Recap: Miami football avoids another last-second blunder, emerges victorious against UMass

The Miami University football team was extremely disappointed with last weekend’s result against Mid-American Conference (MAC) opponent Bowling Green State University. The game ended in a last-second loss, and Head Coach Chuck Martin’s squad struggled in key areas of the game.

However, the group had a chance to rectify the problems as they hit the road to take on the 4-1 University of Massachusetts Minutemen in Amherst, Mass.

The RedHawks defense specifically was planning on a challenging day against senior starting quarterback William “Pop” Watson III. However, news broke early Saturday morning that he would be out of the game due to an ankle injury. He was later seen with a boot on his foot on the sideline.

In his stead stepped true freshman Aedan McCarthy. The 6-foot-5, 230 pound quarterback took his first collegiate snaps against Sacred Heart University, completing two passes on four attempts for 11 yards. He also played against Stonehill University a week later on Sept. 19. But this was his first action since then, and he was trusted to display his arm talent to a wide receiver core missing one of its best targets, graduate student wide receiver Joseph Griffin Jr. 

The game of football stops for no man, though. Injuries aside, there was a game to be played, with UMass getting the ball first in their homecoming matchup. 

The Miami defense forced the Minutemen offense off the field in a three-and-out on the first drive of the game. An overthrown deep shot from the freshman McCarthy on second down was the only real shot at chunk play yardage. However, the ball fell away from the target.

Fortunately for the home crowd, the UMass’ defense did the same thing to the RedHawks offense. 

Heavner launched a ball downfield on third down targeting redshirt sophomore wide receiver Braylon Isom, but the ball was behind him and uncatchable.

Redshirt junior defensive lineman Marcus Moore recorded the RedHawks’ first sack of the day on UMass’ second drive, but on second-and-15, McCarthy zipped a ball to junior wide receiver Kezion Dia-Johnson for an 18-yard gain. He found senior wide receiver T.Y. Harding on the next two plays, with the first being called back for holding and the next for 10-yards. 

Then, two straight penalties on the RedHawks put the Minutemen on the visitors' 29-yard line. UMass graduate student running back Curtis Kimmons IV took charge the rest of the way, scoring a touchdown after a 6-yard and 23-yard run.

With the home team up 7-0, Miami went back to work.  After five plays, all of which were on the ground, the RedHawks tied the game back up. 

Heavner had arguably the best drive since his first start last weekend against Bowling Green, gaining a total of 47 yards with his legs on three of the five plays, including a 29-yard run to start the drive. Sophomore running back Lazaro Rodgers contributed six yards as well.

The six points, though, were scored by freshman Scoop Smith on a 20-yard reverse rush play. 

Redshirt junior kicker Kellan McLaughlin sent the ball through the uprights for the point after attempt (PAT) to make the score 7-7.

Miami stifled the Minutemen offense, making a huge stop on fourth-and-1 that brought an eruption from the visiting sideline. And the RedHawks went back to the ground game with the ball with excellent field position.

Redshirt junior running back Rodney Nelson made a nice spin move to evade a tackle and earn 15 yards from the UMass 34-yard line. Then, a holding penalty on the defense put Miami on the 9-yard line, where Heavner took advantage. 

The Division II transfer evaded a defender in the open field and pushed himself into the endzone for his first Division I touchdown. 

The first quarter ended with a couple of plays from UMass, including a 34-yard completion to senior wide receiver Jabari Lewis and a 5-yard tackle for loss from redshirt junior defensive lineman Bai Jobe, but the score remained 14-7 Miami.

Through one quarter, the RedHawks had almost as many rushing yards (97) as they did the entire game against Bowling Green (108).

With the second quarter underway, an incomplete pass and a reception for eight yards (seven yards short of the sticks), set up for a 57-yard field goal from junior UMass kicker, Derek Morris. 

After lining up to take the shot, he swung his leg through the ball and sent it almost-easily through the uprights for a career and program-high field goal, making the score 14-10 Miami. 

The rest of the first half was a back and forth affair, but neither team was able to find a true advantage, even with some big plays. Heavner found Smith for 33 yards through the air with 5:35 remaining in the second quarter, and just a minute and a half later, he found senior wide receiver Maleek Huggins for 25 yards.

Ultimately, the clock wound down, and the half finished 14-10 in favor of the visiting RedHawks. Heavner ended the first 30 minutes 3/10 with 67 yards of passing, but a team-leading 50 yards and one touchdown on the ground. The run game looked completely different as well, gathering 109 total yards. 

As for the home squad, its strength was through the air, even with McCarthy still adjusting in his first ever collegiate start. He went 12-20 with 126 yards through the air. Lewis (two receptions for 43 yards) and Harding (five receptions for 39 yards) were the two leaders in the receiving core.

The RedHawks received the ball to begin the second half, but were forced three-and-out, giving Massachusetts the chance to put more points on the board. 

However, they did not. Up until the 3:36 mark of the third quarter, possession traded between the two sides. Then, with the UMass offense back on the field with 4:23 remaining, the second play of the drive was turned over. McCarthy pitched the ball backward to sophomore running back Elijah Faulkner, who couldn’t grab the ball cleanly. 

The ball bobbled up and down, eventually falling to the ground. Miami redshirt senior defensive lineman Grant Lyons fell on the loose ball, recovering the fumble and giving the RedHawks another excellent starting position.

