Toledo kicks into high gear in 39-24 road win over Ball State

The Toledo Rockets (4-1, 1-0 MAC) hadn't won away from the Glass Bowl so far in 2026, making their bout with the Ball State Cardinals (1-4, 0-2 MAC) at Scheumann Stadium one they could not look over if they wanted to prove themselves as legitimate contenders for the conference throne.

Indeed, for the first 28 minutes of game action, it looked like Toledo was asleep at the wheel, allowing Ball State to score first and build up a 10-8 lead.

But Toledo would tighten their grip and put pedal to metal in the last 90 seconds of the second quarter, taking a 15-10 lead into the halftime break and never looking back in a 39-24 victory over Ball State on Saturday afternoon.

"It’s like NASCAR, I wanna drive fast and take chances," Toledo head coach Mike Jacobs said post-game. "But we also have to be smart. And listen, you’ve seen us go really fast and score points. And you saw us today just grind out yardage and clock. You’re gonna win some close games. And that’s a good thing, right? ... [T]oday we had a gut out a win."

It was an unconventional affair in Muncie, as Ball State deployed a quarterback rotation to move the ball down the field, with both Keldrick Luster and Tyler Mizzell contributing postiviely in what turned into a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive capped by a Luster pass to tight end Alex Scherle to go up 7-0 early.

Toledo looked bound to reply back in short order on their first possession, as CJ Miller scampered out to a 50-yard rush on his second carry of the game, butthe offense would stall out, forcing the Rockets to kick a field goal from 43 yards out, which Reice Griffin struck true to put the margin at 7-3.

The Rockets looked poised to take over once again after Andrew Zock's strip-sack of Luster gave the offense the ball at the BSU 38-yard line– but a holding penalty on the first play of the drive pushed the ball back 10 yards to force first-and-20, giving the Cards defense a chance to recover. John Alan Richter would fail to convert on two passes to Adjatay Dabbs on second and third down, resulting in another Griffin field goal from short distance.

The teams traded punts before Ball State went on another promising drive, aided in part by a 33-yard reception from Johnny Thompson Jr., but Tyler Mizzell misfired on a third-down pass, and Brody Boehm would kick a field goal to push BSU's lead to 10-6 with 10:49 to go in the second quarter.

A 20-yard circus catch by Daryl Barnett Jr. would not be enough for the Rockets' responding drive, forcing a punt. Marcus Meinecke's kick would roll out at the Cardinal 12-yard line, setting BSU up in front of their endzone.

That's when the game turned on its head.

On first-and-10 of the new drive, Keldrick Luster dropped back to pass, but didn't see an open receiver. He would try to step up in the pocket, but was met by an oncoming Toledo rusher in Lucas Lambert-Pipkin. Luster flushed out to his left, drifing backwards in the process. Realizing he was in trouble, Luster tried to throw the ball away, but got hit as he threw, resulting in a wobbler which not only didn't get to the line of scrimmage, but also wasn't in the direction of an open receiver.

Luster would get called for an intentional grounding, resulting in a safety. The results wouldn't be immediate for Toledo– they turned the ball over on downs on the safety punt possession– but it would turn out vital in regards to the final two drives of the first half.

Ball State had a 28-yard field goal set up for Brody Boehm– set up by a highlight-reel 37-yard catch by Jamarion McDougle on third-down– to put the score at 13-8 in Ball State's favor, but instead, the kick went wide.

John Alan Richter would go nuclear on the next drive– including five-straight completions to end it– to put Toledo ahead 15-10 on an 11-yard touchdown toss to Daryl Barnett Jr. in the endzone as time expired.

A 10-point swing in the matter of two minutes.

Both teams would settle in for the majority of the third quarter, exchanging drives ending in punts or downs before Connor Waldenzak broke through for a 30-yard touchdown to push Toledo's lead to 22-13 with 2:57 to go in the frame to wrap up an effective five-play, 72-yard drive.

Ball State halfback TJ Horton, who was limited to three yards last week vs. Kent State due to injury, would reply back in one play, burning the Toledo defense for a 66-yard scorcher to put the game back to a one-score affair at 22-17.

BSU looked poised to get the ball back after forcing Toledo into third-and-eight at the BSU 48-yard line, but Adjatay Dabbs beat his man and collected 30 yards to set up what eventually became a two-yard touchdown run by CJ Miller to push the score to 29-17 in UT's favor.

With the game in the balance, Ball State found themselves in fourth-and-five, down 12 with 11:45 remaining. Given the game scenario, they opted to go for it– but a delay of game call would turn it into fourth-and-10. Tate Hoover would come up just short on the following play, and Toledo eventually turned the error into a Reice Griffin field goal from 24 yards out.

The Cardinals would have one last gasp effort to make a comeback, with Luster finding Jabari Smith on a 33-yard touchdown, but Toledo covered with CJ Miller's 68-yard rushing score on offense and then forced Luster into a bad interception on defense to effectively put the game away with 49 seconds remaining.

Toledo QB John Alan Richter struggled, finishing 19-of-35 for 201 yards and a touchdown, but found the plays when they mattered throughout. UT had two 100-yard rushers in CJ Miller (198 yards, two TDs) and Connor Walendzak (103 yards, TD), while Adjahtay Dabbs led the receivers with six catches for 82 yards.

EDGE rusher Andrew Zock had a field day, even after missing a few series due to injury. The FCS standout finished with 2.5 tackles-for-loss, a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Linebacker Julian Fox had the game-sealing interception. Cornerback Israel Petite led the team in total tackles (eight) and solo tackles (seven).

For Ball State, Keldrick Luster finished 21-of-33 for 214 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, rotating in and out with Tyler Mizzell (14 passing yards, 18 rushing yards) at times. TJ Horton's 66-yard TD run braced his 90-yard day on the ground, while Donovan Hamilton (team-leading 70 yards) and Jabari Smith (60 yards, TD) led the team with six receptions each.

Quentavious Scandrett led all tacklers with 13 stops and also had 1.5 TFLs to hold the joint-lead for Ball State with Anthony Pinnace (eight total stops), while three Cardinals– including Scandrett– had pass break-ups.

Toledo returns home for their third game at the Glass Bowl in four weeks, taking on the Buffalo Bulls. Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time.

Ball State has one last non-conference game on the slate, traveling to New Ryan Stadium to play the Northwestern Wildcats. Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time.