TOLEDO, Ohio — Chip Trayanum rushed for a career-high 163 yards and two touchdowns, Junior Vandeross III caught five passes for 122 yards and a score, and Toledo took down Western Kentucky 45-21 on Saturday night.
Trayanum, a Kentucky transfer, eclipsed 100 rushing yards for just the second time in his six-year collegiate career and first time since 2020 against UCLA while at Arizona. Kenji Christian, a transfer from North Carolina A&T, added 91 rushing yards on 15 carries. Toledo had 307 yards on the ground.
The Rockets (1-1) scored on their first drive after a WKU fumble set them up at the opposing 34-yard line. Emmanuel McNeil-Warren then reeled in a 37-yard pick-six to extend Toledo’s lead to 14-0 just over three minutes into the game.
After a WKU touchdown pass made it 14-7, the Rockets scored 31 consecutive points and Western Kentucky did not score again until early in the fourth quarter. Vanderross caught a 71-yard touchdown pass just before halftime, and Trayanum took the first snap of the second half 75 yards for a score.
“A lot of things weren’t good tonight,” said WKU Football Head Coach Tyson Helton in a news release. “There’s a lot of things we need to fix. Things that stood out – we spotted them 14 points, got ourselves in a hole. Defensively, we were in position to make tackles and we didn’t make the tackles or slid off of them. They had a lot of explosive plays. They controlled the line of scrimmage extremely well. I thought we got out-physicaled at the line of scrimmage with our defense. They’re a good football team, good football team, but we did a lot tonight to make it easy for them. We’ve got to go back to the drawing board to get those things fixed.”
The Hilltoppers (2-1) were led by Maverick McIvor’s 235 passing yards and two scores, and Moussa Barry’s three receptions for 110 yards.
WKU will be off next week, before hosting Nevada on Sept. 20 for a Parent & Family Weekend game. Kickoff at Houchens-Smith Stadium is set for 6 p.m. CT.
Associated Press
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