Toledo did all of its scoring before halftime and let its defense finish the job Wednesday night, blanking Massachusetts 24-0 at the Glass Bowl to keep pace atop the Mid-American Conference, according to the University of Toledo Athletics. The Rockets (8-2, 5-1 MAC) remain in a four-way tie for first place in the MAC standings with Buffalo, Ohio and Western Michigan, with two weeks left in the regular season, UToledo Athletics reported.
Connor Walendzak, playing his first game this month after missing time with an injury, opened the scoring late in the first quarter with a 69-yard touchdown run that capped a five-play, 90-yard drive, according to the University of Toledo Athletics. Walendzak finished with a career-high 117 rushing yards on 14 carries and added three catches for 41 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown reception from John Alan Richter just before halftime, UToledo Athletics reported.
The defense supplied the night’s other highlight. Nicholas Thompson returned an interception 62 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter to make it 17-0, and Toledo outgained the Minutemen 436-188 overall, according to the University of Toledo Athletics and the Associated Press report carried by USA News Hub. UMass never reached the red zone, and its starting quarterback left the game early with an injury, the reports said.
The shutout carries a small piece of program history. According to the University of Toledo Athletics, Toledo has now recorded a shutout in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the early 1990s, following last season’s 60-0 blanking of Morgan State. Wednesday’s crowd at the Glass Bowl was 19,137, according to the University of Massachusetts Athletics box score.
For UMass (5-5, 2-4 MAC), the loss leaves the Minutemen needing wins in their final two games to secure bowl eligibility, according to the New England Football Journal. The Minutemen host Akron next Wednesday before finishing at Bowling Green on Nov. 28.
Toledo’s path is simpler and harder at the same time: win, and the four-way tie at 5-1 starts breaking in the Rockets’ favor. The Rockets close their home schedule on Friday, Nov. 20, when they host archrival Bowling Green in the 91st edition of the Battle of I-75 at the Glass Bowl, according to the University of Toledo Athletics. The student veterans of both schools will deliver the game ball that week after their fourth annual 24-mile “Ruck the Ball” march from Bowling Green to Toledo on Saturday, Nov. 14.
Wednesday’s win was Toledo’s fifth in conference play, built the way the Rockets have won all season — a punishing ground game, a defense that gave up nothing cheap, and a first half that removed all doubt. If the same formula holds against Bowling Green, Toledo will head into the final week controlling its own route to the MAC championship game.