MAC Football: Toledo rockets past Ball State behind backup quarterback

It wasn’t the prettiest of nights for Eli Peters, but the sophomore quarterback did more than enough to lead Toledo past Ball State in MAC football action.

Peters, starting in place of regular quarterback Mitchell Guadagni, completed 25-for-34 for 327 yards passing with two touchdowns. He did throw four interceptions, though, a week removed from tossing three touchdowns in a win over Western Michigan.

Guadagni was injured last week vs. Western Michigan. A junior, he also missed a game in early October vs. Bowling Green, as Peters led the Rockets to a 52-36 victory.

Ball State was also playing without its starting quarterback, as Riley Neal missed the contest. Drew Plitt stepped in for Neal, going 29-for-47 for 328 yards with a score.

Toledo jumped out early, scoring the first 21 points of the game thanks to rushing touchdowns by Bryant Koback, Art Thompkins and a defensive score by Tuzar Skipper, all of which came in the first quarter.

Plitt hit Riley Miller to get Ball State on the board in the third on an 18-yard pass-and-score. Koback answered back a few minutes later to stretch the Toledo lead back to three possessions.

Diontae Johnson, who had 74 catches for 1,278 yards and 13 touchdowns a year ago, had his second 100-yard receiving game of the year. He finished with five catches for 100 yards.

Thompkins led the Toledo ground attack with 84 yards, while Koback added 78. Miller had five catches for 101 yards for Ball State.

The Rockets are now above .500, sitting at 5-4 overall and 3-2 in the league. They have won two in a row with road dates at Northern Illinois and Kent State coming up.

Toledo has gone 4-2 inside the Glass Bowl this season, including a 63-44 victory in September over Nevada. They have scored over 50 points four times.

For Ball State, the loss was its third in a row since a 24-23 victory over Central Michigan. The Cardinals were outscored 92-34 in defeats to Eastern Michigan and Ohio, and are now just 3-7, 2-4 with games against Western Michigan and Miami (Ohio) on the horizon.