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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, October 3, 2009

CFB: No. 10 Cincinnati beats Miami (Ohio) 37-13


JOE KAY
AP Sports Writer

OXFORD, Ohio — With its state-of-the-art passing attack stymied most of the day, 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).

The oldest rivalry west of the Allegheny Mountains has been a mismatch since coach Brian Kelly showed up at Cincinnati and turned the Bearcats (5-0) into Big East champs. The Bearcats won their fourth straight over Miami (0-5) in front of the biggest crowd at Yager Stadium in six years.

Tony Pike had a so-so game, going 23 of 42 for 270 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. The senior came in with 70.5 percent completion percentage, but repeatedly forced throws against a defense stacked to stop the pass.

Ramsey became the first Bearcat to run for 100 yards since 2007 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.

Miami's Zac Dysert, a redshirt freshman making his second start, did quite a Ben Roethlisberger impersonation and kept the RedHawks in the game.

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, getting the Miami fans in the mixed-allegiance crowd of 23,493 on their feet.

The first Top 10 team to play at Yager Stadium ended the comeback there. J.K. Schaffer intercepted Dysert's pass into the crowded end zone. Crestfallen, the RedHawks fell apart. Dysert ended up being sacked 10 times and finished 33 of 47 for 286 yards.

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 is coaching a young team featuring seven true or redshirt freshman starters.