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Report card: Toledo at Miami
REPORT CARD Toledo at Miami
Pass offense
A
Zac Dysert, working with a very successful offensive game plan, confounded the Rockets with his all-passing, all-the-time (almost) attack, using a lot of screens and slants early. “Their offense had a great game plan,” Toledo safety Barry Church said. “Miami was hitting us with short passes and slants and killing our zone.” Miami coach Michael Haywood said that plan, with the help of offensive coordinator Peter Vaas, was worked out Friday night. “We wanted more of an attacking offense than a field position offense,” he said. According to Zac Dysert, who completed 31-of-51 passes for 344 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions, he found out about the new plan “(Saturday) morning, actually, at our meeting. Vaas told Dysert and the offense to play as if they were trailing 17-0, which happened to be the score after one quarter last week against Northern Illinois. The RedHawks dominated the rest of that game. “It paid off,” Dysert said, “so I’m not going to argue with it.”
Run offense
B
The RedHawks didn’t run the ball much, but was pretty effective when they did. Dysert scrambled for 60 yards and two touchdowns and Thomas Merriweather had hit best day, running eight times for 44 yards and catching four passes for 31 yards.
Pass defense
A
The RedHawks faced three different Toledo quarterbacks. First it was Aaron Opelt. Then Austin Dantin. Then Opelt again. Then Alex Pettee. The confusion alone might have whipped a lesser unit, but Miami made the plays when they were needed. Anthony Kokal and Jerrell Wedge and Wes Williams all came up big. The secondary was busy, giving up a lot of yards to one of the top receiving combos in the nation, but in the end it was a winning effort.
Run defense
C-plus
Toledo’s Adonis Thomas ran for 107 yards and the Rockets amassed 216 yards on the ground, but the RedHawks gave up those yards grudgingly, for the most part.
Special teams
A
Trevor Cook kicked a school-record long field goal of 55 yards, so his miss (just barely) from 46 yards can be forgiven. Jim Broadway punted for the first time and although his average was only 28.2 yards, he did pin the Rockets inside their 20-yard line three times. Jamal Rogers had some good kickoff returns. And there were no major blunders.
Intangibles
A
The official attendance was 8,757, and although the actual number of fans who showed up was much smaller than that, they seemed to provide a lot of energy and electricity. They went trick or treating in a way and, for their own patience and endurance, got a big treat. Just like the RedHawks themselves. “In this organization you have to have faith — in yourself, with your teammates and with the organization,” Haywood said. “You have to believe.”
— Pete Conrad
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By Player's Dad
October 31, 2009 10:54 PM | Link to this
The guys knew they would win tonight. They finally believed in the coaches. It took them a while though.