Miami Holds Off Ball State 17-15 to Earn 10th Win

Saturday, November 25

Muncie, Ind.

12 p.m.

Miami University

Ball State

Miami Holds Off Ball State 17-15 to Earn 10th Win

11/25/2023 3:15:00 PM | Football

Box Score

OXFORD, Ohio– Kobe Hilton blocked Ball State's go-ahead field goal try with 1:04 to play and the Miami University football team held on for a 17-15 win at Ball State Saturday afternoon.

Aveon Smith completed 14-of-24 passes for a season-high 170 yards and a touchdown to help Miami (10-2, 7-1 MAC) finish off its first 10-win regular season since 2003 and win its fourth straight RedBird Rivalry game against Ball State (4-8, 3-5 MAC).

HOW IT HAPPENED

Ball State got on the board first, driving 92 yards in nine plays and getting in the end zone on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Kiael Kelly to Vaughn Pemberton. Miami's Caiden Woullard blocked the extra-point try to keep the score at 6-0 with 8:24 left in the first quarter.
The RedHawks responded to take the lead after an interception by Raion Strader. Strader returned the ball from near midfield all the way to the Ball State 13-yard line, and Miami only needed two plays from there to go on top. Smith connected with Cade McDonald for a 10-yard scoring pass to put Miami up 7-6 with four minutes remaining in the opening period.
Miami stretched the lead to 14-6 on its next drive, with Smith completing all four of his pass attempts for a total of 68 yards. On his final pass of the possession, Smith picked up a bobbled snap, spun away from a defender, and tossed a short throw to Kenny Tracy. Tracy promptly raced 28 yards to the BSU one-yard line, and Rashad Amos finished off the drive with a touchdown run on the next snap.
Ball State trimmed the margin to 14-12 before halftime with a pair of field goals by Jackson Courville from 45 and 29 yards away, respectively.
A Corban Hondru interception thwarted a third-quarter scoring opportunity for the home team, and Hondru returned the pick 43 yards to the BSU 35-yard line. After a late hit penalty moved the ball to the 20, Miami capitalized with a 37-yard field goal by Graham Nicholson to push the lead to 17-12 with 2:53 remaining in the third quarter.
Ball State put together a nine-play, 81-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter, but Miami's defense forced a third-down incompletion in the red zone and the Cardinals settled for a 29-yard field goal with 3:09 to play to pull within 17-15.
A BSU interception gave the Cardinals the ball at Miami's 16-yard line with under three minutes remaining, but the RedHawks' defense held to set up Hilton's heroics. After the 42-yard kick attempt was blocked, runs by Amos and Smith in the final minute gave Miami a first down and allowed the visitors to run out the clock and seal the 17-15 victory.

NOTES

Miami reached the 10-win mark for the first time since going 10-4 in 2010.
Amos' touchdown run was his 10th of the year, the most for a RedHawk in a single season since 2019 (Jaylon Bester, 14).
Woullard now has 9.5 sacks, the eighth-highest single-season mark in Miami history.
Nicholson is a perfect 23-of-23 on field goals this season.
Ty Wise set a career high in tackles for the second straight week, making 19 stops.
Yahsyn McKee matched his career high with 10 tackles.
Strader's interception was the first of his career.
Javon Tracy made a career-high six catches for 70 yards.
Miami's 7-1 league mark gives the Red and White the outright MAC East championship, a game better than 6-2 Ohio.
The RedHawks only trailed for 80:04 of game time in MAC play (out of 480 minutes).

UP NEXT:
Miami takes on Toledo in the MAC Championship Game Saturday, Dec. 2 in Detroit. Kickoff at Ford Field is set for noon. Free fan buses from Oxford are available for fans with game tickets; click here to reserve your spot before the deadline (Monday, Nov. 27 at noon).