KALAMAZOO, Mich.  –  The Western Michigan football team suffered its first Mid-American Conference loss of the season after a 51-24 setback against defending MAC champion Toledo on Thursday night inside Waldo Stadium.

The loss snapped WMU's six-game winning streak after starting the season with two Power 5 losses (Syracuse, Michigan). The six-game win streak heading into the night was tied for the fifth longest in the NCAA. The Broncos now have an overall record of 6-3, 4-1 in MAC play.

After junior Jon Wassink left the game early in the first quarter with a foot injury, freshman Kaleb Eleby made his first career appearance and performed well throwing for 293 yards and two touchdowns. Eleby completed his first eight pass attempts and finished the game going 23-for-28 with a QB rating of 193.6.

Eleby threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to fellow freshman Jayden Reed on his first collegiate throw becoming the first Bronco since Zach Terrell to throw a touchdown pass on his first career throw. In 2013 at Michigan State, Terrell found tight end Clark Mussman on a 14-yard pass.

On the ground, senior Jamauri Bogan led the Broncos with 66 yards on 10 attempts along with one rushing touchdown. Bogan ripped off a 42-yard run midway through the first quarter which moved him into sixth place in career rushing yards at WMU, passing Jim Vackaro with 3,087 yards.

Through the air Reed led the Brown & Gold with six receptions for 103 yards and two touchdowns, marking the fourth game this season he has went over the 100-yard mark. Junior running back LeVante Bellamy ranked second on the team with five receptions while junior tight end Giovanni Ricci had four receptions for 31 yards.

Defensively junior Drake Spears led the team with a career-high 12 tackles followed by junior Justin Tranquill with seven and redshirt senior Juwan Dowels with five. The Broncos collected two sacks on the night with Alex Grace, Corvin Moment, DeShawn Foster and Kailien Guillory each having half a sack.

It was an even first half between the Rockets and Broncos as WMU outgained UT, 278-274. However, Toledo took a 23-17 lead into halftime thanks to three field goals by senior kicker Jameson Vest.

In the first half, Reed had a pair of receiving touchdowns from 25 and 62 yards to give WMU a spark offensively. Reed now has eight receiving touchdowns on the season, which leads the conference.  

The Rockets pulled away in the third quarter scoring 21 points in the first 5:35 to extend their lead to 44-17. Late in the third, Bogan earned his 10^th rushing touchdown of the season from one-yard out and has now rushed for a touchdown in four consecutive games.  

Toledo tacked on another touchdown in the fourth as senior Cody Thompson caught his third receiving touchdown of the game from eight yards out to clinch the 51-24 victory. Western Michigan had 432 yards of total offense compared to Toledo's, 515. WMU had 307 passing yards to UT's, 247 but was outgained on the ground, 268-125.

WMU will host its second straight mid-week game on Thursday, Nov.1 against Ohio. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. and will be aired either on ESPNU or CBS Sports Network. To purchase tickets, visit the Bronco Ticket Office, order online at wmubroncos.com/tickets or by calling 1-888-4-WMU-TIX.