Tucker Gleason threw for two touchdowns and capped a career-best 336-yard performance with a game-winning two-point conversion pass to Junior Vandeross III to propel the Toledo Rockets to a 48-46 six-overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Panthers in the GameAbove Sports Bowl Thursday in Detroit.
Vandeross also had a career day, posting personal bests of 12 passes for 194 yards for the Rockets (8-5), who, with the win over the Panthers (7-6), beat two power conference opponents in the same season for just the second time in school history. Toledo needed to come back from a 10-point deficit early in the fourth quarter to force overtime and then had two earlier stops in the extra sessions nullified by a penalty and a replay reversal.
It appeared Toledo would have the game in hand in the first half. Gleason and Vandeross connected on a 67-yard touchdown pass to give the Rockets a 13-12 lead midway through the second quarter. Then, just 14 seconds later, cornerback Braden Awls picked off a David Lynch pass on Pitt’s first play and returned it 42 yards to extend the lead to eight points.
The loss overshadowed the debut of Pitt freshman Julian Dugger, who replaced fellow freshman David Lynch in the third quarter. The Pittsburgh native completed 7 of 13 passes for 72 yards and two scores to help the Panthers take a 30-20 early in the fourth quarter. He also ran 21 times for 88 yards and a touchdown in the first extra period but his throw for Kenny Johnson was incomplete in the sixth OT as the Rockets prevailed.
However, he also threw an interception that Darius Alexander returned 58 yards for a touchdown that cut the Panthers lead to 30-27 with 7:49 left in regulation. Dylan Cunanan tied the game with 1:45 left on a 51-yard field goal.
Desmond Reid, an all-purpose All-American, ran for a season-high 165 yards on 32 carries, also a season-high, for the Panthers, who collected 301 of their 438 yards on the ground.
The Panthers finished the season losing six straight thanks to injuries decimating the roster. That included Eli Holstein, a freshman quarterback who threw for 2,228 yards but was unable to play in the bowl due to an ankle injury he suffered at Louisville on Nov. 23. Lynch, a walk-on freshman quarterback who threw just nine passes in the regular season, got the start.
