Toledo Rallies in 42-Point Half

Bruce Gradkowski threw for 338 yards and directed six second-half touchdown drives in Toledo’s 49-41 victory Tuesday night over Bowling Green at Toledo, Ohio, putting the Rockets in the Mid-American Conference title game.

The Rockets, trailing, 27-7, at the half, dominated the third quarter with 28 consecutive points. They didn’t take the lead until Gradkowski threw his third touchdown pass, a 20-yard strike to Steve Odom with 2 minutes 20 seconds left in the quarter.

Toledo (8-3, 7-1 MAC) will play Miami of Ohio in the MAC title game at Ford Field in Detroit on Dec. 2.

The victory over Bowling Green (8-3, 6-2) should be enough to secure a bowl bid for Toledo.

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Joshua Cribbs threw for a career-high 389 yards and accounted for five touchdowns to lead Kent State (5-6, 4-4 MAC) to its fourth consecutive win, a 41-24 season-ending victory over Central Florida at Orlando, Fla.

Central Florida (0-11, 0-8) finished winless under first-year coach George O’Leary, the only team in Division I-A without a victory this season.

The Golden Knights have a 15-game losing streak, the nation’s longest.

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Four Big Ten teams received their bowl assignments, with co-champion Iowa leading the way to the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1 in Orlando, Fla.

Wisconsin is headed to the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1 in Tampa, Fla., while Purdue goes to the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31 in El Paso, and Ohio State plays in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29 in San Antonio.

Also, North Carolina accepted a bid to the Continental Tire Bowl on Dec. 30 in Charlotte, N.C., and the Mid-American Conference agreed to send a team to the Silicon Valley Football Classic on Dec. 30 in San Jose. The MAC team will take the spot contractually reserved for the seventh-place Pacific 10 Conference team. The Pac-10 won’t have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill its spot.

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Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz signed a three-year extension that will keep him under contract with the Hawkeyes through 2012. The new deal will pay Ferentz a base salary of $1.2 million and includes incentives for bowl appearances and the team’s academic achievement.... Michigan’s David Baas, Florida State’s Alex Barron and Oklahoma’s Jammal Brown are the finalists for the 2004 Outland Trophy, which is awarded to the nation’s best interior lineman.