Recap: Miami football blows another late lead in MACtion loss to Buffalo

The blue wave didn’t stop at the ballot box on Tuesday, Nov. 3. 

Instead, it tore a path through the bowels of Yager Stadium, as the Miami University football team fell in heartbreaking fashion once again, this time to the University at Buffalo Bulls, 34-31 in overtime.

The RedHawks are now 5-4 (3-2 in-conference), and the Bulls leave Oxford bowl-eligible with a 6-3 record (4-1 in-conference).

Buffalo elected to defer the kick, and after a touchback, Miami came out throwing. 

Senior quarterback Caleb Heavner launched the ball deep over the heads of the Buffalo double coverage, but it was too far out of reach for freshman wide receiver Scoop Smith.

Heavner ended up sacked for a loss of 10 on third-and-5, resulting in a punt on the first drive.

On the first play of the visitors’ first drive, Buffalo sophomore quarterback Jason Wright fired down the left sideline. Sophomore wide receiver Dwayne Early Jr. cut back and hauled in a 35-yard catch, putting the Bulls to the Miami 32-yard line. 

An offensive pass interference penalty pushed the Bulls back, and even after an offside penalty by the Miami defense, Buffalo was forced to kick. Sophomore kicker Oliver Hautanen nailed a 33-yard field goal for the first points of the game.

The RedHawks responded with a nine-play, 75-yard drive led by the connection between Heavner and redshirt sophomore wide receiver, Braylon Isom. The Saginaw, Michigan native hauled in receptions on all four passing plays, including a 21-yard toss down the visitor’s sideline uncovered into the end zone. 

Miami forced a punt and went right back on the attack before the end of the first quarter. Two rushes by redshirt sophomore running back D’Shawntae Jones for 33 yards sandwiched a 20-yard rush, putting the home team in opposing territory. A 10-yard reception by senior wide receiver Maleek Huggins put the RedHawks at first and goal as the clock hit zero.

Leading 7-3 as the second quarter got underway, the RedHawks wasted no time completing their previous drive. Redshirt junior running back Rodney Nelson punched home a 10-yard run to put Miami up 14-3.

The two defenses took over through the middle of the quarter, forcing two straight punts from both sides. Then, Buffalo conducted a nine-play, 80-yard drive that was finished by Wright on a 1-yard run to the right side of the end zone. Senior running back Messiah Burch sprinted off a 27-yard run and a 37-yard catch by fifth-year wide receiver Chance Morrow were the catalysts for the Bulls. 

After the kickoff, Miami had 2:28 to put points on the board, and Isom continued his dominance. A few rushes and a penalty led to a 15-yard reception. Then, a 10-yard reception by redshirt junior tight end Christian Ross on fourth-and-2 at Buffalo’s 33-yard line gave the RedHawks a new set of downs with 48 seconds left in the half. 

Isom made another grab for 13 yards to put redshirt junior kicker Kellan McLaughlin in close field position for a field goal. He nailed the 35-yarder and put Miami up 17-10, a lead that carried into halftime. 

Isom had career-highs in receptions (7) and yards (89) when the teams jogged to their respective locker rooms. 

Miami began the second half with a defensive showcase. 

After forcing the Buffalo offense off the field, RedHawks redshirt sophomore defensive back Jermaine Agee blocked the Bulls’ punt all the way into the end zone. Smith recovered the ball for a touchdown, his fourth of the season. 

The score was also Smith’s fourth different kind of touchdown this season. He tallied a kickoff return touchdown, receiving and rushing touchdowns and now the recovery of a blocked punt.

Miami’s defense didn’t let up through the early running of the third quarter, either. 

RedHawks junior defensive back Toney Coleman Jr. hauled in an interception at the one-yard line after a 39-yard reception to Early Jr. that brought Buffalo to the five-yard line. 

The catch was Coleman Jr.’s first career interception.

Nothing came of the offensive drive for Miami, but the defense hauled in its second interception in two drives. The pass was tipped by fifth-year senior defensive lineman Grant Lyons and intercepted by redshirt junior linebacker CJ Young.

With a couple of rushes from Jones and a defensive pass interference call on the home sideline, Miami still could not convert in the offensive half of the field. McLaughlin came onto the field and swung his foot through a ball that missed wide left from 42 yards, keeping the score at 24-10 in favor of Miami.

The Bulls came down the field, led by Morrow on the outside, who collected 41 of the 76 total yards on the drive to make the score 24-16. A missed point-after attempt (PAT) kept the RedHawks up eight points as the third quarter came to an end.

