C.J. Marck, above, reaches for UC quarterback Zach Collaros. Immediately below, Ryan Kennedy picks off a pass in the end zone. MU quarterback Zac Dysert, below, gets a visit from Derek Wolfe. Bottom left, Nick Harwell sprints downfield. Photos by Mike Smith.
OXFORD, OH – The Miami RedHawks held Isaiah Pead to 49 rushing yards Saturday, but not much else went right for the hosts, who remained winless (0-4) after a 27-0 loss to area rival Cincinnati (4-1) Saturday at Yager Stadium.
The Bearcat defense stiffened with a goal line stand while posting a shutout, and senior quarterback Zach Collaros repeatedly scrambled into positions to pick up key first downs in fashioning a win.
“That quarterback they have on offense - he’s just tremendous,” Miami head coach Don Treadwell said. “There are so many times … when we thought we had him on the ropes there a little bit, and he just was not going to be denied. He’s just a tremendous athlete.”
It was UC’s sixth straight win in the series, earning the Bearcats yet another year’s possession of the coveted Victory Bell, which goes to the winner of each year’s game.
“This one stings a little more, because it is a rival game,” Treadwell said. “We’ve got a good five or six coaches on the staff that are Miami graduates and played … in this game. It’s a significant game.”
Pead had 197 yards on 19 carries in a 45-3 Bearcat blowout win last year. Cincinnati got all 45 points before halftime in that contest, but held a fragile 6-0 lead at intermission Saturday.
That advantage quickly seemed in jeopardy when Miami quarterback Zac Dysert found receiver Nick Harwell for 66 yards on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. Drew Frey’s diving tackle, however, pulled down Harwell at the Cincinnati one-yard line. It was all the Bearcats needed.
“We always say in practice, ‘Just give us a place to stand … and we’ll see what we can do with it,” senior linebacker J.K. Schaffer said.
Cincinnati stopped two runs by Erik Finklea, pushing him back one yard on the second. Dysert then hit Harwell with a pass in the right side of the end zone on third down, but officials threw a flag for offensive pass interference.
Now sitting at the Cincinnati 17, Miami tried to get on the board with a field goal, but Mason Krysinski’s 34-yard attempt was wide left.
“You’ve got to be able to capitalize with the ball on the two-yard line. There is just no question about it,” said Treadwell, who played at Miami and spent some time at UC as an assistant coach before moving on to Michigan State. He was an offensive coordinator for Mark Dantonio at MSU before taking over at Miami in January. "You've got to almost will yourself ... to get into the end zone."
It was the second straight week Miami failed to get points after big plays brought the RedHawks to an opponent’s goal line doorstep immediately after intermission. It was also the second straight week that the opponent took the ensuing drive back for a huge touchdown.
“That really sparked us,” said Collaros, referring to the big goal line stand.
On the third play of UC’s next drive, Collaros scambled enough to find senior tight end Adrien Robinson deep for a 72-yard pickup. Pead went off right tackle for a three-yard TD on the next play, and suddenly Cincinnati had a 13-0 lead.
“I can’t say enough about our defense,” UC coach Butch Jones said. “We give up the big pass to start the second half. … They did a great job of tackling, and them coming away with zero points was critical. I think you could really feel the momentum swing at that point.”
Miami’s offense continued to struggle against the Bearcats defense on the next two drives, picking up just one first down along the way. But as each drive ended, safety Anthony Kokal boomed a pair of long punts (61, 52 yards). While each reached the end zone for a touchback, the boomers were a welcome sight for what has been a struggling kicking game.
Cincinnati’s potent offense finally started to click again late in the third period – again thanks to Collaros. He picked up 13 yards on a third-and-three situation, before hitting wideout Kenbrell Thompkins for 14 yards on a 3rd-and-12.
While Miami converted just 3-of-17 third downs, the Bearcats were good on 7-of-16. The RedHawks also damaged their own cause with eight penalties for 105 yards - most in the second half. "When we hurt ourselves, we were in third and longs. That's the huge factor."
