Oct. 3, 2009
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OXFORD, Ohio--In the 114th playing of the Battle for the Victory Bell, the University of Cincinnati (5-0) downed Miami University (0-5), 37-13, at Yager Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Yager Stadium crowd of 23,493 was the largest at Miami since November of 2003. It was the Bearcats' fourth-straight win against the RedHawks, although Miami still holds a 59-48-7 lead in the series.
The game was scoreless until Cincinnati's Jacob Ramsey crossed the goal line on a 4-yard run at 4:12 in the first quarter. The kick failed, giving the Bearcats a 6-0 edge. Tony Pike connected on a 35-yard pass to Armon Binns as time expired in the opening quarter, giving Cincinnati a 13-0 lead after the Jacob Rogers kick.
UC increased its lead to 20-0 off a Ramsey 8-yard rush and a Rogers PAT at 12:33 in the second quarter. Miami put its first points on the board when junior running back Thomas Merriweather scored on a 1-yard run, which capped an 82-yard drive for the RedHawks. With junior placekicker Trevor Cook's PAT, Miami was within 13 of the Bearcats, 20-7. The Bearcats tacked on three more points when Rogers connected on a 42-yard field goal with 2:48 to play in the half, upping the Cincinnati lead to 23-7.
Cincinnati was driving late in the opening half, but junior linebacker DeAndre Gilmore intercepted a Pike pass at the Miami 13 as time expired. It was Gilmore's first-career interception.
Miami opened scoring in the second half when senior running back Andre Bratton caught a 19-yard pass from redshirt-freshman quarterback Zac Dysert with five minutes remaining to put Miami within 10 points, 23-13. The RedHawks looked to further close the gap late in the third quarter. Miami was down to the 3-yard line, but Dysert had his pass intercepted in the end zone by JK Schaffer to thwart the drive.
Cincinnati scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter, one off a Ramsey 2-yard run at 11:35 and the other off a Mardy Gilyard 23-yard reception from Pike at 8:12. Rogers connected on both PATs to make Cincinnati's final margin 37-17.
Sophomore defensive back Anthony Kokal had a career-high 13 tackles, five solo and eight assisted, which tied all players for the game high. Junior wide receiver Armand Robinson amassed 100 yards receiving on a career-best 10 catches, while Bratton had a career high for receiving yards with 90 off 11 receptions, including one touchdown. With his 115 receiving yards last week at Kent State, Robinson becomes the first Miami receiver since Ryne Robinson in 2006 to have back-to-back 100-yard receiving games.
Dysert had another strong day, connecting on 33 of 47 passes for 286 years and one touchdown, while throwing two interceptions.
For Cincinnati, Ramsey scored three touchdowns and amassed 103 yards on the grounds. Pike completed 23 of 42 passes and threw two touchdowns with one interception.
Miami hits the road again for two more games before returning home for four of its last five. The RedHawks play their final non-conference opponent next weekend when they travel to Northwestern for a noon (ET) kickoff.
