 The Miami University football team that opened the season with a solid (albeit losing) performance on the road against Florida didn’t seem to resemble the RedHawks team which showed up Saturday at Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium. Numbers, in so many ways, point to what can happen in six weeks.
The bottom line numbers show Cincinnati claiming a lopsided 45-3 win. While it wasn’t a conference game, it is a local rivalry that is now 115 meetings old. The Bearcats, who came within a whisker of getting to a national championship game last year, have now won five straight battles for the Victory Bell – symbol of triumph in the annual game.
The Bearcats scored on seven of eight possessions in the first half. Six of the scores were touchdowns, and four of those TDs came during a first quarter blitz. Only one of the scoring drives was longer than three plays, and that drive covered 70 yards in six plays.
Surprisingly, for the most part, it wasn’t even a case of great field position. A failed Miami fake punt on its second possession gave Cincinnati the ball on MU’s 34-yard line to set up the second Bearcats score, but the other three UC touchdowns of the period covered 63, 70 and 80 yards in a total of nine plays.
Miami (3-3, 2-0 MAC) head coach Michael Haywood had made it a point following the RedHawks lopsided loss at Missouri two weeks ago, that he wanted his team to improve in responding to adversity. While the Red and White bounced back to win their opening MAC game at home one week earlier at Kent State, there was no rally against the Bearcats.
Cincinnati (2-3, 0-0 Big East) entered Saturday’s rivalry game with two weeks rest after nearly upsetting No. 8 Oklahoma (31-29) Sept. 25. Miami, meanwhile, looked like the team that desperately needed a bye week. The offensive has struggled through injuries all season, but beginning with the Missouri game, Miami’s defense – so solid against Florida – has lost a number of key players. Several others, such as Jamal Rodgers (broken foot), joined the wounded during the game with UC.
Another fallout from the Missouri game, according to Haywood, was a blueprint. “They went back and took the Missouri running game plan. They ran it; they executed it really well … and then they still stuck with their passing game plan.”
After taking an early lead in its first two games of 2010, Miami has fallen behind in each of the subsequent contests, and Saturday marked the fourth time in 24 quarters this season that MU has yielded at least 21 points in a quarter.
Cincinnati’s 28-point first quarter was the most points Miami has allowed in a 15-minute span since Northern Illinois rallied with 34 points in the final period on Oct. 12, 2002.
Bearcats junior quarterback Zach Collaros, a little more known for his running skills, demonstrated his passing skills, as well, against Miami. Two plays into the game, he hit Armon Binns on a 48-yard TD pass play. The duo then hooked up again – this time on a 32-yard TD pass - .with 4:40 left in the quarter. In between, receiver DJ. Woods scored from 18-yards out on an end-around play.
The Bearcats got another rushing touchdown with 2:34 left in the period when speedy Isaiah Pead – injured earlier this year but apparently feeling much better after the “bye” week – took off on an 80-yard TD scamper.
Pead’s night included 197 yards and a TD on 10 carries. George Winn contributed 81 yards and John Goebel added 68 as the hosts piled up 384 net yards rushing.
“We wanted to take … the quarterback’s (running) out of the game,” Haywood said. “However, we didn’t do a sufficient job of stopping the run game with Pead in the backfield. … He had a tremendous night tonight, and he was really explosive and quick running through the hole. … With as big and strong as he is, you really have to bring the wood to knock him down.”
Miami picked up its only points of the night on a 48-yard Trevor Cook field goal early in the second period. The senior, who had a 49-yard FG at Nippert Stadium as a freshman in 2006, is now 10-for-11 on the year.
Cincinnati came back with a 24-yard Jacob Rogers field goal (10:35) , John Goebel’s two-yard TD (6:56) and a six-yard Collaros touchdown pass to tight end Ben Guidugli with 16 seconds remaining before intermission to end all scoring.
Collaros completed 14-of-17 for 216 yards and three touchdowns in the final 2010 non-conference game on the Bearcats’ schedule. Binns led UC receivers with five catches for 115 yards and a TD. Woods also had five catches, covering 54 yards, and a rushing touchdown.
Overall, Cincinnati’s offense rolled up 609 yards of offense – much of it in the first half – to Miami’s 269. The RedHawks picked up just 42 yards on the ground and were unable to sustain drives despite 227 yards through the air.
MU starting quarterback Zac Dysert completed 22-of-35 for 165 yards and was sacked twice. Redshirt freshman Austin Boucher completed 6-of-7 for 62 yards in a relief roll.
Cincinnati opens Big East play Saturday at Louisvile (8 p.m.). Miami returns to MAC action when it travels to Central Michigan (Saturday, 12:00 p.m.)
“We have to find a way to get guys healthy and get them back on the field so that we can play competitive football,” Haywood said. “We have to get better over the next six games as we go into … conference play.”
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