University of Toledo senior quarterback Mitch Guadagni returned from a concussion he suffered two weeks ago and was sharp in the Rockets' 45-0 win over Murray State on Saturday night at the Glass Bowl.
While Guadagni was scanning the field and finding open receivers all night, the defense was playing at a high level and recorded the first shutout for Toledo since October 14, 2000 when the Rockets blanked Marshall.
“I think it all starts with effort,” Toledo coach Jason Candle said of the defense. “It’s a matter of playing really, really hard. It’s a manner of accountability and being where you are supposed to be and your teammates trusting that you will be there. And it’s a matter of toughness. I’m talking about when adversity hits, what’s your response to that? I thought they handled that and that’s the blueprint that they set for themselves.”
Guadagni finished the game 18-of-25 passing for 266 yards and three touchdowns in just short of three quarters of action.
“He was awesome,” Candle said of Guadagni. “Eighteen-of-25 with a 72 percent completion percentage, 266 yards and three touchdowns and didn’t turn it over and took care of the football. He was just awesome. He didn’t have to call a bunch of quarterback runs to get the ball moving and get the offense moving. He did a lot of that with his arm and his play-action progressions and things like that. I thought he did great.”
Guadagni spread the ball around to his playmakers all game long and found Devin Maddox on an 8-yard score, hit tight end Drew Rosi on an 11-yard TD strike, and connected with Desmond Phillips for a 43-yard score.
“It felt good getting out there and getting used to everything again,” Guadagni said. “It felt great getting out there with my guys. The wide receivers and the tight ends did a great job of getting open on a lot of great calls. We attacked a lot of different points of the defense. It’s great getting the ball distributed. I think that helps us on offense, and I hope that keeps up.”
Guadagni led an efficient offense as nine different players caught passes, led by five catches for 84 yards and a touchdown from Rosi and three catches for 90 yards and a score from Danzel McKinley-Lewis.
Micah Kelly was Toledo’s leading rusher with 63 yards and a 42-yard score. Bryant Koback added 13 rushes for 62 yards and a touchdown.
The Toledo defense bent but did not break early, and Jordan Fisher and Sam Womack each intercepted Murray State quarterback Preston Rice as the Rockets kept the Racers off the scoreboard
“We really weren’t focused on [getting a shutout],” Fisher said. “We were just focused on taking it a drive at a time and getting three-and-outs or just keeping them from getting points. The shutout is a great thing to have, but that wasn’t our focus. It was just taking it a series at a time.”
Toledo got on the board in the first quarter when freshman kicker Evan Davis kicked a 40-yard field goal. The Rockets converted a 4th-and-4 on the possession when Guadagni found Rosi for the first down.
On Toledo's next possession, Guadagni cashed in a four-play, 56-yard drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Maddox to give the Rockets a 10-0 lead with 14:55 left in the second quarter.
Then Toledo scored again when Guadagni found Rosi in the end zone for Rosi's first career touchdown. The big play of the drive came on a 66-yard pass to wide receiver Bryce Mitchell.
“I think the middle of the field was open and the coaches did a good job of calling the right plays at the right times,” Rosi said. “We executed well and I got some nice balls from Mitch and the line had great protection. It all just kind of worked out. When everyone is doing their job it makes our job a lot easier and overall it just really helps our team. I think that was really was the difference in the game that everyone got involved.”
Murray State out-gained Toledo in the first half 238 yards to 237. But the Racers were 0-of-2 on fourth down tries and committed five penalties.
In the third quarter, Guadagni’s pass to Phillips for 43 yards put them up 24-0 and then a 7-yard TD rush by Koback increased the lead to 31-0.
Carter Bradley came on for Guadagni late in the third quarter and on his first pass of the game he threw a deep ball to McKinley-Lewis for a 55-yard touchdown that gave Toledo a 38-0 lead. Kelly then capped off the scoring with his 42-yard touchdown.
First Published September 15, 2019, 2:19 a.m.
