BearcatLair.com - UC wins 4th in a row against Miami (OH)

October 3, 2009

Ryan Pence

This wasn't exactly how Brian Kelly and the Bearcats drew it up. In front of a sparse Oxford crowd filled with mostly Cincinnati fans that made the short trip, the Bearcats defeated the Miami (OH) Redhawks by a score of 37-13. The game wasn't televised, and for those of you who know nothing more than what you see on the scoreboard, you may think this was just another mismatch. However, for 3 quarters that simply wasn't the case.

"I'm pleased with the win over a Miami team that I thought played real hard," said head coach Brian Kelly after the win. "Our kids played hard as well. I was pleased with the effort our team gave. I was not pleased with a number of things today, but when you look at this game of football, you just try and keep winning games. Not to take anything away from Miami but this was not our "A" game."

After both teams were forced to punt on their first drives of the game, the Bearcats took the ball and drove down the field with ease. The drive was capped off by a Jacob Ramsey touchdown run of 4 yards, and it looked as if it may be another easy afternoon for the 'Cats.

The Bearcats defense held Miami on their next drive, forcing a Redhawks punt that traveled all of six yards, setting up the Bearcats with great field position to begin their drive. After a three and out on that drive, the Bearcats were prepared to punt. However, an illegal substitution by the Redhawks allowed the Bearcats to try their luck on a 4th and 1 play. Their luck turned out to be very good, as Tony Pike hit Armon Binns over the middle for a 35-yard touchdown pass. The route was on; or so everyone thought.

After Jacob Ramsey pounded in yet another Bearcats touchdown run, making the game 20-0 in the 2nd quarter, things really started to settle down, and the Bearcats may have gotten a little too comfortable. The Redhawks would capitalize later in the half, embarking on a 15-play, 82-yard drive that took 8 minutes off the clock and resulted in a Miami touchdown.

The Bearcats got a field goal late in the half to make it 23-7, but it would be a bittersweet halftime lead. A slew of missed opportunities, untimely penalties, and forced passes allowed the Redhawks to hang around, and actually make a game of it.

As the second half got underway, the Bearcats weren't showing any signs of putting this one away. In fact, Miami drew first blood late in the 3rd quarter when quarterback Zach Dysert found Andre Bratton in the back of the end zone for six. That made the score 23-13, and the pressure was officially on.

After stopping the Bearcats offense yet again, Miami took the ball back and drove right down the field. But with the Redhawks knocking on the door, the defense would come up with a big turnover for the second consecutive week. On 3rd and goal from inside the 10, linebacker JK Schaeffer hid underneath and intercepted the Zach Dysert pass, swinging all the momentum back in the Bearcats favor. Schaeffer talked about the play after the game.

"We were thinking we had to come up with a stop," said Schaeffer. "There really wasn't anything other choice. We ended up getting one. I was in the right place at the right time, and I think the quarterback slipped up a little and threw it to me."

From that point on, it was all Bearcats. The Bearcats took the ball on that drive and went right down the field. The drive, like most Bearcat scoring drives this season, was a short one. The 4-play, 45-yard drive was capped off by a 2 yard Jacob Ramsey touchdown run, and put the Bearcats back in charge.

They wouldn't stop there, either. After forcing another quick Miami punt, the offense got right back to it. Their next drive, a 5-play 62-yard drive that lasted just over one minute, made the score 37-13 and put it out of the Redhawks reach. The drive was capped by a beautiful 23-yard throw and catch from Tony Pike to Mardy Gilyard. Gilyard was once again the team's leading receiver, finishing with 6 catches for 75 yards and a touchdown. Coach Kelly also talked after the game about how Miami's decision to double team Gilyard opened up the run.

"Mardy was double teamed all day which opened up the run," said Kelly. "You must be able to run the football if you're going to get doubled out. They came in doubling Mardy and that's why Binns got a lot of catches and we were able to run the ball."

Jacob Ramsey, who finished with 12 carries for 106 yards and 3 touchdowns, also talked about what it meant to have the best performance by a UC running back in some time.

"It's a big compliment to me and a big compliment to the offensive line," said Ramsey. "It's the first time we had done anything like that since the first game of my sophomore year, so it's special."

