Toledo has made a habit of slow starts and hot finishes this season, and Massachusetts has gotten used to the opposite.
In that sense, Saturday's contest at the Glass Bowl in Toledo was business as usual.
The Rockets rallied from a 13-point second quarter deficit to top the visiting Minutemen 42-35. Toledo (5-3, 4-0 MAC) maintained its MAC West lead with the win, and UMass (2-7, 2-3 MAC) saw its two-game winning streak snapped and its bowl eligibility hopes all but dashed.
It took a late game-winning drive for Toledo to earn the homecoming day victory, as the score was knotted at 35 with 2:22 left in the game. The Rockets used tough running from Kareem Hunt and a 36-yard pass from Logan Woodside to tight end Michael Roberts to set up a 19-yard Terry Swanson rushing touchdown with 34 seconds left.
Hunt, who returned after a three-game injury layoff, dashed for 198 yards on 26 carries, showing no signs of rust. Swanson added two rushing scores and Woodside chipped in three passing touchdowns with 225 yards.
Massachusetts quarterback Blake Frohnapfel put up yet another gaudy stat line in the defeat, launching 438 passing yards and five touchdowns, as well as a two-point conversion. Tight end Jean Sifrin hauled in 185 of those yards, 76 of them coming on a fourth-quarter touchdown that tied the game.
Save for a missed extra point, Massachusetts could not have asked for a better start to the first half.
Frohnapfel found wide receiver Jalen Williams for touchdown passes of 15 and 35 yards on the Minutemen's first two drives of the contest. The scoring drives sandwiched a three-and-out by Toledo, and a Logan Laurent extra point on the second score, following a missed try after the first, put UMass up 13-0 just 8:26 into the contest.
The host Rockets finally got on the board on the next drive when Swanson cruised for a 14-yard touchdown run, and looked poised to go for the lead after a stop. Woodside, however, tossed an easy interception to Khary Bailey-Wilson on the Toledo 30-yard line, leading to a Shakur Nesmith 15-yard touchdown reception and another 13-point UMass lead.
Toledo once more clawed back when Woodside finished off a 94-yard drive by hitting Roberts for his first collegiate catch - a 14-yard score. A Minutemen turnover on downs and another Woodside interception halted two more drives to bring the contest to halftime with Massachusetts ahead 20-14.
Frohnapfel finished the first half with 210 yards and three touchdowns through the air, with 74 of those yards going to tight end Jean Sifrin. Hunt led Toledo's skill players with 73 first-half rushing yards on 10 carries.
The Rockets received the second-half kickoff and wasted little time grabbing their first lead of the contest. A Corey Jones 42-yard touchdown reception on a fourth-down conversion put the hosts ahead 21-20 just under four minutes into the third frame.
A missed Laurent field goal and a Chaz Whittaker interception of a Frohnapfel deep ball kept the Minutemen from regaining the lead. Toledo extended the advantage with a two-play, 47-yard touchdown drive that consisted of 11-yard and 36-yard Hunt scampers, the latter for a score. The drive put Hunt over 100 yards in the game for the 10th time in his career and the Rockets ahead 28-20.
The Minutemen tied it up after traded punts, when Frohnapfel converted a 4th-and-8 and followed it with a 36-yard touchdown strike to Tajae Sharpe. Frohnapfel hit Rodney Mills to convert the points after and tie it at 28 with just under 12 minutes to play.
Toledo responded in a big way, driving 75 yards on the ensuing possession to go ahead on a Dwight Macon touchdown catch with 6:15 left, but the Minutemen answered right back on the first play of their next drive. Frohnapfel hit Sifrin for a short gain, but he sprinted 76 yards past the Rockets' secondary after the catch to knot it up at 35.
The squads once more traded punts before Toledo's fateful drive, and Trevon Mathis intercepted Frohnapfel on the last-ditch drive for UMass to seal the 42-35 win for the Rockets.
Toledo will travel to Kent State Nov. 4 to put its undefeated conference record on the line once more. UMass will take two and a half weeks off before hosting Ball State on Nov. 12.