HEARTBREAKER AT OHIO STATE

Toledo had its chance for the biggest upset in school history. Trailing Ohio State 27-22, sophomore quarterback Terrance Owens drove the Rockets from their own 28 to the OSU's 16- yard line. But that was it for UT. With a fourth and five and 50 seconds remaining, Owens was pressured by Buckeye defensive lineman John Simon and threw and incomplete pass. Game over.

UT could have come to Columbus in front of 105,000 fans and been intimidated. But it didn't happen.

Even after OSU scored on its first possession, the Rockets drove deep into Ohio State territory, but a field goal attempt went wide.

After forcing Ohio State into a punting situation, freshman Kishon Wilcher tipped the ball and Morgan Williams scooped it up, running to the one yard line. A pass from Austin Dantin to Eric Page gave the Rockets their first touchdown. UT went for two, and a Page to Hank Keighley pass put UT ahead 8-7.

Owens entered the game at quarterback, and on the second play of the series found Page streaking down the sideline for a 66-yard touchdown. Ryan Casano's extra point put the Midnight Blue and Gold up 15-7.

 Ohio State's Carlos Hyde answered with a 36-yard touchdown run, but Toledo was still on top 15-14.

UT was struggling offensively and had problems committing penalties the entire game (14 total), but none was more costly than when Vince Penza had to re-kick the ball because of an illegal formation. Penza got a nice roll on his first punt, but the second went directly to Chris Field to returned it all the way, giving OSU a 21-15 lead that would hold up until half-time.

There's no way to overestimate the damage that Toledo's nine first-half penalties caused. UT had 15 yards rushing in the first half and didn't make a single third down conversion.

Not deterred, the Rockets scored on their first possession of the second half. Adonis Thomas took a swing pass from Dantin and chewed up 42 yards. Thomas was again the hero, when he took a direct snap and scored on a fourth and one from the Ohio State four yard line. Toledo was on top again 22-21.

UT drove deep into OSU territory again, but a sack and another penalty led to a long field goal try that went bad because of a bad hold.. Ohio State's good field position helped them put together a short drive that ended with another Hyde touchdown.

There's no question that this was a game the Rockets could have won. But again, penalties killed drives and gave the Buckeyes to many chances. 3 of 16 on third down conversions is another statistic that shows how hard it was for UT to put together drives.

"Too many penalties, special teams hurt us again," Tim Beckman said. "When we're playing games like this we need to play all three phases of the game."

Toledo had more yardage than the Buckeyes, 338-301, and had over 100 more passing yards. But the lack of a running game was the real killer.

UT doesn't have any time to feel bad about the loss because Boise State is coming to the Glass Bowl on Friday. And the Broncos should be a bigger test than OSU.