Miami Blitzes Holy Cross 45-7 in Home Opener

Saturday, September 12

Oxford, Ohio

1 p.m.

Miami University

1-1 , 0-0

Holy Cross

0-3 , 0-2

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Holy Cross	0	0	7	0	7
Miami (OH)	14	28	3	0	45

Miami Blitzes Holy Cross 45-7 in Home Opener

9/12/2026 3:59:00 PM | Football

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OXFORD— The Miami University football team scored touchdowns on each of its first-half possessions Saturday en route to a 45-7 blowout win over Holy Cross in the RedHawks' home opener.

David McComb completed all 13 of his passes, finishing with 234 yards through the air and four total touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) in one half of action. The RedHawks (1-1) scored 42 points before halftime, their most in any half ever under head coach Chuck Martin. Holy Cross falls to 0-3 on the season.

"Obviously [the] first half was almost flawless, and there was a lot of good execution," said Martin. "We had more talent and physicality than them. Now if you do it the right way, you're going to have a chance for success. We scored every time we touched it, defense got all the stops; it was a good step forward."

"To come out and just play our offense...and defense played great --I mean, they had 13 yards when I looked up at the stats at one point-- you're like, 'Dang, this is what it's supposed to be, Miami Football,'" McComb said.

"This is what we want to put on the TV. This is what we worked for so hard to display to everybody, and it felt good to finally do that...when you come out today and do something like that where we played so well in all three aspects of the game, it feels great."

HOW IT HAPPENED

McComb scored Miami's first touchdown with his feet, finishing off the opening drive from three yards out after strong runs by Lazaro Rogers and D'Shawntae Jones moved the RedHawks into scoring position.
On the next drive, Maleek Huggins and Christian Ross each made a pair of catches to help Miami make it 14-0, with Ross finding the end zone from 34 yards away behind good downfield blocking from Lynel Billups-Williams and Braylon Isom.
The Red and White went on top 21-0 early in the second quarter, as big plays to Carl Jenkins and Scoop Smith through the air moved Miami into the red zone and Jones ultimately capped the drive with a two-yard rushing score.
It only took McComb three plays, all completions, to steer Miami back into the scoring column the next time the home team got the football. A 20-yard gain to Billups-Williams and a 28-yard pass to Huggins set up a 10-yard touchdown toss through a tight window to Damarion Witten at the 10:31 mark of the first half.
Four plays later, it was 35-0. After a Malcolm McCain tackle for loss on a 3rd-and-1 play, Scoop Smith came off the edge to block the ensuing Holy Cross punt attempt and Leo Colombi returned it 23 yards for a touchdown.
Toney Coleman Jr. ended the Crusaders' next drive with a tackle short of the sticks for a turnover on downs at the Miami 23-yard line, and the RedHawks' offense once again marched down the field to pay dirt. A physical 22-yard run by Jones broke a tackle and moved the ball into Holy Cross territory, and McComb threw a strike to Billups-Williams on a third-down play from the visitors' 28-yard line to finish off a 77-yard drive and make it 42-0 at the break.
Miami got the ball first to open the second half and put together a 14-play, 69-yard drive that took 9:35 off the clock before a Kellan McLaughlin 24-yard field goal stretched the lead to 45-0. The Crusaders finally got on the board just before the third quarter expired with a 15-yard touchdown pass to trim the lead to 45-7. Both teams agreed to play a 10-minute fourth period, with the final score remaining the same as Miami improved to 96-34-4 all-time in home openers.

MARTIN MAKING MOVES: The victory gave Martin his 73rd career victory as a head coach, moving into a tie with Gary Pinkel for sixth among MAC coaches all-time.

ROSS' RECEPTIONS: Ross, a transfer from Memphis, set or matched career highs for catches, receiving yards and touchdowns in the first quarter alone, pulling in three grabs for 51 yards and a score.

"He's dynamic; he makes my job super easy," McComb said. "I throw him a five-yard flat route, and he runs it for 50. He's a great player. He's super-unselfish; he doesn't care if he touches the ball zero times or 100 times. He's going to go out there and play to his full ability every time, so, he's a great teammate."

LUCKY 13?: McComb turned in a perfect performance, completing all 13 of his pass attempts and posting a quarterback rating of 327.4. The redshirt freshman connected with a total of six different receivers for 234 yards and three passing touchdowns to go along with a rushing score. "We were spreading the ball around to everybody; everybody was ready when their opportunity hit them," said McComb.

"Everybody was running the routes; they're exactly where they're supposed to be. And as the quarterback, that feels great."

"13 for 13, three touchdowns - he ran good, kept the ball out of harm's way, made some nice throws [and] threw a variety of throws," Martin added.

BLOCK PARTY: Colombi's touchdown after the Scoop Smith blocked punt marked the first time Miami has scored on a punt block since Jermaine Agee did it last season (Sept. 27, 2025) vs. Lindenwood.

"Our specs have been amazing," Martin said, referencing consistent success over the past handful of years in that phase of the game. "But why we're great at special teams here is because our assistant coaches convince their players that fourth down is just another play...an offensive or defensive play.

"And we've been fortunate for a long time here that our best players are willing to go play fourth down...the punt blocker gets more notoriety because that's a huge play, but we have a lot of starters that do dirty jobs on special teams, and that's why we've been so good at special teams...
.
"When we recruited [Scoop] for two years, we never talked about blocking punts. So you've got to get him here, and [then explain], 'Hey, there's some other things besides being a returner and being a dynamic playmaker on offense.' And then the kids buy in...

"Malcolm McCain plays ST. Lynel Billups-Williams plays ST...again it's an important play for us...and we can talk about that tomorrow: 'Hey, how many more guys? Or what else do you have in your tank that can help us win a football game?'"

BACK, BACK, BACK: Miami recorded four total tackles for loss by four different players, including Tyler Dikos' first career sack. The RedHawks out-gained the visitors 328-77 before intermission and finished with a total yardage advantage of 437 to 181.

DOUBLE-DIGIT DASHES: Six different RedHawks produced a rush of 10 yards or more: Jones, Rogers, Caleb Heavner, Rodney Nelson, Scoop Smith and Cade Yacamelli. Miami averaged 5.2 yards per carry for the game and piled up 201 rushing yards in all. "That's probably the easiest part of the game. When you're bigger and more physical, you should be able to run the ball, and we did," Martin explained. "I thought our backs ran hard, and I thought they were physical. I thought we finished runs and ran through a bunch of tackles, and I thought we got movement up front. But again, we've got a ways to go there."

UP NEXT:
The RedHawks travel to Cincinnati to face the Bearcats at TQL Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 3:30 p.m in the Battle for the Victory Bell. Martin knows the rivalry matchup will be a challenging test for his team, commenting that his staff has already watched quite a bit of film on UC. He hopes to see his team take another step forward as Week Three looms.

"In the first half [today], we scored a touchdown every time we touched the ball, so I want them to execute like that every week," Martin said. "That's a little unrealistic. You have six possessions; you have six touchdowns. We didn't punt until late in the fourth quarter.

"We've got to understand that there's a lot better competition. So, what we did today, we've got to keep doing, but it's going to be harder.

"It's going to take more urgency, better footwork, more force, more fight. We can do it, but-- we felt what it felt like last week when we were overwhelmed at times. Now it's going to settle in the middle eventually. Not next week, but it'll eventually settle in the middle, and then it's about executing every down and giving us a chance, which we did."