Oct. 13, 2007
Final Stats
OXFORD, Ohio (AP) -Miami University retired former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's No. 7 in a pregame ceremony on Saturday and then rolled past Bowling Green, 47-14, as Austin Sykes ran for a career-high 124 yards and scored two touchdowns.
The RedHawks sacked the Falcons' Tyler Sheehan six times and limited him to a season-low 140 yards in the air while handing Bowling Green (3-3, 1-1 Mid-American Conference) their second straight loss.
Miami (4-3, 3-0MAC) won by its largest margin since beating Buffalo 54-13 on Nov. 5, 2005.
Redshirt freshman Eugene Harris scored his first two career touchdowns, the second on a 73-yard pass - Miami's longest play of the season - that helped the RedHawks open up a 30-7 halftime lead.
Roethlisberger, now the Pittsburgh Steelers' starting quarterback, said one of his childhood goals was to have his high school, college and professional numbers retired. Findlay High School in northwest Ohio also has retired his No. 7.
"Of all the things kids want, I don't know how I got this crazy idea in my head, but I wanted to get that done," Roethlisberger told reporters before the ceremony.
Roethlisberger set almost every school passing record and led Miami to its last MAC championship in 2003. The RedHawks, coached by Terry Hoeppner, finished that year 13-1 and ranked 10th in the nation.
Miami on Saturday also remembered Hoeppner with a video tribute at halftime and a moment of silence before the game's kickoff.
Hoeppner was Miami's coach from 1999-2004. He left in 2005 to become Indiana's coach, and died in June at age 59 from complications of a brain tumor.
NOTES:
Austin Sykes' 21-yard touchdown in the first quarter matched the longest TD run of the season for Miami. Brandon Murphy had a 21-yard TD gallop vs. Ball State in the second quarter of Miami's season-opening victory.
Of Miami's 29 points in the opening quarter through the first seven games, 26 have come in the last two games. The RedHawks had a 10-7 lead after the first quarter against Kent State last Saturday, and led Bowling Green by a score of 16-0 after one period today.
Jake Richardson's had three punts for 140 yards (46.7 yards per punt) with a long punt of 54 yards. Richardson came in game as nation's fourth-ranked punter
Best team rushing performance this season was 286 (50 atts.) vs. Syracuse. Today, the RedHawks rushed for 262 yards on 53 carries.
Austin Sykes rushed for a career-high 124 yards on 17 attempts today vs. Bowling Green. Prior to today, his top rushing games in 2007 were 76 yards vs. Cincinnati and 74 yards vs. Kent State.
Pete Walters was Miami's game captain today.
Miami's 30 points in the first half vs. Bowling Green is its most since its 47 points vs. Buffalo (47-0 halftime lead) on Nov. 5, 2005. Miami won that game 54-13.
During pre-game ceremonies, Ben Roethlisberger's jersey number seven was retired by Miami University. He joins John Pont (#42) and Bob Hitchens (#40) as the only former Miami football players to have had their numbers retired.
Miami's 47-14 victory over Bowling Green extended its winning streak to three in a row. That's the longest streak since the 2005 season when the eventual Mid-American Conference East co-champions won four in a row.
Miami's last 3-0 start in MAC play came in 2003. The Ben Roethlisberger-led RedHawks swept to a perfect 8-0 record.
Miami's victory improved its all-time series record vs. Bowling Green to 40-19-5.
Joey Hudson, a member of the Butkus Award "Watch List", intercepted his second pass of the season.
The win was Miami's largest in the series against Bowling Green since a 46-7 win against the Falcons in 1954.
Miami's 47 points is the most RedHawk points in a game since Nov. 5, 2005 in a 54-13 win against Buffalo.
Miami Quotes
Miami Postgame Quotes vs Bowling Green 10/13/07:
Head Coach Shane Montgomery: On Miami's pass defense against Bowling Green: "We were able to take away his first and second reads (Tyler Sheehan) and put some pressure on him throughout the day."
On Miami's play since the Colorado game: "We've played really well since the Colorado game. The biggest thing is that we're playing really hard on defense and we've been able to stay away from giving up the big play."
Jay Hood (Miami Defensive Coordinator): On Miami's defensive effort: "We really played well early. There were chances for Bowling Green early, but we got three and outs. (We) played very aggressively."
On Miami's defensive play for Bowling Green: "We just wanted to stay in their pass rush lanes and bat balls down because we didn't think we could get to him (Sheehan). Our secondary played tight and we took advantage of it"
Linebacker Clayton Mullins: On the play of the defense: "It starts up front in any football game, and our defensive line really got it going for us."
On Miami's defensive intensity: "As long as we just keep playing with the confidence and aggression that we've been playing with the past couple weeks, we'll do fine."
On Bowling Green: "They're a good team but we played our game today."
Running Back Austin Sykes: "I told my dad we were going to have a great game tomorrow. He said 'Why's that?' and I told him because we just had the best practice in a long time (Friday's practice)."
About the play of the offense: "Coach always says our offense is great, just that we need to be consistent and we showed that today."
Quarterback Daniel Raudabaugh: On his performance against Bowling Green: "I didn't try to do too much, I did what was asked of me. It was a big win."
On Miami's play since the Colorado game: "We're playing with a lot of confidence and a swagger right now, but there's always room for improvement."
On the play of the offense: "The guys we've got up front are just opening up holes that you can drive a bus through. And Austin (Sykes) and Jamel (Miller) stepped up big."
