Oct. 17, 2009

PHOTO GALLERY from Miami-Ohio football game

Final Stats | Notes

ATHENS, Ohio - The Miami University football team scored a touchdown on its opening drive but the rival Ohio Bobcats scored 28 unanswered points, including 21 in the first half, to defeat the RedHawks, 28-7, Saturday afternoon at a rainy Peden Stadium on Ohio's Homecoming. Miami (0-7, 0-3 Mid-American Conference) has now lost four straight to the Bobcats (5-2, 3-0 MAC) in the "Battle of the Bricks", marking the first time it has done so since losing five in a row to Ohio from 1960-64.

Ohio ran for 226 yards, including 121 yards and two scores from redshirt sophomore running back Donte Harden, en route to outgaining Miami 398 yards to 218. The 'Cats also earned 22 first downs to the RedHawks' 13. Miami turned the ball over four times and converted just 3-of-13 third downs which led to its offensive woes.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Zac Dysert (Ada, Ohio) went 19-for-30 for 166 yards with two interceptions for Miami, but did rush for a score. Redshirt freshman wideout Andy Cruse (Cincinnati, Ohio) led the 'Hawks with a career-best five catches for 48 yards. Ohio senior quarterback Theo Scott completed 15-of-28 passes for 163 yards and a pair of touchdowns with one pick while junior wide receiver LaVon Brazill caught a game-high six passes for 74 yards.

Defensively, senior cornerback Jeff Thompson (Worthington, Ohio) made a career- and game-high 11 tackles for the Red and White while redshirt sophomore linebacker Jerrell Wedge (Upper Marlboro, Md.) had nine stops, including two and a half tackles for loss, and nabbed his first-career interception. Senior safety Patrick Tafua led the Bobcats with eight tackles.

Miami marched down the field on the opening possession of the game, driving 80 yards in 10 plays, to score its first touchdown in the first quarter this season and first since Oct. 25, 2008 against Kent State, to grab a 7-0 lead. Dysert crossed the goal line on a 1-yard keeper for his first-career rushing touchdown after a 26-yard completion to redshirt junior wide receiver Armand Robinson (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) put the ball on the Ohio 1-yard line.

The Bobcats evened the score at 7-7 with just over a minute left in the first quarter when Harden dove over a pile and into the end zone from a yard out. The score capped an 83-yard drive that started after Ohio intercepted Dysert and a pair of runs over 30 yards by Harden put the ball deep in Miami territory.

Ohio grabbed its first lead of the game, 14-7, with 8:05 remaining in the first half when Scott found redshirt junior wideout Terrence McCrae in the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown, as McCrae made a one-handed snag for the score. After the 'Hawks failed to convert a fourth-and-one at the Ohio 45-yard line, the Bobcats doubled their advantage when McCrae was again on the receiving end of a Scott touchdown toss, this time from eight yards out with just 39 ticks left in the half. The five-play, 50-yard drive took just 48 seconds.

Ohio took its 21-7 lead into the locker room after outgaining Miami 238 yards to 113 in the first half while doubling the RedHawks in first downs, 14-7. The biggest disparity was in rushing yards where the Bobcats racked up 148 yards on the ground on just 11 carries to Miami's 30 rushing yards on 19 carries. The 'Hawks did control time of possession 17:58-12:02. Dysert was 10-of-15 for 83 yards with an interception through the air for Miami while Robinson caught three of the balls for 55 yards. Harden had eight carries for 99 rushing yards for Ohio while Scott was 11-for-17 for 90 yards with a pair of touchdown tosses in the opening 30 minutes.

Late in the third quarter, Bobcat linebacker Chad Clemens blocked a Miami punt at the Ohio 7-yard line, but the RedHawks' defense held strong and a botched snap on the field goal try kept the score at 21-7. Early in the fourth quarter, however, Harden found the end zone for the second time in the game with a 1-yard plunge to make the final score of 28-7.

Miami still controls the all-time series 51-33-2 but the series in Athens is now tied at 21-21.

After playing six of their first seven games away from Yager Stadium, the RedHawks return home Saturday, Oct. 24, to host the Northern Illinois Huskies for Miami's Homecoming in an inter-divisional MAC contest. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET at Yager Stadium.

--MURedHawks.com--