KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Despite outgaining the Broncos by more than 50 yards, the Miami RedHawks fell 38-16 in a road Mid-American Conference matchup against Western Michigan Saturday afternoon at Waldo Stadium.
Miami falls to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play, while WMU improves to 4-3 (2-1 MAC).
The RedHawks put together 347 yards, led by
Brett Gabbert's career-high 260 yards through the air on 26-of-45 passing. However, three takeaways from Western Michigan, including a defensive touchdown, and four touchdown plays of 30 yards or more ultimately doomed the 'Hawks.
Western Michigan started with the ball, and was forced into a quick three-and-out by the RedHawk defense. Miami chained together a couple of first downs on offense, and opened the scoring with a 51-yard field goal from
Sam Sloman that gave the Red and White an early 3-0 lead.
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After another Western Michigan three-and-out, the RedHawks once again drove down the field, but settled for another Sloman kick, this time from 49 yards out. Miami's lead was 6-0 with 7:48 left in the first quarter.
On the Broncos' next possession, it appeared that
Sterling Weatherford picked off a Jon Wassink pass and returned it deep into WMU territory, but a pass interference call negated the play and kept the Western Michigan drive alive. The Broncos would string together a few first downs, but a big stand by the Miami defense on fourth down kept them off the scoreboard early in the second quarter.
Miami would experience a similar fate on its next possession. A 46-yard completion from Gabbert to
James Maye help set the RedHawks up in the red zone, but a failed fourth down conversion left Miami empty-handed.
The RedHawks would be driving again later in the quarter when the Broncos struck with a big play to take the lead. An attempted screen pass from Gabbert was jumped by WMU's Drake Spears, who took it back 74 yards for the game's first touchdown. The Broncos would strike again later in the quarter, as a quick three-play drive was capped by a 46-yard touchdown strike from Wassink to Keith Mixon.Â
Miami tried a 47-yard field goal with Sloman on the next RedHawk drive, but this time the kick was into the wind and went wide. The Broncos capitalized with another long TD strike from Wassink to Mixon just before halftime on a series that again featured a potential Miami interception negated by a penalty away from the play.
Despite outgaining the Broncos 238-178, the RedHawks found themselves trailing 21-6 at the half.
After the third quarter opened with punts from each team, Miami took its second drive of the half down into a first-and-goal situation, but had to settle for Sloman's third field goal of the day to trim the deficit to 21-9.
Neither team generated much offense for the rest of the quarter, combining for 32 total yards, as Miami forced Western into -9 total yards for the frame. The RedHawks did get a spark from an
Emmanuel Rugamba interception, but the 'Hawks wouldn't be able to make good on the turnover.
Early in the fourth quarter, Gabbert found
Dominique Robinson on a quick-hit pass and the junior split a pair of defenders and rumbled 46 yards, down to the WMU 3-yard line.
Jaylon Bester did the rest, scoring one play later to pull the RedHawks within 21-16 with 13:48 remaining in the game.
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However, the Broncos would answer back with a pivotal 80-yard touchdown drive that was headlined by a Levante Bellamy 17-yard TD scamper to put WMU back up by 12. Western Michigan would score again just a few minutes later, as Gabbert was intercepted for the second time and the Broncos knocked through a 24-yard FG to make the score 31-16 with just over four minutes left.
Miami's final drive ended in a failed fourth down attempt, and Bellamy added another score to stretch the WMU lead further. The first play of Miami's final drive saw Gabbert get hit as he released his pass, which was picked off by the Broncos, who kneeled to end the game.
Wassink threw for 137 yards for the Broncos, while Bellamy was the game's leading rusher with 135 yards on the ground despite being forced into five negative-yardage plays by the RedHawk defense.
Rugamba led the Miami defense with nine total tackles and an interception.Â
Miami hosts Northern Illinois next Saturday (Oct. 19) at 2:30 p.m. The game versus the Huskies is Miami's annual Family Weekend contest.
