Rockets roll to 34-31 thriller over Wyoming

September 9, 2012 | News, UToday
By Paul Helgren



Junior quarterback Terrance Owens threw for 300 yards and four touchdowns, and junior running back David Fluellen ran for a career-high 109 yards as the Toledo Rockets held on to a 34-31 victory over Wyoming Saturday.
The Cowboys last chance to win the game ended with 42 seconds left when a reverse run by D.J. May on fourth-and-four play came up one yard short at the Wyoming 47-yard line.

Toledo quarterback Terrance Owens threw four touchdown passes in the Rockets’ win over Wyoming.

Toledo (1-1) trailed 20-17 at halftime but rallied behind the arm and legs of Owens, who completed clutch pass after clutch pass. Owens, who went the entire game at QB, was 15 of 23 in the final 30 minutes. He also rushed for a career-high 74 yards. His fourth and final TD pass of the game to junior James Green put Toledo up, 34-23, with 7:57 to play. Junior Bernard Reedy led the Rockets with six catches for 111 yards and two TDs.

Wyoming (0-2) scored on a double-reverse pass with 5:34 to play and then made the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 34-31 with 5:34 to play. The Cowboys forced Toledo to punt with 2:11 left, setting up their final failed drive.

Toledo was outgained in total offense, 526 yards to 504, but the Rockets came up with several big plays on defense. Senior safety Jermaine Robinson picked off his second pass in as many games, and junior defensive lineman Elijah Jones intercepted his first career pass. Senior linebacker Dan Molls led all tacklers with a game-high 13.

Wyoming opened the scoring on its first possession with a 38-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brett Smith to wide receiver Dominic Rufran. After a 28-yard field goal by Jeremiah Detmer cut the lead to 7-3, the Cowboys came back with another TD pass, this time a 19-yarder from Smith to Jalen Caliborne to make the score 14-3 with 2:01 to play in the first quarter.

Toledo grabbed the lead in the second quarter on a pair of touchdown passes by Owens, a 35-yarder to Reedy and a 13-yard fling to Cassius McDowell. Wyoming countered with two field goals by Stuart Williams, the second a 42-yarder with 17 seconds in the half, giving the Cowboys a 20-17 halftime lead.

The Rockets regained the lead on their first drive of the second half, an eight-play drive capped by a 35-yard TD bomb from Owens to Reedy to make the score 24-20 with 12:05 to play in the third quarter. The two teams traded field goals before Green’s TD midway through the final quarter gave Toledo its 11-point cushion

Toledo will play its home opener Saturday, Sept. 15, against arch-rival Bowling Green in a 7 p.m. kickoff in the Glass Bowl.