Cardinals Fall at Toledo Despite Freshman Bonds' Rushing and Receiving

Saturday, November 22

Toledo, OH

2 p.m.

Ball State University

4-7 , 3-4

University of Toledo

7-4 , 5-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Ball St.

Toledo

Photo by: Cam Pippin/Ball State Athletics

Cardinals Fall at Toledo Despite Freshman Bonds' Rushing and Receiving

November 22, 2025 | Football

Box Score

TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo scored 24 unanswered points in between two Ball State scores, and the Rockets cruised to a 38-9 Mid-American Conference victory over the Cardinals in front of 15,127 at The Glass Bowl.

Ball State (4-7, 3-4 MAC) lost consecutive games for the first time since falling to Purdue and Auburn to open the season. The Rockets (7-4, 5-2 MAC) won for the third straight week and got past the Cardinals for the fourth straight time since 2021.

Ball State mustered 335 total yards, though had only 56 before halftime against the stingy Rockets who kept their place among four teams tied for second place in the MAC standings, vying for a spot in the MAC Championship Game on Dec. 6.

Freshman running back Jalen Bonds, playing just the second game of his career, paced the Cardinals with 58 rushing yards on 16 carries. Bonds also turned a short pass play in the fourth quarter into a 54-yard jaunt that was Ball State's longest pass play of the season.

The Cardinals used a 40-yard pass from wide receiver Ty Robinson to tight end Kameron Anthony to set up Ball State's only score of the opening half – a 47-yard field goal by DC Pippin with 3:26 before intermission. Pippin's field goal, the longest by Ball State this season, got the Cardinals on the scoreboard but preceded a pair of short Toledo scoring drives sandwiched around a Cardinals' fumble in the half's final moments.

Toledo added a pair of second-half passing scores after leading 24-3 at intermission. Trailing 38-3 late in the fourth, the Cardinals used long pass plays to Qian Magwood and Donovan Hamilton to set up their final score, an 11-yard run by Isaiah Thacker, with 3:43 left to play.

The Cardinals had two first-half interceptions – by Will Yates and Eric McClain – to run their streak to six straight games with an interception, Ball State's longest since 2020. The pair of thefts was countered, though, by six Toledo sacks in the first half, seven overall.

After failing to pick off a pass in the season's first five games, Ball State has recorded nine passing takeaways over its last six games, despite not turning them into points on Saturday. The Cardinals will take Bonds' running momentum and their six-game interception streak into next Saturday's bout at MAC-rival Miami, to close the 2025 season.