Donte Harden had two touchdowns in Ohio's 34-13 win over Miami Saturday. Below, Boo Jackson leaps over MU's Even Harris. Bottom left, Nick Harwell has running room. Bottom right, Vince Davidson gains ground. Photos by Mike Smith.
OXFORD, OH – Both teams knew it was a big game, and both teams brought energy. In the end, the team that knew how to focus that energy won. Ohio University, aided by a slew of Miami turnovers, pulled away in the second half Saturday at Yager Stadium for a key 34-13 win over the hosting RedHawks.
Ohio, with one conference loss already on its record, could not afford another setback – particularly to a MAC East contender – if it hoped to earn a return trip to this year’s MAC Championship game. The Bobcats hopes now remain very much alive thanks to a solid performance on both sides of the ball.
Defensively, Ohio held Miami to 11 yards rushing and contributed to six Miami turnovers (four interceptions and two fumble recoveries).
Offensively, the visitors racked up 222 yards rushing and another 149 through the air. Ohio had two turnovers, one of which was an interception in the second half.
Senior quarterback Boo Jackson, who is one short of the school record for career touchdown passes, failed to toss any TDs. But he was 10-for-19 for an effective 149 yards and also scored two rushing touchdowns.
Donte Harden, a junior who had two touchdowns and 121 yards against Miami last year in Athens, scored two more touchdowns this time around. His 48-yard third quarter burst re-established Ohio momentum after intermission.
Senior Vince Davidson also had a score and led all rushers with 108 yards on 17 carries.
As happened last season, Miami tallied on its first drive, only to watch Ohio score a string of unanswered points.
The RedHawks drove 80 yards on nine plays after the opening kickoff. Sophomore quarterback Zac Dysert hit Armand Robinson on a 15-yard play to complete the drive and Seth Philip added the PAT.
Miami quickly had another opportunity to score after Demetrius Quarles recovered an Ohio fumble at the OU 32 on the ensuing kickoff return.
Dysert hit Nick Harwell for 20 yards, but three plays later, the RedHawks were facing fourth-and-46.
“Our defense stepped up and did a great job of taking them even out of field goal range,” Ohio head coach Frank Solich said. “I think that was very important to how the rest of that half went.”
Six plays into its first actual drive of the day, Ohio put points on the board when Davidson went off left guard for 56 yards. Matt Weller’s PAT tied the contest at 7-7.
Ohio drove into Miami territory early in the second quarter, but Weller’s 48-yard field goal attempt was blocked by D.J. Brown.
Any celebrating by Miami was short-lived. Senior Hilton Dawson III picked off an errant Dysert throw on the very next play.
Starting at the MU 47, Ohio covered the distance in five plays. Harden ran the final three yards for the score. However, Weller’s PAT attempt was wide.
At the time, it seemed the miss could become a factor. It didn’t turn out that way.
MU was twice able to get into field goal range, but Philip – filling in for Trevor Cook, who was injured at Central Michigan the previous week – missed from 47 and 25.
Down 13-7 at the break, Miami was very much in the game. But it was also clear to the RedHawks coach that an adjustment was needed.
“I go in at halftime, and I get ready to talk to the team,” he said. “I can feel the energy. (I thought) we just need to take a deep breath and exhale, because we’re going out there trying to do more things than what they play is asking us to do. What we’re doing is forcing mistakes. All we have to do is go out and do our job.”
Another Miami turnover allowed the Bobcats to add to their lead early in the third quarter. Dysert completed three-of-four passes as the RedHawks moved into OU territory.
Dysert, however, was sacked on the drive’s fourth play and fumbled on the way down. Eric Benjamin recovered for the Bobcats, who quickly turned the miscue into points.
Jackson read a Miami blitz on the ensuing play and audibled. That put the ball in Harden’s hands, and Harden put it in the end zone with a 48-yard run off left tackle.
After holding Miami to a three-and-out, Ohio marched 95 yards in 15 plays for another touchdown. OU converted three third downs along the way. One was a 39-yard Jackson-to-Riley Dunlap pass in which Dunlap wrestled the ball from the defender as they both went to the ground. Jackson’s one-yard plunge and a Weller PAT gave Ohio what seemed to be a commanding lead.
Time and score were starting to work against the RedHawks. They needed to score quickly and all but did.
On the second play after the kickoff, Dysert found Nick Harwell over the middle. The speedy Texan shook off a tackle and raced down the left sideline. As he was crossing the goal line, Harwell released the ball and sprinted around the back of the end zone and to the MU sideline.
He wasn’t there long before the play came under review. It was discovered the ball was loose before it crossed the goal line. That made it a fumble, and the fact that it rolled out the back of the end zone made it a touchback. Ohio took over on its own 20-yard line.
“Nick is a freshman. I think it is a lesson learned,” Haywood said. “It’s not one thing that we are going to harp on, because there were 25-30 more plays that we could have done a lot better. … He had 219 yards on the day. What an outstanding day for a freshman.”
Jerrell Wedge put the ball in Miami’s hands again when he intercepted Jackson early in the next drive. However, the possession lasted only three plays as Omar Leftwich intercepted Dysert in the end zone.
Miami finally managed a second touchdown with 11:47 left when running back Thomas Merriweather took a screen pass in from 14 yards out.
Although substantial time remained, it was the last score MU could get. Dysert was intercepted on each of the next two drives and Ohio added a touchdown with 3:18 remaining.
“We mixed things up on them,” Solich said. “We started blitzing a little more in the second half, and I think that helped us out. The fact that they were trying to play catch-up football … You’re a little more vulnerable to having the ball picked off.
Solich noted his own squad struggled “taking care of the ball” in some games earlier this season but has turned it around lately. “In the last three ballgames, I think that has really showed, and it’s been in our favor, which has been critical to us.”
“There is probably zero opportunity to overcome six turnovers,” said Haywood, whose staff this week tried to keep the young team focused on assignments rather than a battle for first place in the MAC East.
“We tried to downplay this game as much as we could. We weren’t able to downplay it enough,” Haywood said. “You could get the feeling on the sideline that people were trying to do more than just their job instead of playing within the system. That caused a lot of problems today.”
Ohio (5-3, 4-1 MAC) takes a break from conference play next week when it hosts Louisiana Lafayette (Sat., 2 p.m.)
Miami (4-4, 3-1 MAC) begins a three-game road stretch with a matchup Saturday at Buffalo (3:30 p.m.).
Both teams have dates remaining against preseason MAC East favorite Temple.
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