TOLEDO (Interstat) — John Alan Richter threw for 197 yards and a touchdown, and Toledo’s defense forced a turnover and pitched a shutout in a 24-0 victory over Massachusetts in an NCAA Football Bowl Division game Wednesday at the Glass Bowl. Attendance was 19,137. Toledo improved to 8-2, while Massachusetts fell to 5-5. Toledo scored 17 points in the first quarter. The Rockets led 24-0 at halftime and kept the Minutemen off the scoreboard the rest of the way. Toledo scored all its points before halftime and never let Massachusetts cross the goal line. Toledo’s victory was its second straight. The Rockets never trailed.

Toledo opened the scoring when Connor Walendzak ran 69 yards up the middle for a touchdown and Reice Griffith added the extra point. A 74-yard punt return for a touchdown by Bryson Hammer was nullified by an illegal block in the back penalty, moving Toledo back 10 yards from the Toledo 33 to the Toledo 23. Hammer’s return started at the Toledo 26 after a 49-yard punt by Edward Phillipson. Griffith later kicked a 27-yard field goal. Massachusetts quarterback Logan Inagawa was then intercepted by Nicholas Thompson at the Toledo 38, and Thompson returned it 62 yards for a touchdown. TJ Magee had a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown nullified by a Massachusetts holding penalty. Magee’s return started at the Massachusetts 2 after a 63-yard kickoff by Griffith. Richter closed the first-half scoring with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Walendzak. The Minutemen never reached the end zone.

Richter, a 6-3, 215-pound quarterback from Gray, Ga., completed 13 of 22 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown and rushed six times for 6 yards. He was Toledo’s top performer, and his 197 passing yards were the most by either quarterback. In his previous game against Sacramento State, Richter completed 9 of 17 passes for 60 yards and a touchdown.

Walendzak finished with 14 carries for 117 yards and a touchdown and three catches for 41 yards and another score. CJ Miller added 15 carries for 83 yards and one catch for 2 yards. Autavius Ison ran eight times for 21 yards, and Khamoni Robinson had one carry for 13 yards. Adjatay Dabbs caught seven passes for 144 yards. Jacob Newell had one catch for 6 yards, and Bryson Hammer had one catch for 4 yards to go with a 30-yard kickoff return and 20 punt-return yards. Walendzak’s 69-yard run was the longest play from scrimmage for Toledo, and Dabbs led all receivers with 144 yards.

Massachusetts struggled offensively. Inagawa completed 10 of 27 passes for 99 yards and was intercepted, and he ran 10 times for 40 yards. William Watson III was 2 of 4 for 22 yards. Jabari Lewis caught two passes for 28 yards, Kai Owens had one catch for 13 yards, Max Dowling had one catch for 9 yards, and Kezion Dia-Johnson had one catch for 3 yards to go with a 16-yard kickoff return. Edward Phillipson punted eight times for 380 yards. TJ Magee returned a kickoff 23 yards and made four tackles, and Owen Anderson had a 7-yard kickoff return.

Massachusetts defensive back Kendall Bournes made eight tackles, and linebacker Timmy Hinspeter had 12 tackles. Tyler Martin added five tackles, and Tim Passmore Jr., Zakar Morris and Joshua Nobles each had four. Andrew DePaepe recorded three tackles and a sack, while William DePaepe had two tackles and a sack. CJ Amobi had two tackles and a quarterback hurry, and Aubrey Melvin made two tackles. Khari Bendolph had three tackles and Joshua Iseah had two. Zeraun Daniel and TJ Magee each made four tackles. Several others contributed one tackle, including Colin Reynolds, Kamarion Thomas, Justin Krueger, James Horton, Jax Markovich, Raheim Sexil, Jose Touron, Derek Morris, Michael Robinson and DD Snyder. Hollis Dirstine had one quarterback hurry, and Justin Williams-Thomas did not record a statistic.

Toledo’s defense also produced key plays. Julian Fox made eight tackles and had a quarterback hurry. Andrew Zock had six tackles, two sacks and two quarterback hurries. Nicholas Thompson had five tackles, one interception and a touchdown. Donovan Watkins made four tackles, Israel Petite had three, and Caden Camese added three tackles, a sack and a quarterback hurry. Zach Johnson had three tackles and a quarterback hurry. The Rockets held Massachusetts to 99 passing yards and 40 rushing yards from its quarterback. Toledo recorded three sacks and one interception in the shutout.

Massachusetts entered after a 31-30 overtime win over Ball State in its previous game. The Minutemen had alternated wins and losses over their previous four games, including a 35-16 loss at Connecticut, a 25-18 overtime loss at Buffalo and a 20-19 home loss to Miami (Ohio). Earlier in the season, Massachusetts beat Sacramento State 35-6, Stonehill 36-14, Sacred Heart 37-10 and Rutgers 37-21, and lost to Eastern Michigan 38-14. Toledo had beaten Sacramento State 20-17 in its previous game. The Rockets had won three of four, including a 45-38 win over Western Michigan and a 34-14 win at Eastern Michigan, with a 23-8 loss to Buffalo in that stretch. Earlier, Toledo beat Ball State 39-24, San Diego State 41-16 and Temple 49-48, and lost to Michigan State 30-20. The Minutemen next host Akron and then visit Bowling Green. The Rockets next host Bowling Green and then visit Ohio. Both teams have two games remaining on their schedules. Massachusetts fell to 5-5, and Toledo improved to 8-2.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Toledo 52, Massachusetts 18, and its ELO system gave Toledo a 97.5 percent probability to win. Toledo was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -14.5. The total score of 24 went over the over/under line of 51.5. The actual total was 24 points.