Oct. 31, 2009

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OXFORD, Ohio--Twenty-one first-half points, including 17 in the second quarter, propelled Miami University's football team to a thrilling 31-24 victory against the University of Toledo Rockets on Saturday afternoon at Yager Stadium, giving head coach Michael Haywood his first career win.

Miami (1-8; 1-4 Mid-American Conference) staved off a late Rocket (4-5; 2-3 MAC) comeback. As Toledo was driving, down seven points with just over a minute remaining in the game, sophomore Anthony Kokal forced a fumble as Toledo's Danny Noble attempted to score to tie the game. The fumble bounced through the endzone, giving Miami the ball back on the 20-yardline on a touchback.

Junior kicker Trevor Cook set a Miami record when he nailed a 55-yard field goal with 37 seconds remaining in the second quarter. His field goal broke the previous Miami record by one yard and ties for the fourth-longest field goal in the nation this season.

Miami's first score came off a freshman linebacker Wes Williams 20-yard interception return at 10:55 in the first quarter. It was Williams' first career interception and first career touchdown.

Toledo evened the score on a DaJuane Collins one-yard run with 44 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

The second quarter was all Miami. Redshirt freshman receiver Andy Cruse caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from redshirt freshman quarterback Zac Dysert at the 13:44 mark. Nearly six minutes later Dysert scored on a 3-yard run. Then, Cook hit his record-setting field goal with 37 seconds remaining in the half to give Miami a 24-7 halftime lead.

Toledo quickly began to stage a second-half comeback. The Rockets scored at the 12:55 mark of the third quarter off an Eric Page 14-yard reception from Aaron Opelt and continued to shrink the gap off a Alex Steigerwald 26-yard field goal to make the score 24-17.

Miami answered back with 3:47 to play in the third on a Dysert 23-yard run and a Cook PAT to push the Miami lead to 31-17. Toledo's Page scored on a 15-yard run with 31 seconds left in the third to put the score at 31-24 in favor of the RedHawks.

Neither team scored in the fourth quarter, although Toledo threatened to tie the game late in the fourth. The Rockets drove 99 yards until Kokal's game-saving forced fumble gave Miami the ball back with just over a minute to play.

Dysert amassed 404 total yards of offense (344 yards passing and 60 yards rushing). It was the third 300-yard passing game of his career. He accounted for three Miami touchdowns, two rushing and one passing.

Defensively, junior linebacker Jerrell Wedge tallied 12 tackles. He had 4.0 tackles for a loss of 27 yards, including 3.0 sacks. Wedge also had two quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles. Kokal also tallied 12 tackles.

Miami plays its final road game of the season on Thursday, Nov. 5 when the RedHawks travel to Temple for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. The RedHawks then return home for their final two games, hosting Bowling Green on Thursday, Nov. 12 and Buffalo on Wednesday, Nov. 18.