The RedHawks ''manhandled'' Cincinnati, this according to UC coach Rick Minter. The Bearcats ''got shoved around,'' he said. It was Homecoming. Miami treated the Bearcats the way you're supposed to treat a Homecoming opponent: Like cans tied to a bumper. When you run 30 more plays and gain 204 more yards than your opponent, you often win the game and invite the tomato can opponent back for Homecoming next year.
''We're a rushing football team. We were not able to do that. We could not pass effectively'' either, Minter said.
UC had 128 yards running. But take away quarterback Chad Plummer's 61-yard improvisation to start the second half - ''Chad's running for his life,'' Minter said - and the Bearcats have 67 yards on 47 carries. Rocks do better rolling uphill.
But this is not a game for scripts. UC-Miami doesn't fit the fantasy league profile. The only game weirder than this year's game was last year's game, and that one was weirder only because it went an overtime longer.
It was fitting, then, that Eric Richards won the game for the Bearcats 34-31 with a 35-yard field goal he dreamed Friday night of making. Richards by his own description is ''a little off.'' Oh, really?
''Before games, when guys are in the locker room getting their game faces on or whatever, I'm kind of dancing around,'' Richards said.
Dancing around?
''Yeah, just sort of dancing around, smiling, having fun.'' Who said football was fun?
It wasn't a blast for the RedHawks. In the fourth quarter, they had the ball at the UC 29, 28 and 16-yard lines, and scored no points. In the second overtime, QB Sam Ricketts bounced a screen pass off the back of a blocker, and it was picked off. That allowed Richards to nail the 35-yarder.
Which was fun.
After the kick, Richards circled the Bearcats' half of the field, arms outstretched like a big bird. Teammates Fred Ward and Chris Archie carried him on their shoulders.
In any other game, the notion of a kicker being the hero after his teammates have bloodied themselves all afternoon always comes off a bit ironic. Not in this game. In this game, everything was ironic.
Dream day
Richards dreamed he would kick two field goals. He did. He dreamed the second would be the game-winner. It was. ''I can't remember the last time I dreamed about football,'' Richards said. ''But it was very clear. Only in the dream, (the kick) was a little longer, I think. It was the weirdest thing.''
Well, it was one of them.
Equally weird was Plummer's 61-yard TD run that Minter said Miami ''had defensed too well.'' I didn't know a team could defense something too well. Maybe I've watched the Bengals too much.
Strange numbers
This was weird: UC had three plays in the first quarter, yet trailed just 10-7. UC had four first downs in the first half, but led at halftime, 17-10. Miami failed twice on fourth and short in the fourth quarter, but managed 44 yards in 40 seconds to tie the game with 23 seconds left.
Richards even kicked the game-winner despite a low snap. ''It didn't faze the operation,'' he said.
He is a senior and won't have many more moments like this one. Richards is majoring in criminal justice, but he's no cop.
''I did my field placement,'' he said. ''I rode around in a cop car. I was on the day shift. Lots of domestic violence. I couldn't imagine seeing that stuff day in and day out and being able to sleep at night.''
So. Any career ideas?
''I don't have a clue.''
Neither, frankly, do we. At least as far as this game goes. Eric Richards kicked a 35-yard field goal and logic died for the day. Just as he dreamed it would. We should have asked him about it beforehand. It would have simplified things.
BEARCATS PAGE
Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty welcomes your comments at (513) 768-8454.
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