From a statistical standpoint, Tony Pike finished the game 23-of-42 for 270 yards and 2 touchdowns (one interception.) He definitely struggled at times, but in the end he made the plays necessary to get the win, and that's all that matters.

From there on out, it was all academic. The Bearcats would run out the rest of the clock, get out of Oxford with the win, and bring the Victory Bell home to Cincinnati. The Bearcats get a week off before heading to South Florida for a Thursday night showdown that should set the landscape for the rest of the Big East season.

TEAM NOTES

? Cincinnati Game Captains: Craig Carey (7) and Jeff Linkenbach (71)

? Cincinnati won the toss and elected to receive. Miami chose to defend the south goal.

? UC's 5-0 start ties the best season start since 2007 (6-0).

? Cincinnati is now 91-101-12 vs. schools from the Mid-American Conference.

? The win moves the Bearcats to 48-59-7 vs. Miami in the all-time series and gives them four straight Victory Bell wins against the RedHawks for the first time since 1986-89.

? UC recorded multiple sacks for the third time in five games in 2009 and a season-high 10 sacks. UC tallied double digits sacks for the first time since recording 11 at Syracuse on Nov. 24, 2007.

? UC scored 23 points in the first half, marking the fifth-straight game the Bearcats had tallied 21 or more points in the opening half of play.

? UC intercepted two passes in the game, the fifth-straight game the Bearcats have recorded and interception and a turnover in a game.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

? Robby Armstrong (knee), Quincy Quetant (leg), Chris Williams (knee), DJ Woods (Illness), and Curtis Young (knee) all missed the game due to injury.

? Marcus Barnett started at wide receiver in place of DJ Woods. It was Barnett's first start at wide receiver in 2009 and his second of the 2009 season. He started at defensive back against Fresno State (9/26/09). He is the lone UC player to start on both sides of the ball in 2009.

? Barnett had a 21-yard reception in the fourth quarter, his longest of the season. He finished with team-high tying six receptions for 57 yards.

? Tony Pike quick kicked on UC's first drive, his first career punt. The punt went for 21 yards.

? Jacob Ramsey became the 15th running back in UC history to score three rushing scores in a game (last Richard Hall vs. Miami (OH) in 2004), running in from 4, 8, and 2 yards. He now has eight rushing touchdowns in his career.
? It was his first career multiple touchdown game of his career. He finished with 11 carries for 106 yards (9.6 yards per carry), becoming in the first UC running back to tally 100 or more yards in a game since Butler Benton (101) against Southeast Missouri State on Aug. 30, 2007.

? Jake Rogers missed his first extra point attempt of the game, snapping a streak of 58-consecutive extra points made dating back to the 2008 season. That mark ranks fourth in school history. He made four-straight extra point attempts following the miss.

? Rogers hit a 42-yard field goal in the second quarter, his second made kick of the season and first since the season opener at Rutgers on Sept. 7.

? John Goebel made his first appearance of the season on special teams. He had missed the previous four games with a hamstring injury.

? Maalik Bomar made his first career appearance, coming in on the kickoff team, and made a tackle.

? Reuben Haley made his first career appearance on the punt coverage team.

? Armon Binns had a 35-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter, the first TD of his career.

? Drew Frey recorded a sack in the second quarter. It was the first of his career.

? JK Schaffer intercepted a Zac Dysert pass in the end zone in the third quarter, returning it 13 yards. It was his third interception of the season and his career. He also added eight tackles and a half sack in the game.

? Derek Wolfe and Alex Daniels recorded back-to-back sacks on consecutive plays in the fourth quarter.

? Daniels had his first -career multiple-sack game, finishing with four. He now has 6.5 sacks in his career.

? Wolfe also had a multi-sack game with a pair of takedowns. He has 2.5 for his career.

? Mardy Gilyard's had a 23-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter from Pike, his seventh receiving TD of the year and 21st of his career. He is tied for second place all-time with Jim O'Brien (1967-69) and needs one more to tie Dominick Goodman (2005-08) for the all-time lead at 22.

? Gilyard has a touchdown reception in each game this season and has a seven-game touchdown streak, dating back to the Hawai'i game in 2008.

? Andre Revels recorded a career-best 13 tackles and now has 41 on the season.

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