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Wet conditions produce sloppy results for Central Michigan on homecoming

There was rain Saturday and a whole lot of it.

With it coming down in force, the need to prevent the costly turnover saw a commitment to the ground game at Kelly/Shorts Stadium for both Toledo and Central Michigan, in a fight for positioning in the MAC West Division standings.

And when the question of how the Rockets would respond to losing their star wide receiver Cody Thompson to a season-ending injury, they found the answer with a series of attacks from their running backs.

The Chippewas (3-4. 1-2 MAC) allowed nearly 350 yards rushing, a total of 177 on 23 carries from starter Terry Swanson, who came in averaging 88 yards a game. Quarterback and Maxwell Award candidate Logan Woodside was a non-factor through the air, but frankly it didn't matter.

The 30-10 score dropped CMU to under .500 for the second time this season, now losing four of the last five games. Toledo (5-1, 2-0) has won eight straight in the yearly series.

“There’s nothing I’m glad about right now,” said CMU head coach John Bonamego. “I think it’s a missed opportunity. When you look at the MAC, it’s hard to go down two games and end up in the MAC Championship game."

Bonamego took full responsibility in not factoring in the weather properly with the game plan. It started with the offense, who accounted for 244 yards of total offense, but only 62 yards rushing.

Shane Morris, getting his seventh consecutive start at quarterback, threw two costly interceptions and completed only 45 percent of his passes. The one touchdown to tight end Tyler Conklin was with a one minute remaining in the fourth quarter.

Before kicker Michael Armstrong converted a 23-yard field goal late in the third quarter, seven of Central Michigan's drives ended in a punt. Junior Zach Oakley finished with two punts landing inside the Toledo 20-yard line.

"Our inability in the early parts of the game to get any kind of offense going and drive the football, hurt us," Bonamego said. "Ultimately, as the head football coach, the responsibility falls on me. I told the team that."

Toledo maintained a 17-0 lead heading into halftime. It began with Swanson breaking free to score from 48 yards out early in the first quarter. After a 41-yard field goal, Swanson recorded his second touchdown on a 22-yard run.

Redshirt freshman Shakif Seymour had 15 carries for 119 yards. His one touchdown and Woodside's five-yard score on a keeper both came in the fourth quarter. CMU's defense held UT scoreless in the third.

"We were definitely prepared for more passing from them," said CMU defensive end captain Joe Ostman. "You never know what the weather is going to be like, though, and they ran the ball more because we weren’t stopping them."

Ostman recorded six tackles and a sack, his sixth this season and 20th of his career. He needs one more to tie for fifth all-time in program history. Linebacker Malik Fountain led the team with 10 tackles.

"We were losing the line of scrimmage battle up front," Ostman said. ""Overall, we played hard, but we simply have to be better as a defense."

The Chippewas converted just three times on 13 third down situations, holding the ball 15 minutes less than Toledo. CMU has lost twice at home this season, both against MAC opponents.

In its second conference road game this season, Central Michigan plays guest to Ball State next week, who are coming off a bye week and have yet to win in league play.

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