The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Miami (Ohio)
Football Drops High-Scoring Contest to Miami, 56-49
September 29 | Football
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AKRON, Ohio – The Miami RedHawks defeated the Akron Zips 56-49 in the Zips' Mid-American Conference opener at Infocision Stadium – Summa Field on Saturday afternoon.
Dalton Williams' final pass of the game, a hail mary from the Akron 38, was intercepted by Miami's Brison Burris as the RedHawks (3-2, 2-0 MAC) held off the Zips' final attempt to even the score.
Williams was 32-of-42 passing for 446 yards and four touchdowns, while Jawon Chisholm rushed 21 times for 156 yard and two touchdowns. This was Chisholm's sixth-career 100-yard game (second in 2012). Receiver Marquelo Suel finished with eight catches for 105 yards and one touchdown.
The game was a back-and-forth affair that saw 1,334 yards of total offense, 14 touchdowns and 13 scoring drives of less than three minutes.
The game-winning score came on a three-yard TD run by Miami's Justin Semmes with 1:04 left in the contest. Akron's ensuing drive fell short on Burris' interception. Three key penalties, including two personal foul infractions for 35 yards, aided the drive.
Dysert threw a career-high five touchdown passes in the opening half and a school-record six for the game.
He broke the record with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Jamire Westbrook with 1:40 left in the third quarter to extend the Miami lead to 45-35.
A key opportunity to seize control of the game came and went for the Zips (1-4, 0-1 MAC) moments into the third quarter when Miami punt returner Dayonne Nunley muffed a Zach Paul punt at his own 35, but Malachi Freeman was unable to corral the loose ball and the RedHawks' Jarrell Jones recovered to avert a costly turnover.
Miami started quickly at the beginning of the game, but the Zips responded with several quick strikes in a contest featuring several quick bursts of offense from both teams.
The RedHawks got on the board first after an apparent incomplete pass from Dysert to Luke Swift was reviewed by the replay official and the call was reversed from an incompletion to a 35-yard touchdown pass. Swift caught the ball at the end of a fade pattern in the back left corner of the end zone.
Miami added to its lead on its penultimate drive of the first quarter, marching 82 yards in 13 plays, covering 6:35, and capping the march with a 5-yard TD pass from Dysert to Andy Cruse. Kaleb Patterson missed the extra point, but the RedHawks extended their lead to 13-0.
Williams and Chisholm led the Zips back from the early deficit, and helped Akron counter each time the RedHawks built a lead. The Zips twice rallied from two-touchdown deficits, scoring all seven of their TDs in drives covering less than three minutes.
Akron responded in explosive fashion, reaching the end zone in just four plays after starting at their own 8. Williams connected with Jerrod Dillard on a skinny post pattern and Dillard shook off a tackle attempt near the Miami 35, and sprinted into the end zone for the score. The drive was the longest scoring march of the season for the Zips in terms of yardage (92 yards).
The next drive was even more efficient, as the Zips needed just three plays to cover 82 yards. The key play on the drive was a 49-yard run by Chisholm. Williams tossed his second touchdown pass of the opening frame to Suel, who leapt into the air and extended the ball across the goal line, just inside of the pylon.
Miami continued the scoring blitz in a drive spanning the first and second quarters, retaking the lead on a 21-yard TD pass from Dysert to Dawan Scott at the end of a 64-yard drive that consumed just 1:59 on the clock. Combined, the two teams tallied four touchdowns in the span of 5:34, concluding with the RedHawks' third score.
After a brief respite, the scoring resumed with a second touchdown pass from Dysert to Scott, a 35-yard scoring strike that was also Dysert's fourth TD pass of the opening half.
The Zips quickly countered with another scoring drive of less than two minutes, returning to the end zone as Conor Hundley bulled his way across the goal line for a 2-yard TD run. Chisholm finished the first-half scoring with his first touchdown run of the season, bolting in from three yards out to tie the score at 28-all and give Akron its fourth touchdown drive of less than three minutes in the first two quarters.
Dysert threw his fifth TD pass of the half to end the rapid-fire scoring exchange, connecting on a 12-yard pass to sophomore fullback David Frazier. Combined, the two teams accumulated 737 yards of total offense in the first half and Williams completed 80 percent of his passes (12-of-15) for 185 yards and two touchdowns. Chisholm accrued 140 yards rushing on just 14 carries in the opening half.
Anthony Holmes, Kurt Mangum and Bill Alexander led Akron in tackles with seven each, while J.D. Griggs and Albert Presley each had one sack apiece for the Zips.
Akron returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 6, in a MAC game against Bowling Green for Homecoming. It will be the Falcons' first trip to Infocision Stadium and first visit to Akron since 2008. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. ET.
Zips Notebook: Akron's 49 points are the most points scored by the Zips in the series against the RedHawks ... the previous-high of 37 points came in UA's 37-20 win at the Rubber Bowl on Sept. 30, 2000 ... the Zips' 629 yards of total offense is the second effort of 600-plus yards this season (753, vs. Morgan State, Sept. 15) ... Williams' 446 yards passing tied his career high, also set against Morgan State ... Williams' 446 yards passing is second-best in program history behind Luke Getsy's 455 yards versus Memphis in the Motor City Bowl (Dec. 26, 2005) ... freshman linebacker Dylan Evans made his first collegiate start in place of the injured Justin March.
