Members of the Miami University football team celebrates their 35-28 victory against the U.S. Military Academy (Army) Black Knights Saturday. The RedHawks came back from a 14-point defecit in the second half to give first-year Head Coach Don Treadwell his first victory and the team their first win of the season. (SCOTT ALLISON | The Miami Student)
After trailing 28-14 with just over 12 minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Miami University football team scored 21 unanswered points to notch their first win of the season, beating the U.S. Military Academy (Army) 35-28. Saturday's victory was also the first for Don Treadwell as head coach at Miami.
"I am very excited right now and very ecstatic right now [about this win]," redshirt senior offensive lineman Brandon Brooks said. "It was extremely important [to win]. We've been talking about turning it around all week and it was enough talking and we wanted to go out there today and show with our actions."
Redshirt junior quarterback Zac Dysert had a career game, scoring all five touchdowns for the Red and White and throwing for over 300 yards, including the game winning 20-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Nick Harwell with 7:05 remaining in the fourth quarter to cap a 98-yard drive.
Harwell finished the game with 186 receiving yards on 10 catches to go with his first two touchdowns of the season. He had over 100 yards after just the first quarter and tied a Miami record with his fourth straight 100-yard receiving game.
"We knew that this was going to have to be the week where we turned things around, and starting up front, that's what we did," Dysert said. "It's an awesome feeling for me [having Harwell as a target]. When I get in trouble, I know that I'm going to look for Nick and I have the easy job - I just throw him the ball. He does all the other work for me. He makes me look good and he did a great job today."
Miami gained over 500 yards of total offense, including a season-high 161 on the ground. Redshirt sophomore running back Erik Finklea led the RedHawks with 90 yards rushing on 17 carries, while Dysert added 39 of his own to go with one rushing touchdown.
"Every time there is a problem with the running game we take it personally," Brooks said. "Finklea went out there and ran the ball hard as he always does. We practiced hard; we even stayed extra after practice [this week] just to work on footwork. We ran pretty much the same plays as we always do but we had a different mentality and a different attitude today."
Both teams scored on their opening drives and combined for 35 points in the first half. After trailing by seven points at the half, the RedHawks soon found themselves down 14 points midway through the third. Miami then rallied and cut the lead to seven after Dysert hit redshirt sophomore fullback Justin Semmes for a 17-yard touchdown pass.
Redshirt senior linebacker C.J. Marck forced and recovered an Army fumble the very next possession to set the RedHawks up for the game-tying score with 14:56 remaining in the game.
After another defensive stop, the Red and White drove the length of the field, spearheaded by a 25-yard pass from Dysert to redshirt freshman wide receiver Willie Culpepper and a 24-yard scramble by Dysert. This set up Dysert's game-winning touchdown pass two plays later to Harwell.
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The win improved Miami's record to 1-4 (0-1) while Army fell to 2-4 on the year.
"[I am] so excited and proud, as you can imagine, of our young men today because we were really tested," Treadwell said. "I think our young men had an attitude and a will that we weren't going to be denied and I think they demonstrated that today."
Miami was able to take advantage of Army's defensive schemes, which opened up some favorable matchups downfield for the 'Hawks. In addition, the return of junior center JoJo Williams and of redshirt junior offensive lineman Matt Kennedy helped to solidify an offensive line unit that had given up 11 sacks in the previous two games, only allowing one on Saturday.
Defensively, redshirt senior linebacker Jerrell Wedge and freshman defensive back Brison Burris led the team with 14 and 10 tackles, respectively, in what turned out to be a breakout game for both players. Wedge has been hampered with hamstring issues throughout the season, which has limited his playing time in the first four games.
"All week we've been preaching to never give up," Wedge said. "We never thought for a second we were going to lose that game. It is very satisfying [to get this win]. We want to turn this season around."
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