Senior quarterback Logan Woodside threw for 304 yards and five touchdowns, including three in the first quarter, to lead Toledo to a 48-21 victory over Akron in the Glass Bowl Saturday afternoon.
Woodside, who completed 17 of 24 passes, hit 10 different receivers on the day. Junior Jon’Vea Johnson led the way with five catches and two scores. Senior Terry Swanson led the ground attack with 123 yards on 20 carries.
The Rockets had a lot to celebrate as they defeated Akron to stay undefeated in the Mid-American Conference.
Sophomore safety Kahlil Robinson led Toledo with nine tackles. Junior defensive end Olasunkanmi Adeniyi had four tackles, a tackle for loss, and two QB hurries.
Toledo (6-1, 3-0 Mid-American Conference) took the opening kickoff and drove 60 yards in seven plays, capped by a terrific 24-yard touchdown catch by Jon’Vea Johnson. Johnson leaped and pulled the ball away from an Akron defender in the back of the end zone to give Toledo a 7-0 lead.
The Rockets’ next drive was thwarted when Woodside’s pass deflected off a receiver’s hands and into the arms of Akron’s Ulysees Gilbert, who returned the interception 14 yards to the UA 29-yard line. But moments later, Woodside struck again, hitting sophomore Desmond Phillips down the sideline for a 40-yard touchdown. It was the first TD reception of Phillips’ young career, and increased the margin to 14-0 with 3:12 left in the first quarter.
Toledo’s defense got the ball right back on a diving interception by redshirt freshman Justin Clark on the Akron 36-yard line. Three plays later, Woodside hit sophomore Danzel McKinley-Lewis for a 13-yard score.
Toledo’s tough defense held the Zips to 333 yards of total offense.
The Rockets answered with a 40-yard field goal by Jameson Vest to make the score 24-7 with 10:23 left in the first half. Akron failed to cut into the lead when Tom O’Leary missed a 40-yard field goal with 58 seconds left.
Vest missed a 55-yard field goal attempt on the last play of the half.
Toledo put the game away in the third quarter when Woodside hit Jon’Vean Johnson and Diontae Johnson for 25- and 11-yard touchdowns, respectively.
Akron scored twice in the fourth quarter to narrow the margin. Redshirt freshman Shakif Seymour rounded out the scoring for the Rockets with a 15-yard TD run with 1:40 left in the contest.
The Rockets next head to Ball State for a Thursday night game Oct. 26 in Muncie, Ind.
