TOLEDO — Bowling Green scored on a 42-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Matt McDonald to sophomore tailback Ta’ron Keith with nine seconds remaining to defeat rival Toledo, 42-35, Tuesday at the Glass Bowl.
BGSU led for nearly the entire game, but the Rockets drove 85 yards for the go-ahead score with just 51 seconds left.
McDonald completed a pair of passes on third-and-long plays on the ensuing drive. First, he hit senior tight end Christian Sims on a 35-yard pass to give the Falcons the ball at the UT 42.
Then, several plays later, McDonald – who threw for a career-high 392 yards – scrambled to his right and hit the streaking Keith on a short pass.
Keith did the rest, breaking several tackles on his way to the end zone as snow, which had been falling most of the game, got heavier during the closing minutes.
Not only does BGSU win the Battle of I-75, but the Falcons remain in the hunt for a Mid-American Conference East Division title.
“It makes this night that much sweeter. We’ve been through a lot of adversity. To come out on top like we did for the seniors, their last time playing Toledo, is pretty awesome and special,” McDonald said.
The Falcons improve to 6-5 overall and 5-2 in the MAC, one game behind Ohio (8-3, 6-1).
“We’ve been through a lot,” said head coach Scot Loeffler. “We’ve had our ups and downs. Whenever we’re firing in all phases, we have a chance to be pretty good. That’s a great defense.
“This Toledo team is excellent, I think they’re well coached. I think they played their hearts out just like our kids. It’s a great rivalry and we’re fortunate to be on top this year. I think our kids played their hearts out. It was definitely a MACtion game. I’m proud of our players, proud of our staff, the families. BG can have that trophy for a year, which will be great.”
If the Falcons beat the Bobcats Tuesday (7 p.m. kickoff) in both teams’ final regular season game at Peden Stadium in Athens, the two teams would tie and BGSU could be the division champion based on a head-to-head tiebreaker.
Buffalo, at 5-5 and 4-2, also figures into the mix, having lost to Ohio 45-24 but defeated the Falcons, 38-7. The Bulls finish by hosting Akron Saturday and Kent State on Nov. 26.
If BGSU beats Ohio and survives Buffalo’s bid to win the MAC East, it would set up a MAC championship showdown between the Falcons and Toledo at Ford Field in downtown Detroit on Dec. 3 at noon.
Toledo, 7-4 overall, has already clinched the MAC West title. With its sixth win BGSU also becomes bowl eligible for the first time since 2015.
McDonald completed 20-of-36 passes (56%) for 392 yards and four touchdowns with one interception.
The 392 passing yards for McDonald were a career high and the second time in his career he threw for 300-plus yards.With four passing touchdown McDonald now has 21 for the season which puts him in a tie at 11th on BGSU’s single-season list with Brian McClure (1984).
The Falcons took a quick 21-0 lead on a 25-yard TD pass to senior receiver Odieu Hiliare, a three-yard TD pass to junior tight end Andrew Bench, and junior free safety Patrick Day recovered a blocked Toledo punt in the end zone.
Hiliare finished with eight catches for 246 yards and two TDS, averaging over 30 yards per catch. He also had a 59-yard reception for a score.Hiliare’s 243 receiving yards are third all-time at BGSU for a single game.
“This guy’s a special dude,” Loeffler said of Hiliare. “He’s got great mitts, he’s fast as heck, he’s unselfish. There’s been times we couldn’t get him the ball because they’re playing so far off. We had a really good game plan to let a really good player do his thing. He did his thing because he’s such a good guy. He’s unselfish. If one of our other receivers had a day like he had, he’d be jacked up. It’s all about winning in our place.”
BGSU senior Matt Lawler kicked field goals of 39 and 35 yards for the Falcons.
McDonald hit seven different receivers in the win. Keith caught five passes for 64 yards and freshman tight end Harold Fannin had two catches for 26 yards.
Senior C.J. Lewis had two catches for 14 yards and sophomore back Jaison Patterson caught a pass for seven yards.
Patterson led the Falcons’ ground game with 49 yards on 15 carries, Camden Orth had 14 yards on four carries and Fannin ran for 10 yards on two carries.
The BGSU defense had 14 tackles for loss in the win, with 6-foot-4, 300-pound senior defensive end Karl Brooks recording 3.5 tackles for a loss.
Senior free safety Chris Bacon and senior middle linebacker D.J. Taylor led the team with eight tackles apiece, but a total of 11 different Falcons had at least four tackles.
On Toledo’s possession that led to the blocked punt, Brooks played a role in two sacks, sharing one with 6-3, 275-pound senior defensive tackle Walter Haire. Brooks and junior PaSean Wimberly were all over the punter with Wimberly getting the block.
Brooks entered the game sixth in the nation in sacks and he now has 9.5. He was also ninth in the nation in tackles for loss and now has 17.
Brooks is one of two players in the nation with at least 25-plus tackles, 12-plus TFLs, 5.5-plus sacks, two-plus pass breakups and at least one fumble recovery.
Toledo quarterback Tucker Gleason completed 22-of-40 passes for (55%) for 329 yards and three TDs, but he had passes intercepted by BGSU defenders Deshawn Jones Jr. and Trent Simms.
Gleason threw a four-yard TD pass to Micah Kelly, a two-yard TD pass to Jamal Turner, and a three-yard TD pass to Jerjuan Newton. Gleason also scored on a one-yard and five-yard TD run.
Gleason was Toledo’s leading rusher with 106 yards on 17 carries, Kelly was held to 20 yards on 16 carries, Peny Boone had 14 yards on eight carries, and Jacquez Stuart had 13 yards on four carries.
Devin Maddox caught four passes for 106 yards, DeMeer Blankumsee had three catches for 79 yards, Thomas Zsiros had two catches for 53 yards, and Newton had three catches for 25 yards.
It was the 87th meeting between the Falcons and the Rockets for the two schools whose stadiums are located 25 miles apart. Toledo still leads the all-time series, 42-41-4.
