RedHawks Clipped by Cincinnati, 31-24
9/21/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
CINCINNATI—A gritty effort by the Miami University football team — which included 364 yards of total offense, and five pass break ups and two interceptions by the defense — came up just short as the RedHawks (0-4) fell to the Cincinnati Bearcats (2-0) in the Battle for the Victory Bell on Saturday night at Paul Brown Stadium, 31-24.
Miami came out firing in the first quarter as senior quarterback Andrew Hendrix completed passes for 14 and 6 yards to sophomore wide receiver Jared Murphy and senior tight end Andrew Welch, respectively, before capping a 6-play, 48-yard drive with a 23-yard touchdown strike to senior wide receiver David Frazier at the 10:59 mark of the first quarter to hand the RedHawks a quick 7-0 lead.
After the Bearcats knotted the game at 7-7 off a touchdown at 6:32 in the first, senior defensive back Quinten Rollins came up with his third interception in as many games with 2:47 to go in the first quarter at the Miami 25 yard-line to thwart the Bearcat drive. The interception set up a 9-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that included a 41-yard pass from Hendrix to Frazier and was punctuated with an 18-yard touchdown scamper by freshman running back Paul Moses at the 14:15 mark in the second quarter to record his first collegiate touchdown and hand Miami a 14-7 lead.
The Bearcats came back with 17 unanswered points over the final 7:52 of the opening half to carry 24-14 lead into the break.
Just 54 seconds into the second half, Miami closed the gap when Hendrix hit Frazier on a 74-yard passing touchdown on the second play of the series as the RedHawks pulled within 24-21. It was a career-long pass for Hendrix and career-long reception for Frazier. UC again pushed its lead to 10 points when the Bearcats scored on a 29-yard passing touchdown with 3:08 to go in the third quarter to put the score at 31-21.
Junior kicker Kaleb Patterson put the RedHawks within a touchdown just under two minutes into the final quarter when he inched out a 49-yard field goal to close the gap to 31-24. The RedHawks had a chance to tie score with about six minutes to go in the game, moving the ball to the Cincinnati 1-yard line for a first down, but was unable to come away with any points as the Bearcats went on to the seven-point win.
Hendrix finished with 262 yards passing, throwing for two touchdowns and completing 13-of-26 attempts with an interception. Frazier amassed a career-high 162 yards receiving on five catches. Defensively, senior defensive back Jarrell Jones led Miami with nine tackles. Rollins accumulated a career-high eight tackles, including four solo stops, and added two pass breakups and two interceptions. His second interception came just over a minute into the third quarter and included an 8-yard return.
As a team, the RedHawks were just six yards behind UC’s 370 yards of total offense and notched 102 rushing yards to the Bearcats’ 99 with a time of possession of 31:54.
Miami rounds out a three-game road stretch when the RedHawks travel to Buffalo for a 3:30 p.m. game on Saturday, Sept. 27 in the Mid-American Conference opener for the RedHawks. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
