Miami Becomes Bowl-Eligible with win over Kent State
By: Jack Mueller
OXFORD - In Miami’s first home “MACtion” game of the season, they came to play. The RedHawks defeated Kent State at Yager Stadium 34-7, improving to 6-4 on the season while winning their fifth straight conference game.
Keyon Mozee has arrived as the RedHawks’ top running back. The senior back registered a career-high 198 yards on the ground, nearly reaching the 200+ mark for the first time in his career. Miami is 6-0 in games when Mozee has had at least 100 yards on the ground.
“I don’t really think about it like that, I just try to be a team player,” said Mozee, “I want to do whatever I can for the team, and if that’s getting 100 yards, then that’s what it is.”
“He’s been really patient, he really sets up his blocks.” said Head Coach Chuck Martin “He’s really taken it upon himself to compliment the O-Line.”
After giving up an early score, Miami’s defense completely shut down Kent State’s offense. In the second half, the visitors only managed to pick up 43 yards in total (!!!) The Golden Flashes’ quarterback Tommy Ulatowski was held to just 82 yards in the air in the game. The RedHawks combined for six TFL’s, three sacks and two turnovers. Ty Wise had his best game of the season, forcing a fumble on a QB sack, and adding five tackles and two TFL’s.
“We weren’t as aggressive as we needed to be.” said Martin “We weren’t very physical in the first half…we were way more physical in the second half.”
Brett Gabbert continues to rewrite the record book in Oxford. A 19-yard completion to Virgil in the second quarter put the quarterback over 10,000 passing yards for his career. Gabbert now trails Zac Dysert (12,013) and Ben Roethlisberger (10,829). Javon Tracy corralled the most receptions (4 for 76 yards) but it was Reggie Virgil who led the team in receiving yards with 88.
Miami was without their star cornerback, Raion Strader, and his absence was immediately felt. After Tevin Tucker forced the football out of the hands of Miami’s Kevin Davis, the Golden Flashes took over in the redzone. Three plays later, Ulatowski connected with his top target, Chrishon McCray in the corner of the end zone to give the visitors the lead. Until that score, Kent State hadn’t led a football game since last season.
The RedHawks initially struggled to move the ball on their second drive, being forced to punt, but they got a second chance to score after a tipped pass fell into the hands of Matt Salopek. Gabbert immediately took advantage, connecting with Reggie Virgil for a 64-yard score to tie the game at seven midway through the first quarter.
Miami continued to build momentum on offense, scoring on their next two drives. Dom Dzioban finished off a nine-play RedHawk drive with a 45-yard field goal, giving Miami their first lead of the night. Kent State failed to move the football, giving the ball back to Gabbert & Co. They wasted no time taking advantage, scoring within 90 seconds of regaining possession. Javon Tracy was found wide open on the left side, and he made two men miss en route to the end zone, giving Miami a ten-point cushion.
The two teams traded punts for the next nine minutes before the Miami offense took over with 1:44 left in the first half. Gabbert drove his team into field goal range, but Dzioban’s 49-yarder missed to the left, leaving Miami up 17-7 at the break.
The RedHawk offense continued to build momentum coming out of the halftime intermission. Miami relied on the rushing prowess of Keyon Mozee and Kevin Davis to drive all the way down to the six yard line. Davis finished off the drive with a touchdown run, finding a hole in the middle of the defense and taking it in for six.
Miami relied on the rushing attack in the second half. Mozee broke off a career-high 74 yard touchdown run to close out the third quarter and give Miami a 31-7 lead.
“At first I thought it was going to be a bad player because our center tripped on our left guard.” said Mozee, “I thought ‘let me wait a little bit’ until he caught his balance…as soon as he did I took advantage.”
In three third-quarter drives, or 17 plays, Miami threw the ball just twice. Kevin Davis and Keyon Mozee combined for 157 yards on the ground during that time.
“We did what we needed to do,” said Mozee, “We handled business.”
Miami’s defense held strong again, holding the Golden Flashes to just seven yards in the third quarter. After Ty Wise forced a fumble after reaching the quarterback, Henry Hesson entered the game and led Miami into field goal range to allow Dzioban to make his second field goal of the night.
The RedHawk defense continued to stifle the Golden Flashes offense, and Henry Hesson entered the game to see out the remainder of the clock for Miami. It looked as if the home team would be able to drain the remainder of the ten minutes on the clock, but Clinton Robinson forced a fumble with 3:48 left, giving Kent State one more possession. However, they failed to capitalize, allowing Miami to kneel the clock out and secure the victory.
Miami now controls their own destiny in their quest to return to the MAC championship. The RedHawks will host their second straight midweek-MACtion game next Tuesday, when fellow contenders Northern Illinois pay a visit to Yager Stadium. Miami’s game against the Huskies will have massive implications on the upcoming conference championship game in Detroit.