Ada graduate Dysert - another big game in losing effort
OXFORD, Ohio (AP) - With its state-of-the-art passing attack
stymied, No. 10 Cincinnati showed it can win the old-fashioned way,
too.
Jacob Ramsey ran for 103 yards and three touchdowns in
Cincinnati's pass-oriented offense Saturday, and the Bearcats broke
open a close game in the fourth quarter for a 37-13 victory over
Miami (Ohio) that showed a little grit to go with the glitz.
"You just try to keep winning," coach Brian Kelly said.
"Today was not our A-game."
The oldest rivalry west of the Allegheny Mountains has been a
mismatch since Kelly showed up at Cincinnati and turned the
Bearcats (5-0) into Big East champs. They won their fourth straight
over Miami (0-5) in blustery conditions in front of Yager Stadium's
biggest crowd in six years.
They did it in an uncharacteristic way.
Tony Pike had a so-so game, going 23 of 42 for 270 yards with
two touchdowns and an interception in the wind. The senior came in
with 70.5 percent completion percentage, but repeatedly forced
throws into a defense that double-teamed his top receivers and fell
back to take away the long pass.
"You're going to have games like this," Pike said. "The
conditions weren't perfect."
The Bearcats put the game in Ramsey's hands. He became the first
Bearcat to run for 100 yards since the opening game of the 2007
season, and the 15th in school history to score three touchdowns in
a game. His 2-yard run with 11:35 remaining gave the Bearcats a
30-13 lead.
"The running game went well with our offensive strategy,"
Ramsey said. "It's definitely something the backs look forward to
every game and try to accomplish."
The Bearcats head into a bye week with a few things to fix. They
had the ball for only 19 minutes on Saturday, a week after they had
it for only 16 minutes in a win over Fresno State. The offense
scores quickly, and the defense has trouble getting off the field.
On Saturday, the Bearcats had trouble pinning down Miami's Zac
Dysert, a redshirt freshman making his second start. Dysert did a
Ben Roethlisberger impersonation and kept the RedHawks in the game
until he changed it with one slip.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound quarterback was as elusive as Big Ben,
who led the RedHawks to their last win over a Top 25 team in 2003
and has his name and number honored on a brick column below the
videoboard. Dysert slipped away from two tacklers in the backfield
and threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to tailback Andre Bratton that
cut it to 23-13 late in the third quarter.
Then, Miami took a big gamble and tried an onside kick that
bounced its way. Dysert led the RedHawks to the 3-yard line,
energizing Miami fans in the mixed-allegiance crowd of 23,493. The
thousands of Cincinnati fans were quiet.
"What we were thinking is we absolutely need to come up with a
stop," Cincinnati linebacker J.K. Schaffer said. "There really
wasn't any other choice."
The first top 10 team to play at Yager Stadium made the
game-turning play. Dysert lost his footing as he threw into the
crowded end zone, allowing Schaffer to intercept the errant throw.
"My foot slipped out from under me and the ball went right to
him," Dysert said.
Crestfallen, the RedHawks fell apart. Dysert was 33 of 47 for
286 yards and was sacked 10 times - six times in the fourth
quarter, when Miami had to throw to try to catch up.
Miami knew its ramped-up emotions wouldn't be enough; the
RedHawks couldn't afford any bad plays. They had a shanked 6-yard
punt and ran a fake punt that failed at their 27-yard line, setting
up a pair of quick-strike touchdowns that helped Cincinnati pull
ahead 20-0.
The RedHawks fell to 0-5 for the second time in four seasons.
They're coming off a two-win season that prompted them to go
outside the Cradle of Coaches and hire Notre Dame offensive
coordinator Michael Haywood, who has a young team featuring seven
freshman starters.