Elyria’s Danny Noble caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Austin Dantin to give Toledo an early lead, but the fourth-ranked team in the nation Boise State routed Toledo 40-15 on Friday night.

Quarterback Kellen Moore threw for 455 yards and five touchdowns to lead Boise State. Moore misfired on his first two throws but didn’t miss many after that, connecting on 32 of 42 passes.

It looked for a while as if Toledo (1-2) might give Boise State a scare just six days after the Rockets came within a play or two of knocking off No. 17 Ohio State. But the Rockets couldn’t stop Moore.

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Elyria’s Danny Noble could only nab one catch, a 13-yard reception, as Toledo stood toe to toe with heavily favored Ohio State in front of 105,016 in Ohio Stadium.

The Buckeyes prevailed, 27-22, holding on as Toledo failed to complete a fourth-down pass on OSU’s 16-yard line with just 48 seconds to play.

The Rockets (1-1, 0-0 MAC) have six days to prepare for No. 4 Boise State at the Glass Bowl on Friday.

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Elyria’s Danny Noble caught just one pass, but it was good for a touchdown in Toledo’s 58-22 victory over New Hampshire in the season opener in the Glass Bowl on Thursday night.

Toledo effectively alternated its two quarterbacks, junior Austin Dantin and sophomore Terrance Owens. Dantin completed 15-of-21 passes for 161 yards and three touchdowns, while Owens connected on 10-of-13 passes for 122 yards and two scores. Bernard Reedy, a sophomore, led the receivers with 113 yards on five catches and two touchdowns.

Toledo’s defense was strong when it needed to be, holding the Wildcats to 121 yards of total offense and one score in the first half. For the game, the Rocket ‘D’ forced five turnovers and racked up eight tackles for loss. Three New Hampshire turnovers in the first half led directly to three Rocket touchdowns.

The game was never in doubt, as Toledo jumped out to a 27-0 first-half lead.

The Rockets (1-0, 0-0 MAC) will travel to Ohio State next Saturday to face the No. 18 Buckeyes.

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Elyria’s Danny Noble caught a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Terrance Owens, as Toledo rolled past Eastern Michigan, 42-7 on Saturday.

Owens, who replaced injured starter Austin Dantin in the first quarter, found Noble for scores of 74- and 6-yards in the first half as the Rockets (6-3, 5-0 Mid-American) led 15-7 at halftime.

Eagles quarterback Alex Gillett, who graduated from Clyde, was 15 of 26 for 170 yards but was intercepted twice and sacked four times.

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Elyria’s Danny Noble hauled in his second-career touchdown pass for Toledo, in its 31-20 rout over Purdue on Saturday.

Noble’s TD was just one of Austin Dantin’s touchdowns on the day. Dantin threw two and ran for two more to lead the Rockets.

Dantin hit Noble in the back of the end zone from seven yards out. That put the Rockets up 14-0 late in the first quarter.

Noble finished with six catches for 46 yards. Toledo improved to 3-1.

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Elyria's Danny Noble started at tight end for Toledo in a 41-2 blowout loss to Arizona on Friday.

The Rockets offense never really got anything going and Noble didn't record a reception in the loss.

Noble started 10 games last year as a sophomore. He was third on the team with 26 receptions. He had a career-high five receptions against Colorado and Ohio State. His 8-yard TD vs. Colorado is his only career touchdown thus far.

His freshman year (2008), he played in seven games, but didn't have a reception.

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Elyria's Danny Noble says he is ready to rumble at Cleveland Browns Stadium this Saturday.

Noble, who caught his first career college touchdown pass last Friday, is more than ready to take on the No. 11 Ohio State Buckeyes.

"This is the game to make my season," Noble said. "I'll be in my hometown. My family is going to be there, everybody I know is going to be there. And again it's Ohio State, one of the top teams in the nation. Our team can't wait to get in the ring with them and rumble."

Noble caught a career-best five passes for 56 yards, which included his first career TD reception at the Glass Bowl in Toledo's 54-38 win over Colorado on Friday. His quarterback Aaron Opelt threw for 319 yards and four touchdowns and also ran for two more. The Rockets out-gained the Buffaloes, 624-451.

"It felt good. That was a highly anticipated game," Noble said. "We wanted to go into this game and play as hard as we could. This game was the one we needed to make a name for ourself and see where we would be at this season. Scoring against them and being able to put up as many points as we did, made it as fun as it possibly could've been."

Noble, a 6-foot-5 236 pound sophomore, didn't expect to grab a starting spot this season. Although he worked hard in the offseason, he never thought it would pay off so soon. He went from tight end to wide receiver, and notched the No. 1 spot going into the season.

"I didn't expect to do as well," Noble said. "I just went into camp and played as hard as I can. The coaches gave me the opportunity to start and so far I'm making it worthwhile. I want to do whatever it takes to help my team win."

He credits his offseason conditioning — sprint school — which helped teach him how to run faster and better. It also gave him endurance to run harder and longer.

"Everybody is way faster and stronger in college," Noble said. "I've also had to block bigger and faster defensive backs. I'm not the biggest tight end or slot receiver, I had to learn how to block technique-wise."

"In practice, we do everything at a high tempo. Our offense is high powered in practice so I expect us to go out in the game and do the exact same thing. We did that last Friday."

The win was also rookie head coach Tim Beckman's first. He also defeated Colorado as the defensive coordinator, while he was at Oklahoma State.

"He's great. I couldn't ask for a better coach," Noble said. "He's a friend when he needs to be friend, but when it's time to step out there on that field, he's the ultimate drill sargeant and that's what I need. That's what our team needs. So far it's been successful."

Noble also said it would be an amazing feat to pull off an upset on the Buckeyes. No Ohio team has beaten the Buckeyes since 1921 when Oberlin defeated Ohio State, 7-6.

"I couldn't imagine what it feel like," Noble said. "This is our biggest game of the season. I'll be at a loss for words if we win."

Noble is a sophomore after playing in seven games last season. He was red-shirted his true freshman year.

At Elyria High School, Noble was an All-Ohio special mention in Division I, while also notching a first-team All-Northeast Lakes District selection. He caught 26 passes for 506 yards, which included nine touchdowns. He also recorded 67 tackles and four sacks on defense.

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Elyria's Danny Noble caught his first career college touchdown pass on Friday night in Toledo's 54-38 win over Colorado at the Glass Bowl in Toledo.

The Rockets netted 624 yards on offense and beat its third-straight Big 12 team. Toledo also defeated Kansas in 2006 and Iowa State in 2007.

Noble, a sophomore, caught a college career-high five passes for 56 yards, which also included his first career TD reception.

Stay tuned in Thursday's Morning Journal for Noble's thoughts on the big Ohio State game at Cleveland Browns Stadium this Saturday.

swalker@MorningJournal.com