The Miami University football team (2-2, 1-0 Mid American Conerence (MAC)) defeated the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Minutemen (0-4, 0-1 MAC) 27-16 thanks to an impressive rushing attack. The Red and White ran for a season-high 216 yards on the ground.

“Anytime you can present an offense that has the threat of running and throwing, then you have an opportunity of being productive,” Head Coach Don Treadwell said. “It was nice to see that played out today on our side of the ball.”

True freshman running back Jamire Westbrook picked up 106 yards on 17 carries, becoming the first RedHawk to rush for 100 yards this season.

“My confidence has gotten lot better since the OSU game,” Westbrook said. “Every rep counts as I move forward; I’ve just got to take it one game at a time.”

Redshirt senior quarterback Zac Dysert also had an impressive day on the ground, picking up 76 yards and a touchdown. The majority of his yards came on several draw plays.

“We kept coming back to it,” Dysert said of the draws. “They didn’t make any adjustments to stop it. Our offensive line did a great job blocking them.”

Dysert accounted for all four RedHawk touchdowns, throwing for three and rushing for the other. He completed 12 of 22 passes for 192 yards. He also passed Ben Roethlisberger as the RedHawks’ all-time leader in pass completions.

“The offensive line played awesome,” Dysert said. “They controlled the line of scrimmage. Got to give all the credit to them. Westbrook had a great game. Spencer Treadwell did some good stuff too. We have two good backs right now that we are pretty excited about.”

Sophomore wide receiver Dawan Scott saw an increase in playing time due to junior wide out Nick Harwell’s leg injury and capitalized on it. Scott caught only three passes for 92 yards, but two of those receptions went for touchdowns.

Three ’Hawks also had interceptions on the day, including one in the end zone by junior cornerback Dayonne Nunley.

However, the Red and White gave up 471 yards of offense to the Minutemen, who had only picked up 582 yards the entire the season entering Saturday’s matchup. Miami is giving up nearly 490 yards of total offense through four games.

“That concerns us,” junior defensive end Wes Williams said. “We have great coaches and great players. It’s something that we’ll get fixed.”

Graduated senior running back Michael Cox, who transferred to UMass from the University of Michigan, had a career day against the Red and White. Cox ran for 188 yards and two scores, as the Minutemen had 258 total rushing yards.

“He is a very good running back and we knew that coming into the game,” Williams said of Cox. “He runs hard and runs with his pads down. He gave us a little bit of a hard time and it’s something we have to work at.”

The win improves Miami to .500 on the year and improves its MAC record to 1-0.

“It’s a new season for us,” Dysert said. “We’re 1-0 in the MAC and we’re 1-0 in our new season.”

The Red and White return to the field Saturday when the team travels to Akron, Ohio to take on the University of Akron in its first MAC road game. The game marks the first of a three game road trip where Miami will not play at home again until they face MAC rival Ohio University Oct. 27 on Family Weekend.