McDonald rallies Bowling Green to 42-35 victory over Toledo

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Bowling Green wins it on Ta'ron Keith's tackle-breaking TD in final seconds

Bowling Green's Ta'ron Keith scores the game-winning touchdown just seconds after Toledo took the lead with a touchdown of its own.

Nov 16, 2022, 04:47 am

TOLEDO, Ohio -- — Matt McDonald passed for a career-high 392 yards and four touchdowns — including a 42-yarder to Ta'ron Keith with nine seconds left in the game — and Bowling Green rallied last in a wild finish to beat Toledo 42-35 on Tuesday night.

McDonald drove Bowling Green (6-5, 5-2 Mid-American Conference) 72 yards in six plays on the game-winning drive, using just 38 seconds. His touchdown strike to Keith came on third-and-10.

Tucker Gleason threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jerjuan Newton and scored on a 1-yard quarterback keeper in a 5-minute span prior to McDonald's heroics to give Toledo (7-4, 5-2) a 35-34 lead. Gleason set up his scoring run by hitting Newton for a 29-yard gain on fourth-and-7.

The Rockets trailed 34-21 after McDonald fired a 59-yard scoring strike to Odieu Hiliare with 5:09 left to play.

McDonald completed 19 of 35 passes with one interception for the Falcons, who became bowl eligible for the first time since 2015 with the win. Hiliare finished with a career-best 243 yards on seven receptions. His yardage total is the third highest in program history behind Freddie Barnes' 278 against Kent State in 2009 and Roger Lewis' 261 against Memphis in 2015.

McDonald and Hiliare teamed up for a 25-yard score to open the scoring in the first quarter. The Falcons led 21-0 early in the second quarter after PaSean Wimberly blocked a punt by Jonathon Batzke that Patrick Day recovered in the end zone.

Gleason had a 5-yard touchdown run and a 4-yard scoring toss to Micah Kelly to get the Rockets within 27-14 at halftime.

Gleason completed 22 of 40 passes for 329 yards with three touchdowns and two picks. He also carried 17 times for 106 yards and two scores.

The two teams combined for 938 yards of offense — 721 of them through the air.

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