Flashes Send Seniors Out on High Note

Wednesday, November 13

Kent, Ohio

8:00 p.m.

Kent State University

3-8 , 2-5

Miami University (OH)

0-10 , 0-6

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Miami

Kent State

11/14/2013 12:10:00 AM | Football

Box Score

Photo Gallery

KENT, Ohio—Behind 300 yards rushing and a stout defensive effort, Kent State sent its seniors out with a 24-6 victory over Miami on a chilly Wednesday night at Dix Stadium. The RedHawks were held to just 176 yards of total offense.

A 33-yard field goal early in the first quarter put Miami on the board first, but it would the RedHawks only lead of the game. The Golden Flashes responded with a nine-play, 61-yard scoring drive.

On a key third-and-12 play, Colin Reardon found Tyshon Goode for a 14-yard gain to the Miami two-yard line. On the very next play, Trayion Durham punched in Kent State's first touchdown.

A redzone fumble by Miami in the second quarter was recovered by Mark Fackler and set up a seven-play, 82 –yard scoring drive. Anthony Meray was responsible for 70 of those yards on the drive, including a 45-yard burst. Reardon's one-yard touchdown run extended the lead to 14-3.

A 28-yard Miami field goal cut the lead to 14-6 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Kent State's defense forced three 3-and-outs, including one that gave the Flashes the ball near midfield. Dri Archer took advantage with a 17-yard run and 20-yard run up the middle for a touchdown.

A 32-yard run by Durham in the fourth quarter brought Kent State to the Miami five-yard line. Anthony Melchiori then extended the lead to 24-6 with a 23-yard field goal.

Durham, Archer and Meray combined for 261 rushing yards on 33 carries.
Goode led all receivers with four grabs for 51 yards.

The Golden Flashes had 21 first downs to Miami's 10.

Kent State will close out its season Tuesday, Nov. 19 at Ohio.

Postgame Notes

Senior Dri Archer passed Eugene Jarvis for third place among Kent State's career leaders in all-purpose yards now with 4,789. Archer scored his 37^th career touchdown and eighth of the season. He totaled 83 yards rushing
Junior Trayion Durham scored his 24^th career rushing touchdown and sixth of the season. Durham surpassed 90 yards rushing for the 13^th time in his career and 100 yards for the second time this season.
Junior Chris Humphrey has made a catch in 19 straight games.
Senior Mark Fackler recovered a fumble for the second straight game.
Junior Anthony Meray had a career long 45-yard run in the second quarter. He finished with a career-high 69 yards.
Meray, Archer and Durham each had runs of 20 yards or more.
Senior Roosevelt Nix raised his Kent State career-leading tackles for loss total to 64.0 with 1.5. He also had a half sack, raising his career total to with 24.0, one behind KSU's career sack leader Justin Parrish.
Junior Malcolm Pannell had his second interception of the season.
Junior Nate Vance raised his team-leading sack total to 3.5.
Sophomore running back Tristin Boykin had his first career carry.
Freshman Nate Holley made a career-high eight tackles in his second career start at safety.

Kent State held an opponent without a touchdown for the first time in 13 games.
Miami's 176 total yards of offense were the fewest by an opponent this season.
Since 2010, Kent State seniors have helped the Golden Flashes to a 15-7 record at Dix Stadium.
Kent State has won 4-of-6 meetings with Miami for the first time in the history of the series, narrowing Miami's all-time series lead to 46-15.
The Flashes are 13-2 since last season when outrushing opponents.
Kent State also improved to 12-0 since last season when leading at halftime.

Postgame Quotes

Coach Paul Haynes

Opening Statement: A great win, a good way to send our seniors out the right way in a Kent State uniform in Dix Stadium. A lot of these guys made great contributions in today's win and it was good to see all 16 seniors play. We got one more to finish the mission and we can win two in a row to start our offseason program for our younger guys.

On Miami's performance: They were going to try and shorten the game and run the football a bunch. We'll sit there and look at all the mistakes and missed tackles, but when we told them that they were going to try and shorten the game and run the football that's when they stepped up and we did a better job of stopping the run and controlling the gaps. I commend them though, with everything they have been through, changing coaches in the middle of the year, those kids still play hard and it's good to see that those kids still have a lot of fight in them and didn't give up. They are very well coached and the coaches do a good job of keeping that team together.

On running the football well: These guys were excited to run it. I heard Dri and Trayion on the sideline talking about how they were going to switch off and keep pounding it and running it, so they were excited about running it and when they are excited about running it then it makes it work a little bit better.

The defense's performance: They play hard, they play real hard. We kept them out of the end zone and made plays when we had to. I know Rosie was close on the sack record so hopefully he gets that so he can leave here the sack leader in Kent State history.

The impact of Nix and Archer over the years: They have brought play making ability and they brought good leadership not only to this team but to Kent State football. These are two guys that are going to be talked about for a long time and when you talk about leaving a legacy these guys have done a good job at that. When you talk about number 5 and number 1, these guys will always be mentioned. They have done a great job and another thing is that they are both great students. As an alum, I'm proud of both of these men and what they have accomplished.

Victory for you as a coach on senior night: You know, transition is hard on anyone and a lot of times the kids aren't taking into consideration. I was in the same boat as these guys when I played. I went through three coaches and these guys are also going through three coaches. They didn't know when I came in and I commend them for going through this again and letting me in.

Miami Head Coach Mike Bath
Opening statement:
"It's unfortunate, we missed too many opportunities. We had several mistakes, we put the ball on the ground in the red zone, it's just very disheartening. There's a reason why we are where we're at, we're a winless football team and when you don't make plays that's why we're in this spot."
3^rd and 4^th down stand early in the game:
"We came back out and missed a touchdown throw and that was disappointing. When you're struggling the way we are on offense, you can't miss scoring opportunities like that and we did."

Dri Archer
It was really emotional before the game. Walking out there and seeing your parents out on the field, shaking coach's hand, Joel's hand, it was really emotional for a lot of seniors. The emotions started slowing down when the game started and we started playing football.
Running up the middle
I like to run between the tackles. It's something that I love to do. My build is smaller but I like running between the tackles, seeing the hole and hitting the hole.

Roosevelt Nix
You know it's going to be a tough game. Coming into it, you're just thinking about how you have been here for four years. I remember my first year and it's just happened so fast. Even though this year hasn't really gone how we wanted it to be, it's still the greatest thing that God has given a bunch of guys that you're going through the good and the bad. Just going out there know that you're playing for each other and it's a great feeling.
When you see people tearing up because it's their last home game in a Kent State uniform, it does something to you and makes you want to play harder. There's a lot more high fives and good jobs. You feel for people. The young guys feel for the older guys. I feel for Dri when he scores. He can't score at Kent State in Dix Stadium anymore. I can't get any sacks in Kent State's stadium anymore. It's about playing your hardest and doing what you can do.