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OXFORD, OH. - Football can be a game of inches, and it was just that Saturday as a few inches helped preserve a 31-24 Miami victory over visiting Toledo.
It was a historic win for Miami in several ways. First, it provided the young RedHawks team with its first victory of 2009. Second, it put an end to the longest losing streak (13 games) in Miami football history. Third, it provided head coach Mike Haywood with his first coaching victory.
That elusive first win and the milestones, however, seemed to be fading fast in the final minutes of Saturday’s contest. The RedHawks’ 17-point halftime advantage had dwindled to seven points and the Rockets were closing in on another score.
It was second and seven from the Miami nine-yard line when backup quarterback Alex Pettee hit tight end Danny Noble with a pass. As Noble was hit by safety Andy Kokal, the ball came loose.
“I knew I had my hand on the ball, and, of course I was trying to strip it,” Kokal said.
The play came under review, and the finding several minutes later brought a charge to the Miami bench. Officials ruled the fumble had hit the goal line pylon on the way out of bounds – effectively creating a touchback that gave Miami the ball with 1:01 remaining.
The RedHawks were able to run out the clock, and a celebration ensued.
“This is so huge,” said Miami placekicker Trevor Cook, who booted a school-record 55-yard field goal to close out the best two quarters of RedHawks football all season. “There were so many times when we were so close.”
“I think it is a reward for our players and the great work ethic which they exhibited this year. They continued to fight …. Most people wouldn’t continue to play as hard as these guys are playing.”
We wanted to come out fast,” said Haywood, who decided late Friday night to make a major game plan change. Instead of emphasizing the run, the RedHawks would start throwing the ball as if they were down 17 points.
Haywood credited his assistants for making the necessary changes and players for executing the new game plan.
“I found out about the game plan change this morning,” RedHawks quarterback Zach Dysert said. “It paid off.”
Dysert has also paid off for the Redhawks. Not only did he throw for 344 yards and a touchdown, the redshirt freshman also led the RedHawks in rushing (78 yards despite three sacks) and ran for two big scores.
“It’s a great feeling,” Dysert said of finally being on the winning end of a final score.
Miami’s plan to start fast actually got some help from the defense. Toledo’s first drive came to an abrupt end when freshman linebacker Wes Williams stepped into a passing lane and picked off Aaron Opelt’s second pass on Toledo’s third play. Williams returned the pick 20 yards for a touchdown and Cook converted the PAT.
“I almost had a pick (on that play) during the week,” Williams said.
After forcing a three-and-out, the RedHawks were driving on their next possession when Dysert committed one of his few mistakes on the day as he tried to scramble and ended up losing the ball. Toledo’s Barry Church knocked the ball lose, and Archie Donald recovered at the Miami 43.
Miami’s only turnover of the game led to the Rockets only points of the first half. DaJuane Collins carried the ball seven times in a 12-play drive that Collins ended with a one-yard TD run up the middle.
Miami responded with an eight-play TD drive. Dysert found redshirt freshman Andy Cruse for the final 10 yards.
Dysert completed six of seven passes and ran it in from three yards out as Miami scored again with an eight-play, 80-yard drive on its next possession. Cook’s kick made it 21-7 in favor of the hosts.
Two possessions later, the RedHawks stalled at Toledo’s 38-yard line. With just 37 seconds left, Haywood decided to call on Cook
The junior kicker didn’t hear Haywood offer to forego certain running drills for the remainder of the year. A number of players, however, heard the offer, and an extra-wild celebration erupted after Cooks line drive kick went through the uprights. “I’ll find other ways to make sure they are in great shape,” Haywood promised with a chuckle.
Toledo, which entered the game leading the MAC in total offense (440.1 ypg) picked up just 147 yards in the first half. The RedHawks had 24 first downs to Toledo’s seven through intermission.
“We came out flat, and it took us a whole half to get going,” Pettee said.
Although his team owned a 24-7 advantage, Haywood figured the explosive Rockets were more than capable of making a second half run.
“The message at halftime was that we need to play this game as if it’s a 30-minute game and it 0-0.” Haywood said. “We didn’t play as well as I would have liked coming back out after halftime, but we played well enough to win. We were fortunate enough to get a great play by Kokal at the end.”
Toledo took advantage of halftime to regroup and make a few changes.
Opelt hit Eric Page with a 14-yard TD pass to close out the first possession of the second half.
After a missed field goal attempt by Miami, the Rockets drove for a 26-yard Alex Steigerwald field goal.
That put the visitors within seven points midway through the third quarter. Miami needed a score, and Dysert provided it at 3:47 on a 23-yard scramble up the middle.
Toledo, which found more running room in the second half, drove 61 yards in seven plays for its final touchdown. Eric Page covered the final 15 yards on a reverse around the right side. Steigerwald added the PAT kick.
“We came out in the second half on fire, but it shouldn’t take us two quarters to realize we were in a football game,” said receiver Stephen Williams, who had a game-high nine catches for 137 yards.
While there was plenty of reason to believe there would be more scoring, neither team put points on the board in the final stanza.
Opelt, who had been injured two weeks earlier and was questionable for Miami, left the game with an injury after completing 7-0f-14 with one interception and one TD. “Aaron could not go,” Toledo coach Tim Beckman said. “The doctor and he made the call.”
Opelt’s replacement, Pettee, performed well in his brief appearance. He connected on 6-of-8 and led the Rockets on their final drive.
“I’m disappointed that it had to come down to the last play,” said Beckman, adding that his team didn’t play 60 minutes of football.
He also lamented penalties. “They’ve been huge for us all year … especially in crucial times,” he said. Toledo was flagged eight times for 89 yards in the loss.
“You’ve got to give credit to Miami,” Pettee said. “They came out, and they played hard.”
NOTES:
- Miami was 2-for-2 in the red zone. Toledo, meanwhile, was 4-for-5 in the red zone, but the lone miss – on the final Rockets’ possession – turned out to be costly.
- Saturday was the 50th meeting between the two schools. With the victory, Miami now has a 28-21 with one tie.
- Adonis Thomas paced the Toledo ground game with 107 yards on 13 carries.
- Jamal Rogers (67 yards) and Armand Robinson (60 yards) each had seven catches for the RedHawks.
- The Rockets, now 4-5 overall (2-3 MAC) will be at Central Michigan Wednesday, Nov. 11.
- Miami (1-8, 1-4 MAC) plays its last road game Saturday when it visits Temple.
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