a 51-35 victory over the Minutemen on Saturday at Gillette Stadium.

The Rockets (7-0, 4-0 Mid-American Conference), who scored 56 straight points to wipe out a 6-0 deficit against Eastern Michigan the previous week, trailed the Minutemen 28-10 at the half and then scored 38 consecutive points in the first 20:29 of the second half to blow it open.

Quarterback Philip Ely, who threw three interceptions in the first half, fired five touchdown passes, four of them in the second half -- with three of those coming during the third quarter when Toledo held UMass to one first down.

After the Rockets' 21-point third quarter, running back Terry Swanson scored on a 1-yard run 47 seconds into the fourth quarter to make it 38-28, and Ely then hit wide receiver Cody Thompson with a 31-yard scoring strike with 10:59 left.

UMass (1-6, 0-3) was attempting to pull off its first upset of a ranked team in school history. The Minutemen, in their fourth season on the FBS level, fell to 0-10 against teams in the Top 25.

Ely, who finished 26 of 47 for 355 yards, threw touchdown passes to four different receivers -- two of them to Thompson -- and Jameson Vest kicked three field goals for Toledo, which finished with 630 yards of total offense.

Swanson ran for 117 yards and his fifth touchdown of the season for the Rockets. Fellow running back Kareem Hunt, who joins Swanson as part of the four-man "Justice League" backfield, ran for 90 yards.

Thompson, who came into the game with 16 catches and two scores, grabbed six for 116 against UMass -- his third in the last five with at least 100 yards.

UMass quarterback Blake Frohnapel, 13 of 20 for 130 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, could do little after the break and his teammates were guilty of numerous penalties and mistakes.

Frohnapel, who finished 27 of 49 for 240 yards and an interception, threw his fourth touchdown of the game, the second to ace receiver Tajae Sharpe with 4:11 left.

Sharpe, UMass' career receptions leader, had another big day, with 12 catches for 159 yards, also grabbing a 35-yard touchdown pass. UMass running back Marquise Young ran for 80 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown.

The win was the 10th in a row for Toledo dating to last season -- giving the Rockets the fifth double-digit winning streak in school history. The comeback was the program's largest since coming back from 20 down to defeat Bowling Green in 2004.

NOTES: Toledo still hasn't been hit with a sack this season, running 253 pass plays without one. ... UMass RB Sekai Lindsay, one of several UMass players injured in the game, was carted off the field with what appeared to be a lower right leg injury late in the half in the same drive that saw Lindsay as the main ball carrier on a drive that died at the Toledo 1-yard line. ... No. 19 was Toledo's highest rank since the Rockets reached No. 18 in 1997. The program high point was No. 12 in 1970. ... Attendance in the NFL stadium was just 12,793. ... Toledo hosts Northern Illinois on Nov. 3 and UMass is at Ball State next Saturday.