Miami notes: Dysert-Harwell connection continues to produce points

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By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer 12:28 AM Friday, November 4, 2011

OXFORD — Zac Dysert and Nick Harwell continued their long-distance collaboration in the Miami RedHawks’ 35-3 victory over the Akron Zips on Thursday.

Miami’s first touchdown in the first quarter was set up by a 38-yard pass from the junior quarterback to his sophomore wideout.

They hooked up again with 5:39 left in the second quarter when Dysert fired a 52-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Harwell to give the RedHawks a 28-0 lead.

That play gave Harwell his sixth 100-yard receiving game this season and it was the 11th time he and Dysert had gotten together for a play of 30 yards or longer.

Dysert-to-Harwell passes also have accounted for seven of Miami’s eight longest plays this season.

Utterly pointless: Prior to its fourth-quarter field goal, Akron had gone eight consecutive quarters without scoring a point at Yager Stadium, a drought which extended back to the third quarter of the RedHawks’ 51-23 win over the Zips on Oct. 15, 2005. Miami shut out Akron 7-0 in Oxford in 2007.

During the 2005 game, by the way, the RedHawks set an NCAA Division I-A record by scoring 21 points in 60 seconds. The onslaught began with a 2-yard touchdown run by Jimmy Murray. An interception by Ryan Redd led to a 50-yard touchdown pass from Josh Betts to Martin Nance. Then a fumble recovery by Marcus Johnson led to a 15-yard TD run by Murray.

Tressel in the house: There was a Jim Tressel sighting in the Yager Stadium press box Thursday night. The former Ohio State head coach is a consultant for the Indianapolis Colts. He was the quarterbacks-wide receivers coach at Miami from 1979-80 under Tom Reed.

Busting loose early: In their first seven games the RedHawks had scored 17 total points in the first quarter. In the last two games they’ve scored 35 first-period points

Cruse control: Junior wide receiver Andrew Cruse caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Dysert to give Miami a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. It was the third straight game in which Cruse has scored on a TD strike and the fourth game in his last five.

A long kick: The 57-yard punt by Miami’s Zac Murphy with 11:36 left in the third quarter was his longest of the season. His career long is 66 yards last season at Buffalo.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or Pete.Conrad@coxinc.com.

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