Cincinnati Edges Miami 35-31 at TQL Stadium

Saturday, September 19

Cincinnati Ohio

3:30 p.m.

Miami University

1-2 , 0-0

Cincinnati

3-0 , 0-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Miami (OH)	14	14	0	3	31
Cincinnati	7	0	14	14	35

Pregame Event

Photo by: Jeffrey Sabo

Cincinnati Edges Miami 35-31 at TQL Stadium

9/19/2026 7:03:00 PM | Football

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CINCINNATI— The Miami University football team fell to Cincinnati 35-31 in a heartbreaker Saturday afternoon in the 129th Battle for the Victory Bell at TQL Stadium.

Scoop Smith ran back the opening kickoff for a touchdown for Miami (1-2) en route to an early 28-7 lead, while quarterback David McComb set a new career high with 334 yards through the air and produced two total touchdowns (one passing, one rushing). Cole Tabb had three touchdowns for Cincinnati (3-0) in the comeback victory.

"Credit to Cincinnati -- they clawed back," Miami coach Chuck Martin said. "We talked all week...about what it would take to win: it's going to be one play, [and] we're going to make the last play. We didn't make the last play - Cincinnati did...

"We showed ourselves today what we could become; we have not become it."

"I thought we came out and played a great first half of football," redshirt senior defensive lineman Grant Lyons said. "I'm excited for what our defense can do and what Miami football is going to be doing in the future...

"We have a lot of guys that are going to buckle it up tomorrow, come in the building and be excited to get better. And I think that's the first sign of a good team. And then it's going to be our attention to detail...how good can we start doing the little things? Because that's going to be the only thing that holds us back. We have the talent, the drive, the competitiveness; it's going to be how good can we get at the details."

HOW IT HAPPENED

Miami got off to a perfect start on the opening kickoff, as Smith faked a reverse to Lynel Billups-Williams and raced 98 yards untouched for a score. After the RedHawk defense quickly forced a three-and-out, the Red and White only needed four plays to find the end zone again. McComb hit Damarion Witten for a 34-yard gain, Rodney Nelson rushed for 11, Braylon Isom pulled in a 10-yard catch in traffic and Lazaro Rogers broke a tackle on the next play to finish off a 12-yard touchdown run and make it 14-0 just over four minutes into the contest.
UC cut the margin to 14-7 at the 6:07 mark of the first quarter on a one-yard touchdown run, but Miami restored its two-score lead with a 10-play, 91-yard drive in the second period. McComb found Billups-Williams for a 35-yard strike on the first play of the possession, and a remarkable one-handed catch by Huggins for 27 yards on 3rd-and-13 kept the drive alive. McComb made it 21-7 on a six-yard keeper with 5:52 left in the half.
The RedHawks got the ball back with 1:55 remaining before intermission and immediately ripped off a six-play, 65-yard scoring drive to go on top 28-7. McComb went 3-for-3 through the air on the drive and added 11 rushing yards, ultimately connecting with Huggins from 36 yards out for a touchdown pass to break the game open.
The Bearcats rallied in the third quarter, cutting into Miami's lead with a one-yard touchdown run by JC French IV and adding a score on a eight-yard swing pass from French to Tabb to pull within 28-21 with 2:44 left in the quarter. Miami answered back with a 19-yard field goal on its next possession to go up 31-21, capitalizing on a 41-yard pass from McComb to Huggins that initially moved the ball into UC territory.
The Bearcats trimmed the Miami lead to three points with 6:20 left on a six-yard touchdown pass from French to JV Gibson at 31-28. Cincinnati went ahead with 1:29 to play on a 52-yard touchdown run for Tabb that proved to be the difference, as Miami's ensuing possession ended in UC territory on a turnover in the final minute.

SCOOP'S SENSATIONAL START: Smith's 98-yard return was the first Miami kickoff return for a touchdown since Keith Reynolds did it almost exactly a year ago (Sept. 20, 2025 vs. UNLV). The Smith score was Miami's first return touchdown on an opening kickoff since Maurice Thomas in 2018 vs. Western Michigan.

HUGGINS' HEROICS: Huggins scored a touchdown for the first time since Nov. 22, 2025 with Bethune-Cookman and pulled in a season-high 128 receiving yards, including the highlight-reel one-handed grab in the second quarter where he was staring into the sun and somehow still came up with the football. Huggins went over the 100-yard receiving mark for the sixth time in his collegiate career and the first time as a RedHawk.

LYONS' ROAR: Lyons finished with a career-high two sacks, including a forced fumble in the fourth quarter that Roosevelt Andrews III recovered to give Miami the ball in Bearcat territory. "It was exciting," said Lyons, a Cincinnati native. "I've dreamed of playing college football. When I was a little kid, I dreamed of playing football on Friday nights in Cincinnati because the culture of Friday nights in Cincinnati is huge. So to get to do it at the next level and get to do it in front of my hometown was exciting. I was fired up to play in the game and was excited to get my teammates ready to play in this game."

TYLER'S TAKEDOWN: Tyler Dikos recorded a sack for the second consecutive week, dropping French for a nine-yard loss in the first quarter to force a Bearcat punt.

UP NEXT:
The RedHawks host Connecticut for Homecoming on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 3:30 p.m. at Yager Stadium. Tickets are available here.