Miami 7, Akron 0

Miami moved one game closer to the MAC Championship game with a bizarre 7-0 win over Akron on Senior Night at Yager Stadium.

Neither offense scored the entire game, as the Redhawks picked up the night’s only score on defensive end Craig Mester’s fumble return touchdown with just under ten minutes to play. The score was Mester’s first at any level of football, and came on his final game in Yager Stadium.

“I picked some pretty good timing, don’t you think?” Mester quipped afterward.

Both defenses suffocated the offenses all night, forcing 17 punts altogether. The Redhawks were more successful moving the ball, but Akron picked off Daniel Raudabaugh passes in its own endzone on three straight possessions to keep the Redhawks at bay.

A Miami fumble gave Akron its best field position of the night to start the fourth quarter. The Zips advanced to the Redhawk 29 yard line before QB Chris Jacquemain badly underthrew Zip WR Jabari Arthur in the end zone for an interception. That drive followed 9 straight Akron possessions ending in punts.

Finally, Miami (4-1, 5-1, 6-5) broke the ice on Mester’s fumble return. Akron coach elected to give backup QB Carlton Jackson a try after Jacquemain struggled terribly all night (12-33, 116 yards, 2 INT). On Jackson’s first series, the Zips took over at their own 23.

Facing a third down and long, Jackson dropped to pass but was rushed by Miami LB Clayton Mullins. Mullins rocked Jackson’s arm as he went to throw, and the ball fell right in to Mester’s arms. The senior took it 7 yards for the score.

Mullins and the Miami defense owned the night, holding Akron to just 216 yards on 70 plays. Mullins himself had 5 TFL as the Redhawks repeatedly frustrated Akron’s offensive attack.

Both quarterbacks had brutal nights throwing the ball, with Jacquemain unable to find open targets and Raudabaugh continuously giving the ball away deep in Zip territory.

Most importantly for Miami, the Redhawks are now one win away from winning the MAC East and advancing to face CMU in the MAC title game in Detroit. If Miami loses to Ohio next Saturday at Peden Stadium, the Redhawks can still advance with a Buffalo loss to either Bowling Green or Kent State.

Akron 48, Ohio 37

contest that most predicted Ohio would win in a low-scoring affair, the in-state rivals put up 85 total points and returned two kicks for scores as Akron moved to 4-6 with the victory.

The Zips got a 95-yard kick return from Bryan Williams in the first to start their scoring, and didn’t stop until Alex Allen’s 1-yard dive gave them a 48-31 lead with 35 seconds to play. Akron’s offense scored double digits in every quarter, and got an impressive outing from junior Alex Allen, who rushed for a season high 96 yards and 3 TD on 14 carries.

Akron (2-3, 3-3, 4-6) ended any remaining chance the Bobcats had to win the MAC East, and kept its own scant bowl hopes alive.

The Bobcats moved the ball well at first, as all-time leading rusher Kalvin McRae sprung 54 yards up the right sideline on his way to a 90 yard first quarter. After McRae’s scoring run, the Bobcats led, 10-7, but the Akron D stiffened. McRae got less than 25 yards the rest of the way, and the visitors didn’t reach the end zone again until thirty seconds remained in the third quarter.

By that time, Akron had built a 34-16 lead, but the incredible leaping catch by Taylor Price in the end zone cut the deficit to 12. A two-point pass to Chido Nwokocha made it a ten point game. The Zips’ stalled offensively, and Ohio got an 11-yard TD pass from Brad Bower to Andrew Mooney with 8 minutes remaining to slice the lead to 3.

But Akron had an answer. Alternating hand offs to Bryan Williams with short tosses to Jabari Arthur, the Zips moved down the field in nine plays, getting a 22-yard toss from Chris Jacquemain to tight end Kris Kasparek for a 41-31 lead.

Both teams scored again in a wild final minute. The Bobcats final score, another TD toss from Bower to Mooney, came with no time remaining, and an extra point was not attempted.

Ohio’s Brad Bower threw for 239 yards and 3 scores, but spent most of the night making inaccurate passes in to the Akron coverage. McRae paced the Bobcats with 21 carries for 109 yards.

The Akron attack was aided by Jabari Arthur’s biggest receiving game in a month. Arthur, who two weeks ago was the MAC’s leading receiver, had struggled to get uncorked in recent weeks. He finished the night with 8 catches for 129 yards and a score.

Ohio (2-3, 3-4, 5-6) now gets 16 days off before its season finale, following an intense run of 3 games in 12 days. Akron, who had the same 12 day stretch, is back in action at Miami next Wednesday, before wrapping 10 days later at home against West champ Central Michigan.