A quarterback switch did not provide the spark the University of Toledo football team was looking for as the normally high-flying offense struggled to match the steady play of its defense in a 31-17 loss Saturday to Buffalo at the Glass Bowl.
Thanks to a 70-yard touchdown run from Bryant Koback and an 80-yard pass from Eli Peters to Diontae Johnson, the Rockets led Buffalo 17-7 at halftime.
Led by Peters, who replaced starting quarterback Mitch Guadagni on the second drive of the second quarter, the offense failed to score in the second half and Buffalo used 24 unanswered points to pull away for its seventh win of the season.
The loss was the second consecutive Mid-American Conference setback for Toledo (3-4, 1-2 MAC) after losing at Eastern Michigan the previous week. It’s the first time the Rockets have lost back-to-back MAC games since 2013.
Guadagni was 2-of-4 passing for 9 yards and was sacked twice before Peters got the call to enter the game.
“I thought we needed a little bit of a spark in the passing game,” Toledo coach Jason Candle said. “Somebody who can stretch the field a little bit and get their defense off us a little bit. We were able to get that big play to Diontae, but we weren’t really able to maintain any consistency in the passing game.”
VIDEO: UT coach Jason Candle on loss to Buffalo
Peters finished the game 5-of-17 passing for 128 yards, the touchdown to Johnson, and an interception. He was 3-of-12 for 31 yards after halftime.
“I was just trying to do my job,” Peters said. “I always try to prepare like I’m the starter each week. When my number was called, I felt like I could get the job done. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case today.”
After the two big first-half plays, the Rockets offense, which came in with a MAC-best 43.0 points per game, sputtered to the tune of 65 total yards in the second half against a Buffalo team that entered the game as the MAC’s best scoring defense (21.7 points per game).
“We gave up two explosive plays to a very explosive offense, but after that, we were able to prevent the big play and slow them down a little bit,” Buffalo coach Lance Leipold said. “We were solid defensively aside from those two plays.”
Tyree Jackson led Buffalo with 326 yards passing and two touchdowns and running back Jaret Patterson added 90 rushing yards and two fourth-quarter scores.
Buffalo ran 96 plays for 463 total yards, a ratio Candle said he was pleased with. But the Bulls were able to control possession for most of the game with 32 first downs compared to just eight for Toledo.
The Rockets’ defense was solid, especially in the first half as they only allowed a 34-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to Anthony Johnson before halftime. They recorded a season-high five sacks against Jackson and an offense that had only been sacked once all season. Toledo also had a season-high three interceptions.
But in the second half, Buffalo started to get some short fields to work with and wore down a Toledo defense that spent a lot of time on the field.
“We were struggling for most of the game running the ball, but it was our passing game that got us going,” Leipold said. “In the fourth quarter, I’m not sure if Toledo wore down a little bit, but we also executed better and Jaret Patterson did a heck of a job.”
Koback led Toledo with nine carries for 81 yards, Shakif Seymour added 12 carries for 74 yards, and Diontae Johnson led the receivers with two catches for 97 yards and the score.
UT senior Cody Thompson was held without a catch, snapping his streak of 36 consecutive games with at least one reception.
The Rockets will have to respond quickly when they make a trip to Kalamazoo to face West Division foe Western Michigan on Thursday.
“Any loss is tough,” said UT linebacker Jordan Fisher, who made a career-high 12 tackles in the game. “We just have to bounce back and focus on our next opponent. We can’t do anything about it now. We need to get back to work and get ready for Western Michigan.”
Contact Brian Buckey at: bbuckey@theblade.com, 419-724-6110, or on Twitter @BrianBuckey.
First Published October 20, 2018, 7:38 p.m.
