In a season full of surprises from smaller schools, Mississippi State has now joined the list of teams caught off guard.
Toledo went to Starkville and overwhelmed the Mississippi State team, racking up 454 yards and five touchdowns for a 41-17 win.
The Rockets scored on four out of their five first-half drives, and their defense limited the Bulldogs to just three points. By halftime, Toledo had built a 28-3 lead. Mississippi State (1-2) has been outscored 55-6 in the first half over the last two weeks against Arizona State and Toledo.
“We’re disappointed that we played and coached the way that we did in front of our home crowd with our students showing up the way that they did,” said Bulldogs coach Jeff Lebby. “Regardless, we’re going to kick off at 11 a.m. next Saturday morning here at home.”
The Bulldogs struggled until the second half to even get more than 10 rushing yards, and they were outgained 454-385 by the Mid-American Conference team.
Toledo quarterback Tucker Gleason, who had a 49% passing rating coming into the game, completed 23 of 28 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed 10 times for 40 yards.
Jerjuan Newton caught five passes for Toledo (3-0) for 62 yards and two touchdowns.
The Bulldogs’ Blake Shapen ended the game 28-of-39 passing for 319 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and one fumble.
The Bulldogs had 66 rushing yards, with Johnnie Daniels leading with 59 yards on 10 carries. Kevin Coleman Jr. had seven catches for 77 yards and a touchdown. For the second week in a row, most of the offensive progress happened in the second half.
“(Saturday) it was the negative plays. Being behind the chains, having issues on 1st and 2nd down putting us in bad situations,” said Lebby.
“We have to start faster and that is going to be a huge point of emphasis as we get into it this week. We did not come out and play how we wanted to play and that dictated the rest of the game.”
