Miami’s clinching drive vs. Kent State ‘took everybody’

“I was nervous at the time,” ninth-year Miami coach Chuck Martin said Monday. “I watched it again on Saturday night, and it was very enjoyable.”

Miami, needing to consume time, ran nine consecutive running plays, starting with redshirt-freshman quarterback Aveon Smith’s 31-yard burst that got the RedHawks out of the penalty-induced hole. Three running backs – Keyon Mozee and Kenny Tracy and Tyre Shelton – took over from there and produced seven straight gains before Mozee was stopped for a two-yard loss that left Miami facing fourth-and-6 at Kent State’s 28.

That’s when the RedHawks dialed up a 16-yard pass from Smith to wide-open tight end Jack Coldiron for a first down.

Game over.

“On the sidelines, it was fun watching the offense do what they do,” said defensive tackle Austin Ertl, who’d watched Kent State score 17 points in the second half to make it a one-score game. “It took the pressure off the defensive guys. We didn’t have to go in and do anything special.”

“It took everybody,” Martin said. “If you can run the ball when they know you’re going to run, that’s quite an accomplishment. It takes a lot of pride as a group.”

Martin pointed out that the drive was more impressive because it was produced by an inexperienced quarterback trying to manage time without the benefit of a ticking play clock. Yager Stadium’s weren’t operable, which left both teams relying on the back judge, who usually raises a hand when five seconds remain to squeeze off a play.

“That probably cost us 40 seconds,” Martin said. “I was keeping the clock in my head, Without the play clock, it made it hard. Twice, we snapped the ball very early. That’s a difficult situation for any quarterback, especially a young quarterback. Even if he sees the referee counting down, he could be like, ‘Is he at four seconds or three?’ You don’t want a delay-of-game penalty. That drive came at a very good time.

“That was a really, really, really good win against a good opponent. That was as good of a team win as you can get. Kent State closed the gap, but they never got ahead. They punted five times in the first half. They’d only punted 12 times in their first five games. The defense did a great job controlling the running game.”

Kent State went into the game leading the MAC with an average of 219 rushing yards per game, whilerunning back Marquez Cooper was second individually with an average of 102.0 yards per game. Cooper gained 32 on 13 carries. The Golden Flashes finished with 109 as a team.

The win left Miami (3-3, 1-1) tied with Kent State, Bowling Green and Ohio for second place in the Mid-American Conference East Division behind 3-0 Buffalo going into the RedHawks’ game at Bowling Green on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for noon. The Falcons are coming off a 38-7 loss to the division-leading Bulls this past Saturday.

Miami returns home to face Western Michigan of the MAC West at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 22

The RedHawks came out of Saturday’s win relatively unscathed physically, Martin said.

“Some of the kids might be a game-time decision, but there’s nothing long term,” he said.

Duo honored by MAC: Miami linebacker Ryan McWood and kicker Graham Nicholson on Monday were named MAC East Defensive and Special Teams players of the week, respectively.

McWood had 11 tackles, including 1.5 for loss and a forced fumble, against Kent State. Nicholson was 2-for-2 on field goals (45 and 49 yards) and was 3-for-3 on extra points vs. the Golden Flashes.

SATURDAY’S GAME

Miami at Bowling Green, Noon, ESPN+, 980, 1450