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RedHawks come up short at No. 21 Missouri |
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Written by Mike Smith
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Saturday, September 03 2011 |
 COLUMBIA, MO -- Sophomore James Franklin ran for one touchdown and passed for another Saturday as No. 21 Missouri held off visiting Miami 17-6 in Memorial Stadium. It was Franklin’s debut as he took over for departed Blaine Gabbert, who left Missouri after his junior year and is now with the NFL Jacksonville Jaguars.
Gabbert was at the helm last season when Missouri cruised by the RedHawks 51-13. This meeting turned out to be a working cruise for the Tigers, who held a 10-6 lead after three quarters.
Playing a Top 25 football team in its home stadium might not require a perfect game by the visitors, but they would be wise to make very few errors, and the mistakes they do make should be minor. Among the RedHawks miscues on the day were three plays involving a potential 11 points.
Quarterback Zac Dysert, who otherwise had a generally productive day (26-for-39, 194 yards), threw one interception. That pick, however, ended a 67-yard Miami drive.
Placekicker Mason Krysinski, meanwhile, failed to connect on two attempts to split the uprights. The first miss came from 41 yards out and was significantly off the mark (wide left). The second miss was a blocked PAT following Erik Finklea’s 10-yard touchdown run with 7:55 remaining in the third quarter.
Finklea’s performance on the day was one of several encouraging signs for the RedHawks, whose biggest question mark coming into 2011 concerned the ability to generate a running game. Finklea, who moved to offense during the fall camp, averaged 3.7 yards per carry. He logged 19 attempts for 75 yards against a stout Missouri defense.
Another encouraging sign was the play of sophomore defensive back Dayonne Nunley, who picked up where he left off last year by picking off a Franklin pass. That setup Miami at the Missouri 14-yard-line, and three plays later, Finklea went in for the score.
“That’s the kind of thing we’re looking for – someone to step forward and make a play,” Miami head coach Don Treadwell said, “At some point in time, we anticipated our back end doing a good job, because the front end got a little bit of pressure at times, and that really helped.”
After getting steam rolled by Missouri’s offense last year (469 total yards), the RedHawks yielded 291 yards Saturday. Of that total, 162 were on the ground. Franklin led the way with 72 yards on 19 carries (3.7 ypc). Sophomore Henry Josey added 43 yards on six rushes (7.2) In the passing game, Franklin connected on 17-of-26 passes for 129 yards, with one TD and one interception.
Missouri outgained Miami 291-270 in total yards this time around. However, the RedHawks registered 19 first downs to Missouri’s 15. Miami was 8-of-18 on third down opportunities, while Missouri converted just 3-of-13. That, in part, accounted for Miami’s 33:44-26.16 advantage in time of possession.
Both teams drew their share of flags. Miami had six penalties for 33 yards, while the hosts stepped back nine times for 81 yards.
Missouri drew first blood when it followed Krysinski’s missed field goal with an 11-play, 76-yard drive that culminated in Franklin’s five-yard TD run with 4:23 remaining in the first quarter. Grant Ressel added the PAT and tacked on a 38-yard field goal at 5:59 of the second stanza.
Miami took the second half kickoff and marched into Missouri territory. Dysert hit Givens on a seven-yard play to give the visitors a first down at the Tigers 33-yard line. Givens led Miami, which played without standout sophomore Nick Harwell, with seven catches for 71 yards.
When Missouri’s defense stiffened, forcing the RedHawks into a fourth-and-three at the Tigers 33, Treadwell elected to let Dysert “pooch punt” the football. E.J. Gaines, who had intercepted Dysert earlier, picked up the punt, but was immediately halted by Givens at the seven-yard-line.
“You practice all those different scenarios through the course of the week, and then it is just kind of a matter of when do you pull it out to potentially use it,” Treadwell said. “We certainly felt the timing and location were in our favor to do that at that time. This game is … a game of momentum, and I thought that gave us momentum.”
Three plays into Missouri’s drive, Nunley came up with his interception. Three more plays later, Finklea took a pitch and sprinted into the Missouri end zone. “He gave a little bit of a glimpse of what we think his potential will be as we move forward,” Treadwell said.
Missouri began the game’s final scoring drive late in the third quarter. T.J. Moe took Zac Murphy’s 39-yard punt at the 40 yard line and returned it 18 yards to the RedHawks 42. After a one-yard completion to Kemp, Franklin found Moe alone down the middle for a 28-yard strike. Three plays later, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Franklin threw one of his best passes of the day, hitting Marcus Lucas for a 10-yard touchdown. Ressel added the PAT.
Miami had three more possessions in the final frame but was able to cross midfield only once. A Tigers punt with 6:45 remaining was downed at the RedHawks one-yard stripe. After a Miami punt, the ensuing Missouri drive was halted when Franklin was stopped on fourth-and-three at the Miami 29 with 1:40 left.
Dysert completed three passes before getting hit from behind by Brayde Burnett, who chopped the ball lose. It was recovered by the Tigers Dominic Hamilton to end Miami’s final offensive effort.
“One of the things you … try to evaluate in every game is the attitude and the effort,” Treadwell said. “I certainly thought our young men did a great job of fighting through the entire game with both of those (points).”
After opening with a Big 12 opponent, Miami next faces Big Ten member Minnesota. The Golden Gophers are coached by former Northern Illinois coach Jerry Kill, who last saw the RedHawks at the 2010 MAC Championship game in Detroit.
NOTES:
- Miami center Jo Jo Williams took a hit and came out of the game in the fourth quarter.
- Depth is particularly valuable on a hot day such as Saturday, and the Tigers – especially when the defense was on the field - appeared a little quicker in the final stanza.
- True freshmen David Frazier (WR) and Dawan Scott (RB) combined for eight catches and 71 yards Saturday in their collegiate debut. Both are from the same high school (Irmo) in Columbia, South Carolina. “We knew that some of our young players – freshmen – were going to have to get their baptism today, but (their performance) goes to our senior leadership, because they kept those guys focused,” said Treadwell, who also credited assistant coaches. There were 10 true freshmen and seven redshirt freshmen on the 70-man travel roster.
- Pat Hinkel led the Miami defense with nine tackles, seven of which were solos.
- Missouri coach Gary Pinkel formerly was head coach at Toledo.
- After two games in back-to-back years in Columbia, the Tigers and RedHawks will meet in Oxford next season.
- Saturday’s game was carried to a Fox Sports audience and broadcast on the Armed Forces Network. It was seen in 175 countries and on U.S. Navy ships at sea.
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