The Toledo Rockets hit the road Saturday to open Mid-American Conference play against the Ball State Cardinals at Scheumann Stadium in Muncie, Indiana. Toledo (3-1) enters league action as one of the MAC’s hottest teams under first-year head coach Mike Jacobs, who took over after leading Mercer to back-to-back Southern Conference titles at the FCS level.
The Rockets have had no trouble scoring this season. They survived a 49-48 overtime shootout against Temple two weeks ago and routed San Diego State 41-16 last week. Quarterback John Alan Richter threw three touchdown passes in the San Diego State win and has spread the ball around — in the Temple shootout, three different receivers topped 60 yards and eight players caught at least three passes.
Ball State (1-3, 0-1 MAC) opened league play with a 26-13 loss at Kent State and may again be without starting quarterback Keldric Luster, who was knocked out of the Liberty game. Backup Tyler Mizzell threw for 164 yards and a touchdown against Kent State, but the Cardinals lacked the explosiveness needed to keep pace with Toledo’s offense.
Oddsmakers installed Toledo as a 19.5-point favorite, and analysts project a comfortable Rockets win. Ball State is 5-1 at home under second-year coach Mike Uremovich, but the Cardinals will likely need Toledo turnovers to keep this one from becoming a blowout as the MAC race heats up.
