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Miami unable to find old spark

Mike Kokal (3) tucks and runs due to the relentless pressure applied by Kent State. Kokal has been sacked 15 times, tied for the most in Division 1-A.
Mike Kokal (3) tucks and runs due to the relentless pressure applied by Kent State. Kokal has been sacked 15 times, tied for the most in Division 1-A.

Chris Rule, Senior Staff Writer

Mike Kokal (3) tucks and runs due to the relentless pressure applied by Kent State. Kokal has been sacked 15 times, tied for the most in Division 1-A. (Jeff Creech)

The team that traveled to Purdue University for game two of the season was the Miami University football team of old. It was the dominant force that has held a share of the Mid-American Conference East title for the past three years. It was a team to get excited about.

The team that played Kent State University at home in the Cradle of Coaches last Saturday was more reminiscent of Duke University football. For those who don't know, Duke football is the antithesis of Duke basketball. In other words, the team that played football on Saturday did not play as a top team in the MAC.

How can a team look so dominant one week and then fade so dramatically the next? The difference between Miami week two and Miami week three was night and day. Head Coach Shane Montgomery certainly wasn't happy with his team's performance.

"I thought we played one of the worst first halves in a long time," Montgomery said.

"Like we did in the first six quarters of this year (when we failed to score a touchdown), we killed ourselves offensively."

Killing themselves offensively might be an understatement.

The RedHawk offense that dominated Purdue, pouring on 31 points and 386 passing yards was held to a paltry 14 points and 167 passing yards.

"With the pressure they were getting with the front four, they were able to expand their linebackers and take away all our passing lanes," said junior quarterback Mike Kokal.

Throughout the game Miami was stuck in horrid field position. Against Purdue, they were in a second or third and long little more than half of the time. Against Kent State, they were in that position 72 percent of the time.

"When you have that they can drop eight (players) and you just can't get guys open," said Montgomery. "We are going to have a hard time converting when we have too many penalties (that get us into that situation)."

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But regardless of the field position, the RedHawks simply played sloppy. Though the defense often recovered from their missed tackles or blown coverages, Kent State still gained more yards than they would have if Miami hadn't made those mistakes.

"They got a few big plays on us, but we did a good job in the first half of bending but not breaking because (the score) could have been a lot worse," Montgomery said.

Worse than the defensive lapses was Miami accumulating 96 penalty yards, the most they have had since last year's 125-yard comedy of errors, despite winning, in the University of Cincinnati game. That 96-yard statistic doesn't tell the impact that those penalties had in negating positive gains for the RedHawks.

As Montgomery was quick to point out, the situations that accompanied those penalties stifled the dangerous passing attack Miami showed against Purdue.

Though most of the differences between the week two Miami and the week three Miami were negative, not all were. Miami regained the services of running back Brandon Murphy, who showed what he is capable of once he is 100 percent healthy, gaining 92 yards for the game. But Murphy understood that his performance was not indicative of his team's.

"We're going to have to get back to the drawing board," Murphy said.

The two Miami teams that played against Purdue and Kent State were not the same and it wasn't for the better.

The drawing board might not be needed, however, as they showed the character and ability to play good football in West Lafayette, Ind. They featured largely the same personnel, yet the outcome was vastly different. More importantly, the performance was vastly different.

In order for the RedHawks to get back on track, they need to pull another Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and transform into a squad that resembles the RedHawks against Purdue, not against Kent State.