When Cincinnati faced 2nd-and-22, Collaros first rushed for nine yards and then completed another pass to Thompkins for 33 yards. Pead scored his second touchdown, going around right end, on the next play. Tony Milano’s kick made it a 20-0 game.
“They came out in the second half, and they played hard,” Kokal said of the Bearcats.
On a day when UC’s defense ruled, the 20 points would have been plenty. But after forcing Miami into a 4th-and-17, the Bearcats picked up another score off another Miami punt team snafu. Schaffer picked up a fumble and rumbled 17 yards into the end zone for a TD that capped his Miami rivalry experience. He had a team-best seven tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss, on the afternoon.
Miami made one last drive into Cincinnati territory with the help of a Dysert-to-Harwell aerial, good for 47 yards to the Cincy 21. However, Dysert was sacked for a 14-yard loss and two plays later threw his only interception of the game, which was picked off at the goal line.
Dysert completed 19-of-33 for 252 yards on the day. He was sacked four times. Austin Boucher, who saw limited duty in his first game appearance of 2010, was sacked once. Miami had 267 yards passing and minus-three yards rushing.
“The rushing stats are misleading, because we had a number of sacks,” Treadwell noted. “We had some good things our guys did at times in the run game.
Harwell was the RedHawks leading receiver with six catches for 149 yards to record his third-consecutive game of 100 yards or more.
Defensively, Jaytee Swanson led Miami with seven tackles. Ryan Kennedy and Dayonne Nunley each had interceptions in the end zone to thwart UC drives.
“I thought we stepped up at times and made some key plays,” Treadwell said of the defense.
Collaros was 16-of-30 on the day – good for 251 yards and one touchdown. He was sacked three times but netted 89 yards rushing the football (5.9 ypc). Pead had 49 yards and two TDs on 18 carries.
Cincinnati had the only score of the first half. That came on a 30-yard pass down the middle from Collaros to Travis Kelce with 6:08 remaining in the second quarter.
“We left a lot of points out there,” Collaros said.
In addition to Kennedy’s interception of a Collaros pass in the end zone, the Bearcats also fumbled twice, dropped some passes, stumbled and had some overthrows.
(In my) 24 years-plus of coaching, I don’t think I’ve had more stuff go possibly the wrong way in one half than what we had,” UC head coach Butch Jones said. “You name it … but I think that speaks volumes of our football team. … We persevered.”
He continued, “We made some good halftime adjustments, and we had some players step up and make plays.”
“It was certainly a game of two halves,” Treadwell said. “I was so proud of our young men. Boy, you talk about an effort. … The score does not indicate how well we played at times. That is a start. That is exciting. At some point, our team will collectively put two halves together … and we’re going to be a hard team to beat.”
NOTES AND QUOTES - Miami was 0-for-1 in red zone scoring chances. Cincinnati was 2-for-5, with two of the misses coming on interceptions.
- Punting hasn't been the strongest part of MU's game to date, but the Bearcat defense forced Miami to punt 11 times. Although none were blocked Saturday, a high snap resulted in a fumble return for a touchdown. Kokal averaged 32.3 yards on seven punts with a long of 61. Zac Murphy averaged 34.5 on four punts, with a long of 39. Pat O'Donnel averaged 42.4 yards per kick on seven boots for UC.
- Kokal, who starts at free safety for MU, said he punted all the way from seventh grade through his senior year in high school. He has continued to practice it - even before games - since then.
- Freshman Chrishawn Dupuy, listed as a defensive back, was the latest to get a shot at running the football for Miami. He carried five times for 15 net yards with a long of 12. "In the run game, we've got to keep inmproving, but we're encouraged there, because there were some good things in there," Treadwell said. "Right now we're playing about six freshmen on offense."
- Senior wide receiver Chris Givens missed his final matchup against UC with an injury. - Pead entered Saturday's game averaging 7.9 yards per carry and owned five TDs. Collaros carried a 4.0 average into the contest. He had three rushing TDs and threw for nine scores.
- Sophomore Dayonne Nunley can thank instant replay for his ninth career interception. Officials on the field ruled that he was out of bounds when making the catch. Replay officials reversed the call after seeing Nunley drag the toes of one foot inside the end zone just before leaving the field.
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