Miami retaliated with a touchdown of its own, riding the Jones train and finishing the drive off with a 6-yard touchdown from Smith, his second of the game. The converted PAT gave Miami a 31-16 lead.

On Buffalo’s first drive of the final frame, Morrow was once again the target for Wright. An additional 41 yards were added to his ledger, along with the first of back-to-back 28-yard catches, the second by junior wide receiver Patrick Clacks III.

With 8:56 remaining in the game, Wright found Morrow in the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown pass, and the duo completed the two-point conversion as well to make the score 31-24 in favor of Miami.

The RedHawks were forced to punt, and with five minutes left in the game from their own 25-yard line on a touchback that was only that by the toe-end of a Miami cleat, Buffalo began its drive.

Two passes to Early Jr. for a combined 36 yards gave the Bulls excellent control of play, and a pass interference penalty added another 15 yards two plays following. Buffalo converted on the next two third downs, including an 11-yard completion to Morrow down to the Miami 11-yard line. 

On third and goal at the 2-yard line, Wright rushed for a touchdown, tying the game at 31 following a converted PAT. 

Miami was overwhelmed with 1:35 left, and after forcing them to punt, the Bulls were satisfied with running the ball and forcing the clock down to zero. 

The Bulls and RedHawks headed to overtime tied at 31. 

Miami won the toss and elected to defend first. 

After stops on first and second down, Wright found Early Jr. for a gain of 12 and a first down. From the 13-yard line, a 4-yard rush and two incomplete passes brought in Hautanen for a 27-yard field goal. He converted to put Buffalo up 34-31, their first lead since the 10:51 mark in the first quarter. 

The score gave Miami the ball at the 25-yard line, and two stuffed rushes showed Heavner the green light to throw toward the end zone. He looked for Isom, and the pass hit his hands, but two Buffalo defenders broke the pass up.

McLaughlin came onto the turf for a 40-yard field goal attempt, his second of the game, the first of which he missed.

The ball was snapped. A flag was thrown.

The penalty was a false start because the ball was “not marked ready for play,” according to the referee crew. 

“That's a first for me,” Miami Head Coach Chuck Martin said. “I know it's a rule, but I thought they called timeout. (Then) they said we have a penalty. I don't know what happened.”

Now five yards farther from the uprights, McLaughlin set up for the 45-yard field goal attempt.

The ball was snapped. A timeout was called by Buffalo.

The next play was the decider. 

McLaughlin swung his leg through the snapped ball. No penalty. No timeout was called. 

Turning end over end, the kick looked to be down the middle early through its flight. But the closer it came to the goalposts, the further it drifted right, until it smacked the outside of the right upright and bounced away, giving Buffalo its sixth win of the season and first win in Oxford since Oct. 29, 2015.

“We got one drive to close it out,” Martin said. “We don't close it out, and then we miss a kick. In regulation, if we make that kick, (it’s the) ball game. It's already over. You have three scores. They don't even have time. So we all had opportunities, and we all failed.”The Bulls went from 99 yards passing in the first half to 358 by game’s end, with Wright registering a career-high. He threw two touchdown passes in the second half as well. A third would have been a career-high.

Morrow ended the game with 12 receptions, one away from an all-time single-game school record. And his 199 yards were a career high.

For Miami, Jones led the way on the ground with 17 rushing attempts and 112 yards, a season-high. Heavner finished the game with 154 yards, 114 of which came in the first half, and a touchdown pass. He was sacked five times. 

McLaughlin missed two field goals from 40-plus yards, bringing his total from that range to 3-for-8. Inside the 30-yard line, he has not missed a kick. However, past the 30-yard line, he is hitting kicks at a 40% clip. 

Despite a strong effort from the defense in the first half, the secondary had no response to Buffalo’s pass offense, and an enormous number of pass interference penalties didn’t help their cause. 

The RedHawks took seven total defensive pass interference penalties, two of which were declined because of a larger gain on a completed catch. Five of them came in the second half. 

Buffalo was called for two defensive pass interference penalties the entire game.

“At the end of the day, the goal is to win games, and we didn’t get that done,” redshirt junior linebacker Malcolm McCain said. “I feel like we played a strong first half defensively. Our mindset is to worry about us on defense, and the offense is going to get their job done. We stopped the run for the most part, but we gave up a few too many explosive (plays) and had to get off the field on third down and find a way to win the game, which we didn’t get done.” 

The RedHawks return to game action at home on Tuesday, Nov. 10 against Ohio University for another MACtion showdown.