“Offensively we had 222 yards on 70 plays — that’s absolutely woeful,” Miami coach Chuck Martin said. “Didn’t have a good enough plan, that starts with me, and we didn’t execute the plan. So disappointing, obviously, from an offensive standpoint.”
Toledo (6-4, 4-2 MAC) turned a scoreless first quarter into a 14-0 halftime lead, then blew the game open on the first drive of the second half. Miami (5-5, 4-2) never got closer than three scores and managed only a third-quarter field goal.
Tucker Gleason went 18-of-31 passing for 169 yards and two touchdowns for Toledo, while Chip Trayanum rushed 21 times for 91 yards and a score. The Rockets finished with 312 yards of offense but relied mostly on a defense that sacked Miami quarterback Henry Hesson six times and intercepted him three.
“We knew they’d come in third in the country on defense. We knew they hadn’t given up much of anything to anyone,” Martin said. “We knew there was a good chance it was going to be a low-scoring game. We knew we had to make some big plays over the top. We didn’t do it. We had a couple opportunities and didn’t get it done.”
Hesson, making the start with former Toledo quarterback and MAC Offensive Player of the Year Daquan Finn sidelined by illness, finished 11-of-38 for 147 yards and three interceptions. Miami went 5 of 16 on third down and just 2 of 6 on fourth.
Miami’s opening drive reached the Toledo 30 before stalling on a fourth-and-6 incompletion. The RedHawks turned it over on downs again at their own 46 early in the second quarter, part of a continuing short-yardage problem that has dogged them in back-to-back losses.
“We’ve just gotta cover ourselves — the fourth-and-one’s a key play in the game,” Martin said. “Should have punted it, and obviously you regret the call, you never regret the call when you get it.
“Second week in a row, short yardage. We blocked it fine. We should have got that first down. So we probably should have punted, really, just put it down there.”
Toledo finally broke through after that second fourth-down stop. The Rockets took over and marched 46 yards in nine plays, with Trayanum bouncing in from 3 yards out for a 7-0 lead with 5:59 left in the half.
After a Miami three-and-out, Bryson Hammer returned a punt to the RedHawks’ 13, and a sideline penalty pushed the ball to the 6. On the next snap, Gleason found tight end Jacob Petersen for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 18 seconds remaining.
“The punt coverage was bad, and that one play was bad,” Martin said.
Toledo kept its foot down after halftime. The Rockets opened the third quarter with a seven-play, 79-yard drive capped by Gleason’s 24-yard strike to Ryder Treadway, stretching the lead to 21-0 at the 11:31 mark.
After Hesson’s second interception gave Toledo the ball at the Miami 25, the Rockets added Dylan Cunanan’s 36-yard field goal for a 24-0 cushion with 8:31 left in the third.
Miami’s lone scoring drive came late in the third quarter. Hesson converted a pair of throws to Kam Perry, including a 26-yarder to the Toledo 8, but the Rockets stiffened in the red zone and forced Dom Dzioban’s 26-yard field goal with 1:45 remaining.
That was as close as the RedHawks got.
While the offense sputtered, Miami’s defense gave the RedHawks their chances. Miami got two first-quarter interceptions by Eli Coppess and Eli Blakey, and the RedHawks held Toledo to one true sustained touchdown drive after halftime.
“They had a 46-yard drive, a 6-yard drive in the first half and then one bad drive in the second half,” Martin said. “Seven plays, 79 (yards) is really the only drive they gave up the whole game.
“We were going to have to win this game 17-14, 14-10, 21-17 — that’s kind of when you look at us, Western, OU and Toledo, it’s been low-scoring defensive games."
Safety Silas Walters led Miami with nine tackles, while Blakey added eight tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery. Linebacker Corban Hondru had eight tackles and two tackles for loss before leaving in the fourth quarter with an elbow injury.
Martin said the RedHawks had known most of the week they would be without Finn, who has been sick, and had prepared accordingly.
“Daquan’s been sick all week, so it was not an issue as far as the game plan and practice,” Martin said. “Everybody’s ready. Hank and Thomas (Gotkowski) practiced all week, so we knew all week he probably wasn’t going to play. That was fine. It just wasn’t a good enough game plan. We weren’t scrambling or anything.”
Finn’s status going forward is uncertain.
“We hope so,” Martin said when asked if he expected Finn to improve. “We’re working on that.”
There was no immediate update on Hondru beyond the initial diagnosis.
“I do not have an update. He hurt his elbow,” Martin said. “He was in a lot of pain by the time I got there, I had him up. He said it was fine. We’ll see how that goes. I know it didn’t look good initially.”
Coming off a last-minute loss at Ohio a week earlier, Miami has now dropped back-to-back games in its toughest stretch of the MAC schedule.
“We knew we had a heck of a run here,” Martin said. “We got through the first one. Last week stings because that’s one game we had with 2:40 left. You get that one, even if you lose this one, you’re still breathing a lot better than we are.
“We’re a beaten-down team right now. We’ve got a lot of work to do this week to get them as fresh as we can, but you still have to practice. We lost a couple more guys tonight. We had a chance to win a low-scoring game today, and offensively we couldn’t get it done.”
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