Bruce Gradkowski threw for 298 yards and five touchdowns, leading Toledo to a 45-13 victory over UTEP in the seventh annual GMAC Bowl on Wednesday in Mobile, Ala.
The Rockets dealt the Miners their third straight loss and kept the Mid-American Conference unbeaten (5-0) in the GMAC Bowl. UTEP finished the season 8-4.
“It wasn’t in the game plan to end our season like this,” UTEP coach Mike Price said. “We played poorly, and I’m very disappointed. We’ve really got to analyze what we’re doing in November, and how we can finish better.”
Gradkowski, the game’s MVP, threw for three touchdowns in the first half as Toledo (9-3) built a 28-13 lead. He out-dueled Miner quarterback Jordan Palmer, who passed for 160 yards in the first half before suffering a high ankle sprain. Palmer was relieved by Orlando Cruz for the first series of the second half. He later returned but was ineffective, completing one of five passes for three yards in the second half.
Palmer completed 14 of 33 attempts for 163 yards. Cruz, who finished the game, was three of seven for 29 yards.
“Jordan probably shouldn’t have even played,” Price said. “He thought he could do it. It limited our offense quite a bit. He did the best he could do I don’t know if it would have made a difference if Orlando had played.”
Toledo drove 79 yards for a touchdown on its opening possession, as Gradkowski connected with tight end John Allen for a 10-yard score.
The Miners dented the scoreboard with 1:52 remaining in the period on a 34-yard field goal by Reagan Schneider, capping a 71-yard drive.
Toledo extended its lead to 14-3 on a fourth down, 33-yard touchdown pass from Gradkowski to David Washington his first career reception for a score with 10:41 remaining in the half.
Thirty-six seconds later David Thomas picked off Palmer for a 37-yard touchdown, and the Miners found themselves trailing 21-3.
UTEP scored 10 straight points to pull to within 21-13. Palmer found Johnnie Lee Higgins, Jr. for an 18-yard score, and Schneider nailed a 23-yard field goal.
But Gradkowski quelled the Miners’ momentum by finding Steve Odom for a 31-yard touchdown shortly before the half, leaving UTEP in a 28-13 hole at the intermission.
“I thought it we could keep it close at the half, we’d have a legitimate chance to win,” Price said. “They’ve been a big scoring team in the first half.”
Odom opened the second half with a 51-yard kickoff return, setting up a 29-yard field goal by Jason Robbins for a 31-13 advantage.
A 22-yard touchdown pass from Gradkowski to Josh Powell with 13:39 left in the game put Toledo up 38-13.
Gradkowski completed the scoring by hitting Chris Hopkins for a 13-yard TD.
Toledo’s Trinity Dawson, who rushed for 124 yards, was named the game’s offensive MVP. Mike Alston was appointed defensive MVP after racking up three sacks, and Odom had three kickoff returns for 112 yards to earn special teams MVP.
Toledo rushed for 164 yards and had 468 yards of offense. UTEP had 255 yards of offense, with 220 coming in the first half when Palmer was healthy.
“The game was a mess,” Price said. “We couldn’t stop the run, and if you can’t stop the run it makes it really impossible [to win]. We were just completely out of sync.”
Game Notes
The Miners dropped to 5-7 in bowls, including 0-4 since 1967 ... Cruz attempted a pass in a game for the third time this season (New Mexico State, Texas Southern) ... the Miners dropped to 2-6 under Price when scoring less than 30 points (14-2 when scoring 30 or more) ... UTEP set school seasonal records for total offense (5,073 yards), passing yardage (3,607) and passing touchdowns (29) on Wednesday ... in his final collegiate game, Chris Francies extended his streak of consecutive games with a reception to 43 ... UTEP forced three turnovers after totaling two takeaways in the previous three games ...Schneider moved into second place on the career kicking points list with 205 ... Palmer has thrown a touchdown pass in 20 straight games ... it was the first loss for the Miners this season when Palmer threw two interceptions or less (8-1) ... UTEP was outscored in the first quarter for just the third time this year (New Mexico, Tulsa). The Miners outscored opponents 94-41 in the first quarter in 2005. UTEP had been 2-0 when trailing entering the second quarter coming into the game ... sophomore receiver Joe West established career-highs for catches (four) and yards (54) in the first quarter alone. He had a personal best three receptions at Rice on Oct. 29, and 50 yards receiving versus Tulsa on Nov. 5. West finished with six catches for 88 yards ... opponents have scored eight touchdowns and a field goal off Palmer’s 19 interceptions this season ... Higgins’ touchdown catch in the second quarter was his first in six games. He had eight touchdown receptions in the first six games of the season. Higgins moved into a tie for second place on the Miner career charts with his 19th career touchdown catch, nine behind the record-holder Lee Mays (28) ... Marcus Thomas rushed for 71 yards, ending his school-record streak of 100-yard games at four.
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