After 14 yards worth of rushing from redshirt sophomore running back D’Shawntae Jones, the RedHawks moved from the UMass 21-yard line down to the 9-yard line. Heavner looked for Huggins deep in the end zone, but the pass was overthrown, and McLaughlin ran out onto the field to attempt the 27-yard field goal.

The kick was good from the Miami placekicker, putting the RedHawks up 17-10, the score at the end of the third quarter.

To start the final frame, the Minutemen went three-and-out, giving Miami the ball back up a touchdown. 

From midfield, the RedHawks used a 13-yard completion from Heavner and a couple of runs from Jones and Nelson to line up an eventual 47-yard field goal. And McLaughlin, who may have been a little hesitant from that distance a couple of weeks ago, didn’t look fazed at all. His boot boomed as the ball flew toward the yellow uprights and through to put Miami up 20-10.

On the ensuing drive, McCarthy completed one of his longest passes of the day (24 yards) to his receiver Lewis at the 50-yard line. Then, the Minutemen offense seemed to fall into a rhythm, converting on fourth-and-1 and driving down the field. However, that all fell apart when a tackle to McCarthy’s legs left him down and hurt on the field.

Despite testing his ankle, it took two people to help the young quarterback off the field, forcing UMass to go to their third string, sophomore Logan Inagawa.

On his first play, Inagawa ran for 17 yards and put UMass in position for a 34-yard field goal, which they converted to bring the game back to one score. The drive wound the clock down from 11:41 to 4:55 in the game. 

Miami received the ball and made it up to their own 40-yard line, but couldn’t get any farther following a false start penalty and another Heavner rush on second-and-13 for seven yards. On that second down play, redshirt sophomore center Kris Manu fell injured on the field, forcing Martin to make a change. 

Instead of being able to use his backup center, redshirt freshman Brendan Loftus, who was lined up at tight end, Martin had to use a player on the defensive line. And on third-and-6, with UMass needing to hold the line, they were able to do more.

The Miami snap was off, Heavner wasn’t able to grab the snap cleanly and the Minutemen pounced for a major sack, grabbing all of the momentum in the process.

UMass received the punt with 2:22 remaining and marched down the field 91 yards on nine total plays, with 82 of those yards coming through the air from Inagawa. The touchdown catch was made by graduate student tight end Max Dowling, who made a nice cut toward the middle of the field against the Miami secondary and brought the perfectly placed pass in for six points. 

The Minutemen, with the momentum on their side and a handful of injuries, decided to go for the win with a two-point conversion. But despite some pre-snap and post-snap trickery, the RedHawks defense blew the play up. Breaking through the line and making a tackle on graduate student tight end Reece Adkins in the backfield was RedHawks redshirt junior linebacker Malcolm McCain, sealing the game 20-19.

“Obviously, (for the) defense, a nice step forward today,” Martin said. “We’ve not played to the level that we’re used to play at on the defensive side of the ball. The whole defensive staff worked really hard this week. We were just on our toes, we were aggressive. We really attacked the ball in the air today. Our man coverage was way better, and as the game went on, we were getting stickier on them. Just a great effort by the defense, and then obviously making the last play of the game to get the victory for us was huge.”

UMass still finished with more yards total by game’s end, 319-260, but it was the second week in a row that the RedHawks defense allowed sub-70 yards on the ground. Of course, that came with over 250 yards through the air. McCarthy finished the game with 179 yards on 15 completions and 29 attempts, while Inagawa didn’t miss a pass on the final and his only drive with work in the air. He completed all six attempts and registered the touchdown pass.

As for Miami, the ground game was the story. Heavner went 6-for-20 through the air, but made up for it with 54 rushing yards and a touchdown. He registered his first win as a starting quarterback in the Division I level despite having plenty to work on moving forward through MAC play.

“Obviously early he was huge,” Martin said. “It forced them to try and defend him, which they weren’t early. They were just trying to defend our running backs, and that opens up the rest of the game.”

Nelson was the highest finisher amongst Miami running backs with 52 yards on 11 attempts, and D’Shawntae Jones finished with 28 yards on nine runs. 

Huggins was the leading man for Miami’s pass game, hauling in three receptions (the only receiver with multiple catches today) for 47 yards.

“(On) offense we ran the ball better, which I liked,” Martin said. “We didn’t run as good as we’d like, but we ran it better. Our pass game was not very efficient today. We’ve got to keep looking at that and keep grinding through that. It wasn’t a good day, and that kept the game close at times. We had opportunities to do some things there, but we didn’t get anything done.”

The game could have ended very differently, both on the scoreboard and feeling within the Miami football sphere, had UMass been able to convert on the two-point conversion. The Minutemen fought until the very end, and for the second week in a row the RedHawks allowed a field-long drive by the opposition late in the game that could alter the result. 

Fortunately for the visitors, the defense made one more play, bringing their record to 3-3 and evening out the conference record as well at 1-1.

“I knew they’d go for (the two-point conversion),” Martin said. “As soon as they scored, I said they were going to go. If I was them, I’m going for two for the win right there with a third team quarterback. So they’ve done a great job. Their whole staff and team has done a great job this year. If you put on the tape from last year, it’s just not even close to the same team on both sides of the ball and (special teams). It was a hard fought game, but we’re happy with the victory.”

Miami returns home for next weekend’s MAC matchup against the University of Akron Zips on Family Weekend.