Sept. 14, 2002

Final Stats?|? Notes?|? Photo Gallery

By MARY FOSTER
AP Sports Writer

BATON ROUGE, La. - Matt Mauck threw three touchdown passes as 25th-ranked Louisiana State defeated Miami University 33-7 Saturday night.

The Tigers (2-1) were in no danger of losing, but they had some problems against the overmatched RedHawks (1-2). LSU had trouble with penalties, committing nine for 87 yards.

In the third quarter alone, LSU had six for 60 yards. The Tigers had first-and-goal on the Miami 6-yard line, only to back up to 3rd-and-goal on the 46 and finally settle for a 41-yard field goal by John Corbello, his fourth of the game.

LSU was dominant on the ground as running back LaBrandon Toefield, who had offseason knee surgery, seems to have regained his form from 2001, when he was a first-team All-SEC selection.

Toefield rushed for 111 yards on 17 carries, as LSU outgained the RedHawks 207 yards to 29 on the ground.

Domanick Davis had 51 yards rushing, 35 yards receiving and 116 yards on five punt returns.

Mauck completed 15 of 26 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns. He was not intercepted.

LSU had 422 total yards to 224 for Miami of Ohio and held the ball almost 11 minutes longer than the RedHawks.

Miami quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was 22-of-34 for 195 yards and a touchdown. He was intercepted once and sacked three times.

Cal Murray led the RedHawks in rushing, but with only 18 yards on 6 carries.

It was a lackluster first half, with Corbello supplying three of the scores.

Corbello opened the scoring with two first-quarter field goals - a 42-yarder and a 29-yarder with 8:24 that gave the Tigers a 6-0 lead. He also made a 35-yarder in the second quarter.

Mauck hit Michael Clayton for the first of two scores in the first half, an 8-yard TD pass with 2:55 left in the first quarter that made it 13-0 LSU.

Miami didn't make it past its own 35-yard line before their final drive of the first half. The RedHawks penetrated LSU territory for the first time with less than three minutes left in the half and put together a 10-play scoring drive.

Roethlisberger moved the team 87 yards before connecting with Korey Kirkpatrick on a 7-yard TD pass that cut LSU's lead to 16-7 with 50 seconds remaining. On the drive Roethlisberger was 7 of 8 passing for 84 yards.

LSU answered with its most impressive drive of the half, going 71 yards on five plays, with Mauck finding Clayton again. The 24-yard pass made it 7-23 at the half.

After Corbello's 41-yard field goal field goal in the third quarter, Mauck closed out the scoring with a 6-yard TD pass to Demetri Robinson with 10 seconds left, extending the lead to 33-7.

Game Notes

Miami vs. LSU
Tiger Stadium - Baton Rouge, La.

• Miami, which opens Mid-American Conference play next Saturday versus Kent State, dropped to 1-2 on the season and has lost five of its last six games dating back to last season. The stretch is Miami's worst since it lost seven of eight games in 1993 (Sept. 18-Nov. 6).

• The 26-point loss was the worst under head coach Terry Hoeppner, and the seven points were the lowest total a Miami offense has scored under Hoeppner.

• With the loss, Miami is 11-11-1 all-time versus the Southeastern Conference and 1-2 versus LSU, which has won the last two meetings between the teams.

• Miami head coach Terry Hoeppner, who has a 10-5 record following a loss, lost consecutive games for just the fourth time in his four-year tenure.

• The RedHawks' 10-play, 87-yard scoring drive in the second quarter lasted 4:38. It was Miami's longest of the season in both length of yardage and time.

• Miami's 23-7 halftime deficit was its largest since a Sept. 8, 2001 loss at Iowa. The 23 first-half points tallied by LSU were the most since Iowa scored 24 in that 44-19 RedHawk loss.

• With the loss, Miami failed to achieve a winning record versus non-conference opponents for the fourth consecutive season. The RedHawks wrap up their non-conference schedule at Cincinnati on Oct. 5.

Individual Notes

• With his second quarter touchdown pass to Korey Kirkpatrick, Miami quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has completed a touchdown pass in 14 of his first 15 career games. The TD reception was the second of Kirkpatrick's career.

• Roethlisberger finished the night with 195 yards passing, moving past both Larry Fortner (1975-78) and Terry Morris (1985-86) into fourth place on Miami's career passing yardage list with 3,847 yards. Roethlisberger was held under 200 yards passing for the first time in 11 games-his lowest output since a 122-yard effort at Ball State last season.

• Junior running back Cal Murray had a career game as a receiver out of the backfield, snagging career bests of five receptions for 61 yards. Murray also rushed for 18 yards before leaving the game with a knee injury in the third quarter.

• With a 41-yard kick return in the third quarter, Milt Bowen moved past Milt Stegall (1988-91) as Miami's all-time leader in kickoff return yardage with 1,388 career yards.

• Junior linebacker Terrell Jones recorded eight tackles on the night, extending his string of consecutive games with a tackle to 24.

• Wide receivers Jason Branch and Michael Larkin each recorded receptions to extend their streaks of games with a reception to 20 and14, respectively. Larkin has made a reception in every game he's played in.