Toledo Back Beats Nevada In Ot

Wasean Tait, who scored three touchdowns in regulation time, plunged over from the 2 on Toledo’s first overtime possession Thursday night and the No. 25 Rockets capped an unbeaten season with a 40-37 victory over Nevada in the Las Vegas Bowl.

The first overtime game of a major college bowl ended quickly when Toledo needed only four plays to score a touchdown and overcome the field goal scored by Nevada on its first overtime possession.

Tait ran the final two plays for Toledo, which moved 25 yards on its possession to win an offensive battle between the high-powered teams.

Tait, the nation’s No. 2 rusher, set up his final run with a 10-yard scamper that gave the Rockets (11-0-1) a first down at the 2.

Nevada (9-3), which had the ball first in overtime, managed only a 22-yard field goal.

Under the new overtime rules in effect this season for major college bowls, each team receives an equal number of chances to score from the 25 until one team wins.

The game, which opens the major college bowl season, was played before a crowd of only 11,127.

Toledo, which forced six turnovers when the teams first met in September, gave the ball away four times itself in the rematch while Nevada did not turn it over at all.

One of the turnovers, a fumbled exchange between Ryan Huzjak and Tait, gave Nevada the ball at Toledo’s 4 and allowed the Wolf Pack to tie the game 34-34 on a 26-yard field goal by Damon Shea with 9:28 left.