Inside the numbers: Mississippi State-Toledo first half stats
Mississippi State and Toledo have reached halftime at Davis Wade Stadium and Toledo holds a commanding 28-3 advantage.
After forcing State’s offense to a three and out on the opening possession, the visiting Rockets dented the scoreboard first with a 12-play, 70-yard drive. On fourth and goal from the State five-yard line, Toledo quarterback Tucker Gleason connected with Junior Vandeross for the touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 6:35 remaining in the opening period.
Mississippi State’s offense went the first quarter without a first down while Toledo kept things rolling early in the second quarter. Gleason hit Jerjuan Newton for a six-yard touchdown pass and Toledo extended its lead to 14-0 with 13:26 left in the first half.
On its first possession of the second quarter, State’s offense started to show some signs of life. The Bulldogs, however, had to settle for a 23-yard Kyle Ferrie field goal after getting a penalty near the goal line. State trailed Toledo 14-3 with 9:35 remaining in the opening half.
The Rockets answered right back with another successful drive that covered 75 yards in 10 plays. Connor Walendzak capped off the drive with a one-yard scoring plunge and Toledo held a commanding 21-3 advantage with 5:09 left in the first half.
Toledo wasn’t done, either. The Rockets increased their lead to 28-3 with 1:12 left in the half when Willie Shaw scored from 10 yards out.
Mississippi State concluded its poor first-half showing when Blake Shapen tossed an interception in the end zone on the final play of the half.
In the first half, State managed just 151 yards of offense with 144 coming through the air. The Bulldogs had eight first downs and had five penalties for 51 yards. State held the ball for just 12:33 of the opening half and the Bulldogs were just 2 of 7 on third down conversions.
The Rockets piled up 305 yards of offense in the opening half and had 218 through the air. Toledo had 16 first downs and five penalties five 30 yards. The Rockets held the ball for 17:27 and were 5 of 7 on third down conversions.
Individually, Shapen was 14 of 19 for 144 yards with one interception. Tight end Seydou Traore led State with four catches for 36 yards in the first half. For Toledo, Gleason was 18-of-22 passing for 218 yards with two touchdown passes while Vandeross led the Rockets with six catches for 60 yards and a touchdown. Gleason also led Toledo on the ground with six carries for 37 yards.
