By David Carducci
Director of New Media
A tough second quarter all the way around for Kent State as Toledo turns a 7-7 tie after one quarter into a 24-7 lead going into the locker room.
The Kent State defense was so good the last few weeks was gashed for several big plays, including an 88-yard run by Terry Swanson to set up the Rockets final touchdown late in the second quarter. KSU had the Rockets pinned inside their 10 before Swanson broke free. He finally ran out of gas inside the Flashes’ 5 as Matt Dellinger pushed the back out of bounds to delay a Rockets score by just one play.
Toledo out-gained KSU almost 2-to-1 (195-to-100) in the second quarter. The big problem has been a run defense that has allowed Toledo to gain 162 yards on 24 carries, including 150 on 10 attempts by Swanson.
The pass defense has been a bit better as Toledo quarterback Phillip Ely is just 9-for-19. But the Rockets have big plays in the passing game as well as Cody Thompson, Alonzo russell and Darryl Richards have catches of 35, 26 and 25 yards, respectively.
Penalties have killed Kent State again. In all, the Flashes have been flagged seven times for 58 yards, including two personal foul penalties on a Toledo drive that ended with a 23-yard Swanson touchdown run to give the Rockets the lead at 14-7 with 11:51 to play in the second quarter.
The second personal foul was questionable at best as Nate Holley was trying to fight off a block near the sideline and then was blocked into the ball carrier at the sideline.
Some more bad news arrived early in the quarter as freshman speedster Antwan Dixon was knocked out of the game and taken to the Flashes’ locker room.
George Bollas provided a bit of a spark in relief of Colin Reardon late in the second quarter. The redshirt freshman was 3 for his first 3 and finished 4-for-8 for 43 yards. He also did a nice job running with the football, keeping plays alive and then occasionally breaking containment on two carries for 16 yards – both picking up first downs.
Bollas also moved the chains with a nice 12-yard throw to Johnny Woods on third down.
No comments:
Post a Comment