 Photo: Paul Nelson
It was the third straight conference victory for the Rockets, bringing them within one more win of becoming bowl eligible after starting the season 2-5.
The Rockets scored early and often in the first half, putting Eastern Michigan in an early 7-0 led just 1:43 into the game when Jalen Parmele galloped 31-yards to paydirt on Toledo's opening seven-play, 65-yard drive. Parmele then added a 29-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter to give the Rockets a 14-0 lead. Parmele rushed for 115 of his game high 168 yards in the first half and would add a third rushing touchdown to his totals in the third quarter.
"He's the heart and soul of our offense," said Toledo head coach Tom Amstutz after the game. "He's a force in there and can break tackles and make big runs."
The Rockets own the Mid-American Conference's top offense and have put up an average of 55 points during their three-game MAC winning streak.
"Our offense is really coming together," noted Parmele in a classic understatement. "We've been working hard in practice and it's showing on the field."
The Rockets' first-half offensive fireworks also included two long touchdown passes from quarterback Aaron Opelt, who finished 17-29 for 276 yards to Stephen Williams, connecting with Williams on second-quarter scoring passes of 20 and 64 yards. Williams' second touchdown came with just twenty-six seconds remaining in the half and gave the Rockets an insurmountable 28-7 lead. Williams finished with 150 yards receiving for the game.
The Eagles' offense came to life in the second half after freshman Kyle McMahon, starting in place of injured quarterback Andy Schmitt, was replaced by Schmitt who guided the Eagles to 21 second-half points, but every Eastern Michigan score was answered by the Rockets as the second-half resembled a track meet at times with little defense.
Eastern Michigan head coach Jeff Genyk was asked afterward about his decision to start McMahon over Schmitt and if Schmitt would have been healthy enough, after suffering a mild concussion in the Eagles' win over Western Michigan last week.
"Andy (Schmitt) was unable to practice on Tuesday and did not get officially cleared to play until Thursday and Kyle (McMahon) received all the reps in practice," explained Genyk. "Kyle really played fine but we felt, down 28-7 at halftime, that we needed a spark so we put Andy in there and he responded with two scoring drives that got us to within fourteen points but unfortunately we could not stop them (Toledo)."
"I' m ready to go at all times and coach told me to stay ready," said Schmitt after the game. "We had a big second half and came out fired up. We felt confident that we were going to comeback but unfortunately it did not work out."
Genyk also termed his team's defensive effort as "disappointing" after shutting down Western Michigan in a 19-2 victory a week earlier. "This is similar to what happened to us earlier this year when we had a good effort in our loss at Michigan and the defense received a lot of notice and then letdown against Ohio," added Genyk. "The next step in our program is to develop consistency."
The Rockets also appeared to have developed some extra incentive after seeing Eastern Michigan's players wearing some new pre-game gear.
"Eastern Michigan came in here fired up and they had some special t-shirt made (which read "Beat Toledo')," noted Amstutz. "A couple of our seniors didn't appreciate them wearing those t-shirts on our field."
"That kind of made us upset," added Toledo safety Barry Church. "It kind of disrespected us on our field, we came out with a whole bunch of fire."
The victory by Toledo had further implications beyond the final score as the win by the Rockets likely knocked the Eagles out of contention for the MAC West title with Central Michigan in firm control now with a one-game lead over second place Ball State and a two-game lead over Toledo, Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan with only two divisional games remaining.
But for the Rockets the win propels them to within one win of becoming bowl eligible with an important divisional matchup next at Ball State on November 13, something that wasn't lost on Church.
"We're back to .500 and now we're looking forward to the Ball State game," said Church. "It's a big, big game and hopefully we come away with a victory."
Eastern Michigan returns home to face Bowling Green on Friday night.
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