Box Score Sept. 16, 2017
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OXFORD, Ohio - As has been the case in most recent Battle for the Victory Bell tilts, the Miami football team came achingly close to bringing the bell back to Oxford before a Cincinnati rally.
The RedHawks (1-2) held a 17-6 lead with under five minutes remaining, but the Bearcats scored 15 points down the stretch to prevail 21-17 at Yager Stadium on Saturday night.
A 14-yard interception return by Malik Clements with 1:07 left in regulation proved the winning score as UC completed the comeback.
After punting on the opening possession, penalties plagued the Red and White on their first defensive possession as an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the punt set the Bearcats up at their own 44 yard line. Facing a third and long at Miami's 30, it appeared MU would get the stop it needed when Brad Koenig broke through with a sack and a fumble that the Red & White recovered, but a personal foul extended the drive and put the Bearcats at the 15 yard line. Miami recovered from that and a Pasquale Calcagno sack limited UC to a Josh Pasley 41-yard field goal to put it up 3-0 late in the opening quarter.
Miami responded immediately by connecting on throws downfield. Starting at its own 15-yard line, Gus Ragland set the tone by hitting Maurice Thomas for a 55-yard gain, flipping the field to Cincinnati's 30. A 16-yard toss to Ryan Smith had the Red & White in the red zone, but a penalty moved them back to the 24. Undeterred, Ragland finished things off when he went downfield again and Luke Mayock won a jump ball to haul in a 24-yard touchdown pass to put MU on top 7-3 with 3:37 left in the frame.
Both teams traded punts on their next possession and UC began to drive into Miami territory, getting to the 25-yard line. The RedHawks again came up big defensively as De'Andre Montgomery corralled a tipped ball for an interception to give them the ball once again.
Defense continued to shine on both sides of the ball for the remainder of the half as following Montgomery's interception, the next seven combined drives were ended on punts and another afterwards would have if not for the end of the half. Six of those seven punts and the end of the half were three and out drives by the offense as Miami maintained a four-point lead at the half.
The RedHawk defense came up with another gigantic stop to open the second half as the Bearcats attempted a fourth down conversion, but Tony Reid and Heath Harding teamed up to stuff Hayden Moore's quarterback sneak on 4th-and-1 at the UC 34. MU's offense responded to the inspired play as Kenny Young carried MU's offense on his back, starting the drive with a six-yard reception, popping a 16-yard run to get Miami into the red zone and eventually punching it into the end zone from a yard out to up MU's lead to 14-3 just over five minutes into the half. Young accounted for all 34 of Miami's yards on that scoring drive.
Despite starting from its own nine, Cincinnati got into a rhythm on the ensuing drive. The Bearcats eventually got to the RedHawks' 25, but a false start penalty disrupted their threat as a Pasley 47-yard field goal attempt hooked wide right.
After forcing a Miami punt, Cincinnati once again drove the field and got to the six-yard line. On 3rd-and-goal from the seven, Moore's pass was intercepted in the end zone by Cedric Asseh and run out to the 46-yard line, giving MU prime field position after yet another big defensive play.
The Bearcats once again forced a punt and finally turned a long drive into points on the strength of a 36-yard field goal by Pasley to trim the RedHawks' lead to 14-6 with 11 and a half minutes to go.
After struggling to pick up yardage on offense for the previous two quarters, the RedHawks picked up their defense and bought them plenty of time to rest while also answering that field goal drive. Ragland connected with Mayock as he won a contested ball for a 22-yard gain to get into UC territory and Sam Sloman eventually nailed a 37-yard field goal to cap a drive that ate up 6:48 from the clock. Sloman's kick also bumped Miami's lead back to two possessions at 17-6 with 4:45 left.
Cincinnati was not about to go quietly and it made its way into the end zone for the first time on the night, driving 75 yards in 1:53 and finishing it off with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Moore to Kahlil Lewis. Moore found Lewis again on the ensuing two-point conversion and Miami's lead was trimmed to 17-14 with 2:52 showing on the clock.
The Red & White got pinned deep in their own territory on the ensuing kickoff, starting at their five. After a five-yard gain and a subsequent three-yard gain set up 3rd-and-2, a delay of game penalty bumped them back five yards and forced them into a passing situation before Clement's pick-six with 1:07 remaining put the Bearcats on top 21-17.
Miami valiantly drove down the field and eventually reached the Cincinnati 25, but got no further as a 3rd-and-5 toss to the end zone did not connect and the Bearcats got pressure on a fourth down conversion attempt to hold off the late RedHawk drive.
Ragland finished with 221 yards through the air on 16-of-31 passing while tossing a touchdown and a pick. Mayock led Miami with 74 yards on four catches and a score while Young toted the ball 18 times for 57 yards and a touchdown on the ground along with 23 yards of receiving. Tony Reid led the defense with 11 tackles while Montgomery chipped in 10 more along with an interception.
The RedHawks are on the road for their next two, starting with their Mid-American Conference opener at Central Michigan on Sept. 23. Opening kickoff is at 3:30 p.m.
