Miami Rallies Past UConn 24-21 in Homecoming Thriller

Saturday, September 26

Oxford, Ohio

3:30 p.m.

Miami University

2-2 , 0-0

Connecticut

2-2 , 0-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
UConn	14	0	7	0	21
Miami (OH)	0	14	7	3	24

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Miami Rallies Past UConn 24-21 in Homecoming Thriller

9/26/2026 7:57:00 PM | Football

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OXFORD, Ohio— "Give it to 'Big Country', right?"

When Chuck Martin woke up on gameday, he had no idea who was getting the ball.

Martin knew he liked a certain play design in a 3rd-and-short or 4th-and-short scenario, but the banged-up RedHawks were down a few key bodies at the ballcarrier position if they ended up using that particular call.

"Christian Ross usually plays that position. Obviously, he's not there. Our next guy we were going to put there had a bad hand," Martin explained. "It's like, 'Okay, who's left?'"

The answer turned out to be...Brach Rice.

Yes, THAT Brach Rice.

Rice, a defensive lineman (or defensive-lineman-turned-fullback, at least for today), came through with a two-yard run to move the sticks on a key fourth down with less than eight minutes remaining. That ultimately set up the game-winning Brady Stidham field goal from 33 yards out in Miami's thrilling 24-21 Homecoming win over Connecticut Saturday afternoon.

"Brach's never been on offense since he's been here...[and we're] going to hand the ball to our defensive tackle?," Martin laughed. "When we had our offensive meeting this morning, there was still like seven things I wanted to discuss to try to figure out what we were going to do. And it's like, 'Who are we going to hand the ball to [on that play]? I think it's going to be an easy first down...

"At least you know with Brach, he's not going to be nervous. The moment's not going to be too big. And he's going to fight," Martin said. "At least, give it to the 'Big Country'...and he actually made a great run."

Rice downplayed his offensive role in the outcome when asked about his first career carry. "I mean, I played quarterback my senior year [of high school]," Rice smiled. "So I've always had the ball in my hands. It really wasn't that big of a deal."

But the win it led to was a massive deal for Rice and the RedHawks, who evened their record at 2-2 heading into Mid-American Conference play next weekend. Miami trailed by 14 points in the first quarter before rallying, and held on in the final minute after a key 4th-and-10 stop by the defense for the dramatic three-point victory.

"I'm going to remember that game for the rest of my life," Rice said.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Huskies took a 14-0 first-quarter lead with touchdowns on their first two drives, but Miami responded in the second period. A 31-yard gain on a pass to Damarion Witten sparked an eventual 90-yard scoring drive, with Braylon Isom converting a key 4th-and-1 to set Miami up in the red zone. David McComb scored on the next play on a keeper from 10 yards out to make it 14-7 with 5:56 to go in the half.
Miami evened the score at 14-all four minutes later on a quick 87-yard drive. After Lynel Billups-Williams moved the ball to the Miami 28 with a 15-yard reception, a pass interference call on the visitors set up the RedHawks' biggest play of the half. Brendan Loftus reeled in a 57-yard scoring pass from McComb with one hand to tie the game at the 1:50 mark. UConn then missed a 46-yard field goal as time expired to keep the teams level at intermission.
The RedHawks took their first lead of the game with 3:48 to go in the third quarter. McComb made a big play with his legs, scrambling for 32 yards to get Miami into UConn territory, and then found Rodney Nelson with a 23-yard shovel pass five plays later to move to the 11-yard line. McComb promptly capped the drive with a touchdown pass to Scoop Smith to put Miami on top 21-14. UConn answered back to make it 21-21 on a one-yard plunge in the last minute of the quarter.
CJ Young pulled in an interception with less than 10 minutes left to give Miami the ball in UConn territory, and backup quarterback Caleb Heavner (on in relief of an injured McComb) led what proved to be the game-winning drive. After Heavner threaded a third-down pass to Isom, Rice's carry on 4th-and-inches kept the chains moving and Stidham converted from 33 yards out seven plays later to give the hosts the lead for good. "Freshman kicker making a big kick," Martin said. "Hasn't taken a rep with the 'ones' all year. Then all of a sudden, fourth quarter, game four, and you're out there trying to win a game. He knocked it through, which obviously was huge."
The defense did the rest, forcing four straight incompletions in Miami territory in the last minute of the game to preserve the 24-21 margin and send the Homecoming crowd home happy. "We wanted it to be in the defense's hands," Rice said later. "So, if we handled our job, we knew we were going to win."

