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Seeing red: 'Hawks stampede Bulls

Miami defenders Clayton Mullins (9) and Joey Hudson (48) wrap tackle a Buffalo player during Saturday's 31-28 win at Yager.
Miami defenders Clayton Mullins (9) and Joey Hudson (48) wrap tackle a Buffalo player during Saturday's 31-28 win at Yager.

Dan Kukla

Miami defenders Clayton Mullins (9) and Joey Hudson (48) wrap tackle a Buffalo player during Saturday's 31-28 win at Yager.

Just one year removed from a dismal 2-10 season, the Miami University football team moved into first place in the Mid-American Conference East division after surviving a shoot-out with the University at Buffalo Bulls.

In a game riddled with big time offensive plays, the RedHawks were able to come up with a pivotal defensive stop in the waning moments of Saturday's contest that allowed them to seal a 31-28 win.

After Buffalo scored a late touchdown and converted the two-point conversion to climb within three points of the RedHawks, Miami failed to put away the game and went three and out on its ensuing drive. Trying to take full advantage of their new life, the Bulls were driving downfield for the potential tying or game-wining score only to be stopped dead in their tracks by defensive back Jeff Thompson. Thompson came off the right side of the defensive line untouched and sacked Buffalo quarterback Drew Willy, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Miami defensive lineman Travis Craven. With their opponents down to one final timeout, the RedHawks simply needed to run out the clock in order to finish out their narrow victory.

"We wanted the pressure on us," defensive lineman Joe Coniglio said. "That's how our defense has played all year in tight situations. We want the pressure on us at the end of the game to make the plays and to get the win. We thrive off of that and we try to be resilient in situations like that."

Quarterback Daniel Raudabaugh had a solid game under center for the Red and White, completing 20 of 26 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns. The offense was highlighted by a running game that had been held stagnant the previous two weeks. Senior Cory Jones filled in for an injured Austin Sykes, running for 124 yards on 19 carries. True freshman Thomas Merriweather ran for 28 yards and two touchdowns on the afternoon. Being able to run the ball well on first and second down kept the 'Hawks out of long third downs. As a result, Miami was able to convert eight of 15 third down attempts, one of its highest efficiency rates in those situations this season.

"We knew that they were a ball-control offense and we were going to have to come out and establish the run to keep our defense off the field," Miami Head Coach Shane Montgomery said. "We had really struggled running the ball for two weeks going back to the Temple (University) game. There are some things we did up front to give ourselves a chance. We did a great job of controlling the line of scrimmage, and that was key on both sides of the ball for this game."

As the first half was winding down, Miami owned a 17-7 lead, however, the Bulls scored twice in the last three minutes to tie the game up heading into the locker room. After a 70-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass from Willy to Naam Roosevelt, Miami kick returner Jamal Rogers fumbled the kickoff, which led to a game-tying field goal. Despite the unfortunate turn of events, the RedHawks made sure to not let themselves get rattled.

"It didn't matter what the score was going to be at the half, I was going to tell them the same thing I told them at Bowling Green, which is that they have to play like its zero to zero," Montgomery said. "This week, whether we were up 17-7 or tied 17-17, we had to come out and win the second half."

And win the second half they did. Miami started off the third quarter with a convincing 78-yard, 10-play drive that was capped off by a rushing touchdown by Merriweather. After another RedHawk turnover on special teams, Buffalo was able to pull within four on a career-long field goal of 47 yards by kicker A.J. Principe. But the Red and White punched into the end zone once again for a fourth time, to make it 31-20 and take its biggest lead of the afternoon.

Buffalo's inability to capitalize off of Miami's turnovers was a key to its loss. The RedHawks were very sloppy with the ball on special teams but managed to escape with minimal damage.

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"To have the defense only give up six there was really big," Montgomery said. "Buffalo moved the ball at times but we really tightened up, especially in the red zone, and we did a great job on the sudden change."

Coming into the game, the RedHawks knew they had a tough job on defense as they were facing one of the league's top rushers in Buffalo running back James Starks. After giving up a 92-yard touchdown run to Starks in the first half, the second longest run in Yager Stadium history, Miami was able to shut down the feature back, holding him to only 49 yards for the rest of the game.

With the running game grounded, Willy rose to the occasion and completed a school-record 33 passes. However, Raudabaugh matched his efforts by connecting on three long passing plays of 40 yards or more, all of which set the RedHawks up for scores.

One of the reasons that Miami was so effective in shutting down the run was its ability to get into the Buffalo backfield. Miami's defense totaled 10 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, and while Raudabaugh went un-sacked the entire game, Willy hit the ground six times.

"We're not a big defensive unit but what we can do is we can run," Coniglio said. "That's something that we've really prided ourselves on all year. When you play hard, plays come to you, and that's the thing that this defense has done all year. We play hard."

Now that the RedHawks are in first place, they will have some time off as they head into a bye week before their next game against the University of Akron. The Akron game will be Miami's only game on ESPN2 this year and kick off is set for 7:35 p.m., Wednesday Nov. 14 at Yager Stadium.

Montgomery believes the rest comes at a very opportunistic time, as there are several players on the team who are injured and need time to heal. However, some of the healthy players plan to continue working hard.

Raudabaugh echoes his coach's sentiments about the bye week.

"Champions don't take days off," he said.

Miami is now 10-0 all time against Buffalo. Although the win officially put Miami into a first place tie with the Bulls, the RedHawks will control their own destiny for the rest of the season as they now hold the tiebreaker.

"It's a good feeling to be in a situation like this," Raudabaugh said. "First place feels good. We didn't really get to feel much of that last year, but we're not trying to look ahead or look back on things we've done. We want to worry about right now. Today it was Buffalo and taking back the MAC East, and tomorrow it's going to be critiquing each other and getting ready for Akron. We're in a good spot right now."


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