Miami nabs gritty 28-27 road win over Central Michigan to keep MAC title hopes alive

A back-and-forth gridiron contest which featured seven lead changes came down to the wire in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan on Saturday afternoon, with the winner in absolute doubt until the final minute of play.

By game's end, it would be the Miami RedHawks (5-2, 3-1 MAC) in victory formation over the hosting Central Michigan Chippewas (2-5, 1-3 MAC), keeping their hopes of a fourth-straight MAC Championship Game appearance alive despite key injuries suffered throughout the contest.

"We've got guys battling – we're playing guys I never dreamed we'd be playing at this point in the year," Miami head coach Chuck Martin said in post-game availability. "But it's pretty awesome to watch them compete and fight and battle for each other and come away with a great victory."

Central was first on the board, with Caden VanHuis opening the contest with a 23-yard field goal to close an 11-play, 69-yard drive to put the home team up 3-0 early. Miami responded right back on a long drive of their own, with a 13-play, 70-yard drive capped off by a Rodney Nelson touchdown from six yards out, putting the RedHawks up 7-3 near the quarter's end.

The Chips handled much of the second quarter, with linebacker Brett McCalla stepping in front of an underthrown pass from Caleb Heavner and returning it 38 yards the other way, killing the Miami drive. After an exchange of punts, Central would take the lead with 3:41 to go in the second quarter on a Nick Woolford five-yard gain up the middle to go up 10-7.

However, an opportunity arose for the Miami RedHawks late, as CMU cornerback Jaion Jackson flagged for defensive pass interference on a third-and-five play. The ball would get spotted at the CMU seven-yard line, and on the next play, Damarion Witten would jump into the air and snag the ball one-handed with his right mitt, landing both feet in bounds and lifting Miami up to a 14-10 lead right before the halftime break.

The emotional crux of the game would arrive coming out of the half, with Miami possessing the ball out of the break. On third-and-seven from their own 22-yard line, Miami QB Caleb Heaver stepped back to pass and took a big hit from Brett McCalla as the ball was leaving his hand. The pass floated right into the arms of Central safety Justin Taylor, who returned it 46 yards the other way for a touchdown to give Central the 17-14 lead.

Heavner stayed on the ground for several minutes, getting looked at by trainers and eventually walking back to the sideline. After the extra point attempt, the RedHawks took the ball right back– with Heavner under center.

"I've never stayed down ever on a football field," Heavner said after the game. "It was a good shot, but… unless they're like, 'you absolutely can't play,' I'm going to do everything I can to play."

The offense responded with aplomb, marching down the field on an 11-play, 75-yard drive accentuated by Heavner's 27-yard weave through the Chippewa defense on third-and-nine for a touchdown to go up 21-17 with 8:04 to go third quarter.

A turnover-on-downs by Miami put the RedHawks' new-found lead in peril near the end of the third quarter, and Central Michigan receiver Langston Lewis woudl eventually cash it in for a nine-yard touchdown reception to re-claim the lead for CMU at a 24-21 margin with under a minute left.

The two teams exchanged punts to bridge the quarters, then a crucial missed opportunity emerged for the hosting side.

Central took possession of the ball with 10:41 remaining and a 24-21 lead at the Miami 33-yard line after an 11-yard punt return and a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on the RedHawks special teams unit.

Over the next four minutes, CMU's offense ran down the clock before a pass attempt on third-and-seven from the Miami eight-yard line. QB Jadyn Glasser, in for the injured Angel Flores, was sacked for a 10-yard loss on a broken play– but drew a targeting call, gifting CMU an additional 15 yards and a new set of downs.

With the ball re-spotted at the Miami five-yard line on first-and-goal, CMU tried to run it in three times but were unsuccessful against Miami's conference-leading rushing defense (even down top tackler Malcolm McCain), forcing them to settle for a 22-yard field goal from VanHuis to put the margin at 27-21 with 4:17 remaining.

That's when it all fell apart for CMU.

After initially forcing a third-and-eight thanks in part to a false start penalty by Miami, CMU gave up a conversion to Maleek Huggins for 14 yards to extend the drive. Huggins would get free again for a 27-yard reception down the sideline to get into the CMU redzone and eventually, D'shawntae Jones would put the drive at its end with a two-yard rushing touchdown to give Miami a 28-27 lead with 1:41 remaining.

The Chippewas secondary drew three penalties on Miami's penultimate drive, including two defensive pass interference flags from freshman cornerback JaJuan Jones to gift the RedHawks both downs and distance inside the redzone. The last one placed the ball on the CMU two-yard line, with the RedHawks scoring on the next play.

CMU would get two more chances– one on offense and one on defense– to try and snatch the victory, but it was all for naught, as a 21-yard run by Jadyn Glasser on fourth-and-six was called back by a holding penalty, the ensuing pass on fourth-and-16 fell incomplete and CMU's defense was unable to stop Miami's rushing game from converting a first down.

"They played their butts off against a really good opponent, and I know [a loss] stinks," Central Michigan head coach Matt Drinkall said in post-game availability. "The reality is we're doing a lot of things really, really well. We are not where we need to be to compete at the top of the league yet. And our guys are fighting their butts off to do it. And I couldn't respect or love our guys any more. They're doing everything we ask of them."

Heavner, the man of the hour, completed 18-of-33 passes for 221 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions (including a pick-six) and also led the team in rushing with 58 net yards and a touchdown. Rodney Nelson (43 yards, TD) and D'Shawntae Jones (41 yards, TD) also contributed on the ground, while Maleek Huggins went over 100 receiving yards for the second time this season, with seven catches for 122 yards and a score.

Miami held the Chippewas to a season-low 64 rushing yards on 29 carries, forcing CMU to look to the sky more than usual– especially with a backup QB under center. Jadyn Glasser finished 18-of-31 for 221 yards and a touchdown despite the late call-up. Jayden Clerveaux led CMU with 32 rushing yards. Langston Lewis continues to stand out despite CMU's general woes, creating new career-best marks in receptions (10), yards (163) and touchdowns (one).

Blayne Myrick had to step up at linebacker for the RedHawks, leading the defense with 11 tackles, while Roosevelt Andrews III once again caused backfield havoc with two tackles-for-loss, 1.5 sacks and seven tackles from the defensive end spot. Amariyun Knighten and Ben Myrick each had a pass break-up, while Dillon Tatum forced a fumble out of bounds.

The Chippewas posted up one of their better defensive performances despite the loss, with two interceptions and a pick-six on the afternoon, while also collecting four sacks and six TFLs as a unit. Justin Taylor and Brett McCalla each came down with an interception, with Mayson Hitchens' 11 total tackles and three QB hurries leading the team. Defensive end JJ Douglas shined once again, with six tackles, two TFLs and a sack. Jaion Jackson had three PBUs on the day.

Both teams now have to navigate even more injuries than they entered with as they look towards weeknight play.

The RedHawks lost both starting left guard Greg Smith Jr. and starting linebacker Malcolm McCain to lower leg injuries. Central, meanwhile, lost starting linebacker Xavier White to a potential knee injury and announced after the game that starting quarterback Angel Flores– who was under concussion protocol and declared out prior to the game– had also undergone surgery on his right ankle, keeping him out for the rest of the season.

Miami is set to play a surging Buffalo Bulls team under the weeknight lights on Tuesday, Nov. 3rd in Oxford for a 7 p.m. kick.

Central Michigan will next travel to the Motor City for their weeknight opener, taking on Eastern Michigan at Ford Field in Detroit. Kickoff is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 4th, at 8 p.m. Eastern time.