LOOK AT LOFTUS: Loftus brought the fans to their feet with a ridiculous one-handed catch at the UConn 30 yard-line and raced untouched the rest of the way. The highlight-reel reception was the longest catch of Loftus' career and his first touchdown as a RedHawk. Loftus finished with a career-high three grabs for 72 yards.

"I knew my number was going to be called at some point this week, and we got the look," said Loftus. "We haven't thrown it all week in practice, but my coach kept telling me, 'We're going to come back to it.'

"I was so excited when I scored, but it was a great ball by David...I knew it was going to be a big play when he called it."

"We talked all week: If we hit this right, it's going to be a touchdown...executed really nicely," Martin said. "Really good throw...then obviously Brendan makes a great, great catch and then a great run after the catch."

GREAT SCOTT!: Zhaiylen Scott forced a fumble on the opening play of the second quarter for his first sack of the season. Roosevelt Andrews III and Marcus Moore also combined on a sack for the Miami defense. The defense as a whole responded after a slow start and only allowed seven total points in the final 51 minutes. "I just said, 'We're going to figure it out and be a good defense sometime'", Martin explained when asked what his mid-game message to his team was.

"When we start running our defense the way it's supposed to be run, we're going to be fine, and they figured it out today...They settled down. They took a deep breath...we really settled in and we got stop after stop. After the first two drives, they scored seven points in the last three quarters and six minutes, which, again, is what we expect around here.

"We're very prideful in how our defense plays. And then, obviously, they got the huge stop at the end to win the game."

FOREVER YOUNG: CJ Young's fourth-quarter interception was his first pick as a RedHawk. His last interception came Sept. 20, 2025 with Kent State against Florida State.

SCOOP & SCORE: Smith's scoring catch marked the third consecutive week that he was involved in a touchdown. After blocking a punt that Leo Colombi returned for a touchdown vs. Holy Cross and then returning a kick for a score against Cincinnati, Smith hauled in his first career touchdown reception against the Huskies.

GOING DEEP: McComb connected on 19 passes for 312 yards and two touchdowns, producing an average of 16.4 yards per completion. The redshirt freshman entered the day averaging 17.6 yards per pass completion, the highest mark in the nation among FBS players. Miami had eight receivers catch a pass in the come-from-behind victory, marking the fourth game in a row where at least seven different RedHawks recorded a catch. "A lot of receivers contributed again: Great team win," Martin said.

"Coach Martin preaches it all the time: We never get too high and we never get too low," Loftus commented. "There wasn't one guy on the sideline who thought we were out of it.

"Once our defense started making stops, which I knew they would, and we made a couple of chunk plays on offense, I knew it was going to be wraps from there."

DOING HIS JOB: Heavner was 3-for-3 passing in the fourth quarter and added four rushing yards, earning Martin's praise for his performance when suddenly pressed into duty. "Caleb came in and did a great job, managed it good, made a couple plays for us, and helped us...get in field goal range and win the game," Martin said. "He started the year as the [No.] 3…he's played more than he would have ever imagined going into the season, but he did a nice job."

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Miami improved its all-time record in Homecoming games to 66-37-4 (.636) with the victory, and the crowd of 18,180 seemed to play a factor in the RedHawks' comeback win. "No doubt," Martin said. "Big plays and we got some energy in the building...being at home is always awesome...

"Our record here has been really, really good for a while and it makes a difference playing at home...

"It was a great Homecoming win."

UP NEXT:
The RedHawks host Bowling Green next Saturday, Oct. 3 at 3:30 p.m. in the MAC opener. Tickets are available here.