Henry Parrish, Jr. paced the backfield with 90 yards and one touchdown, while freshman Mark Fletcher, Jr. rushed for 76 yards and his first career score. Ajay Allen added 49 yards and Don Chaney, Jr. had 38 yards and a touchdown. The Canes averaged 6.9 yards per carry.
“It’s kind of what (running backs coach) Tim Harris has been talking about all week,” Cristobal said. “They’ve all been competing and competing hard. It was hard to tell who was separating but you probably saw some of that tonight. Everybody looks good.”
Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke completed 17 of 22 passes for 201 yards, one touchdown and one pick, connecting with wide receiver Xavier Restrepo five times for 68 yards. Fellow wideouts Colbie Young (four catches, 79 yards, one touchdown) and Jacolby George (six receptions, 56 yards) also had big nights.
“I thought (Tyler) performed really well,” Cristobal said. “He’d love to have the interception back. He’s really hard on himself. He was really efficient. He put us in the right plays, made the right decisions in the run game, as well. He carries a lot when he runs this offense. There’s a lot of autonomy that goes with it and I thought he did a great, great job.”
Linebacker Francisco Mauigoa paced Miami with five tackles. Defensive end Jahfari Harvey and linebacker Wesley Bissainthe each had two tackles and one sack.
Overall, Miami outgained its homonymous guest from Ohio 493 to 215 total yards and allowed the RedHawks to convert just 2 of 13 third-down attempts.
“Aggressive,” Cristobal said of the defense. “I saw a team that played fast. I saw a team that played to their training, since January; A commitment to increasing our level of physicality and speed. They’re playing with a bit more power. And then, Coach (Lance) Guidry, and how highly we think of him, he put it together. If you watch film with him, he’s not going to be completely happy. He’s going to find a lot of stuff to fix. But he is going to be happy with the effort.”
After a 22-minute lightning delay, wide receiver Brashard Smith took the opening kickoff to the Canes 40 and Miami wasted no time getting to the end zone. Parrish rushed twice for 11 yards to get the Canes past midfield before Van Dyke threw a dart to Young, who turned on the jets and raced down the left sideline for 44 yards. Miami led 7-0 just 1:34 into the game.
The Canes’ defense forced a three-and-out after Harvey sacked quarterback Brett Gabbert for a five-yard loss. Miami took over at its own 18 and again marched into RedHawks territory as the rain returned. Andy Borregales capped the drive with a 34-yard field goal to push Miami’s lead to 10 points.
After the teams traded punts, Van Dyke looked deep for George but was picked off by MU’s Michael Dowell. The RedHawks took over at their own 40 but went backwards as Bissainthe sacked Gabbert for a nine-yard loss. Miami got the ball back at its own 22.
The Canes went to their ground game as Allen and Fletcher rushed seven straight times between them for 64 yards to the RedHawks 19. But the drive stalled and Borregales booted a 32-yard field goal to push the lead to 13-0 with 2:33 left in the first half.
On the ensuing drive, Gabbert hit wide receiver Gage Larvadain in stride for a 30-yard completion to the Miami 35. But the Canes again held firm, forcing a 48-yard field goal from Graham Nicholson to cut the deficit back to 10 points.
But the Canes still had 58 seconds to work with and they made them count. Van Dyke hit Restrepo for 13 yards before Parrish galloped 37 yards to the MU 25. That gave Borregales another shot and he converted, hitting from 43 yards. It was 16-3 Canes at the break.
