Making his first start, quarterback Daniel Raudabaugh fumbles against relentless pressure by Cincinnati's front four. (Michael Pickering)
Nothing seems to be going right for Miami University football. For the fifth time in as many tries this season, Miami (0-5 overall, 0-1 MAC) lost a football game and is now off to its worst start since 1989 after it dropped a 24-10 contest to University of Cincinnati in the annual Battle for the Bell.
Just hours before kickoff Head Coach Shane Montgomery announced that Daniel Raudabaugh would be starting in place of Mike Kokal at quarterback, citing precautionary measures after Kokal had been experiencing headaches throughout the week. The offense resembled that of a unit operating under a first-time starting quarterback as it gained just 226 total yards.
"It's tough telling Daniel an hour and a half before the game that he'd start," Montgomery said. "Obviously he made some mistakes today, we all made mistakes today offensively. Right now we're so inconsistent on offense in terms of making plays that we're just really hurting this football team."
Despite their defense creating two turnovers off fumble recoveries, the RedHawks' offense could only muster three points in the early going, the three coming courtesy of Trevor Cook's 49-yard field goal. The Bearcats wasted little time responding, however, as they returned the ensuing kickoff to Miami's 37-yard line. On their first play following the return, Bearcat runningback Butler Benton took a toss-sweep off the right side and powered his way to the end zone to give UC the lead they would not relinquish.
UC rushed for 253 yards in the game compared to just 36 for MU. With the running game stagnant, the Bearcats had little difficulty executing their game plan of shutting down wide receiver Ryne Robinson, who was held to 52 yards on four receptions.
"They were mostly sinking a corner so anytime I came off there was a guy in my face and then if I got by him there was another guy behind him," Robinson said, who has had three straight games under 100 yards receiving after averaging 152 in the first two contests. "I had to beat two guys in order to get open."
Raudabaugh acknowledged his struggles after the game.
"There were some open guys I missed and I looked to the wrong side of the field at times," Raudabaugh said. "It was not what I was expecting out of my first start."
UC tacked on an additional touchdown run and a field goal to take a 17-3 lead at halftime.
After both defenses held their opposition in check to begin the second half, Miami finally gained some momentum when Robinson caught a Bearcat punt, sidestepped the initial coverage and outraced the UC punt team on his way to an 80-yard touchdown. It was Robinson's seventh career punt return for a touchdown, tops in Division I-A. A defensive stop after that gave the RedHawks some hope, and on Miami's next possession the team marched down the field before Raudabaugh misfired on a pass intended for Sean McVay and was intercepted.
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"Whether it be a block, whether it be a misread or a dropped pass, there were a few things on offense that really hurt us," Montgomery said. "It's something that we need to correct because if we don't correct it, it's going to be a long year."
Despite its 0-5 start, Miami has only played one conference game and still has a chance at a conference title. The RedHawks have won at least a share of the MAC East title for three consecutive years.
"We're looking forward to getting into the conference games that matter," Raudabaugh said. "Maybe we need to have a fire lit under our butts, but we need to get out there and learn how to win again ... Once we get our first win I think it'll start to have a snowball effect."
Miami's next opportunity comes on national television Sunday against Northern Illinois University at 8 p.m.
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