''Stats are for losers,'' Walker said. ''Only one stat matters: Wins.''
Miami took care of that as well: Miami 49, Akron 20. Miami's offensive stars - Sam Ricketts, Jay Hall and Travis Prentice - all had career days.
The RedHawks, who saw their Mid-American Conference hopes derailed in a 10-7 loss at Akron a year ago, got them untracked for 1997 with Saturday's victory.
Miami, one of the old MAC powers, was unhappy to be beaten by upstart Akron last year.
''There was a lot of taunting after that game,'' Walker said, ''between coaches, players. Trust me, we had a lot of incentive to play this game.''
This time Walker wanted rough play, not tough talk.
''Last year, we didn't play physical enough,'' Prentice said.
That wasn't the case this year. MU pushed and shoved its way to a 28-0 lead and a school-record 384 yards total offense by halftime.
Two drives set the tone for the game. After a fumble and a missed field goal ended MU's first two possessions, Miami (2-1 overall, MAC) scored back-to-back TDs.
The first came on a 10-yard pass from Ricketts to Damian Vaughn that capped a 14-play, 96-yard drive that ate up six minutes and 29 seconds.
The second score came on a 52-yard pass from Ricketts to Hall, the only play of a drive that took eight seconds.
Except for an early second-half lull, when Akron closed the score to 28-12, it was a RedHawk day. MU had 33 first downs on the day, breaking the school record of 29.
Prentice finished with 157 yards rushing on 30 carries, both career highs. It was his third 100-yard game in three tries, and he had two touchdowns, giving him seven on the year.
Hall, the junior from Walnut Hills High, caught five passes for 140 yards and two TDs, all career highs.
But the day belonged to Ricketts. He hit 20 of 30 passes for a career-high 296 yards and four TDs. That put him on top of both the career TD list and career yards list at Miami.
Ricketts, a fifth-year senior, has 32 TD passes and 4,129 passing yards. It was a turnaround from a bad game in last week's loss to Bowling Green.
''The way we played last week was a little incentive for this week,'' Ricketts said. ''(The records) feel good. But I'd like to be remembered as championship quarterback here.''
Akron 0 0 12 8-20
Miami 0 28 0 21-49
Second Quarter
Mia-Vaughn 10 pass from Ricketts (Scott kick), 14:56
Mia-Hall 52 pass from Ricketts (Scott kick), 11:24
Mia-Prentice 13 run (Scott kick), 6:28
Mia-Hall 17 pass from Ricketts (Scott kick), 2:21
Third Quarter
Akr-Whitt 34 pass from Spencer (run failed), 8:43
Akr-Spencer 14 pass from Gromek (pass failed), 0:22
Fourth Quarter
Mia-Johnson 5 pass from Ricketts (Scott kick), 9:48
Mia-Prentice 2 run (Scott kick), 8:49
Akr-Lomax 54 run (Lagasse run), 6:47
Mia-Monk 9 run (Scott kick), 1:32
A-10,881.
RUSHING-Akron, Lomax 9-78, Rooney 6-22, Lagasse 8-15, Reader 4-12, Gromek 2-11, Hunter 4-7, Washington 2-(minus-5). Miami, Ohio, Prentice 30-157, Smith 7-37, Ricketts 5-27, Monk 5-27, Adkins 5-12.
PASSING-Akron, Gromek 4-8-1-52, Washington 3-7-0-7, Spencer 1-1-0-34, Hayes 1-1-0-(minus-3). Miami, Ohio, Ricketts 20-30-0-296, Schacke 3-3-0-27.
RECEIVING-Akron, Spencer 4-45, Whitt 2-43, Reader 1-11, Lagasse 1-(minus-3), Washington 1-(minus-6). Miami, Ohio, Hall 5-140, Vaughn 4-54, Johnson 4-46, Gaylor 4-27, Lubin 2-26, Sullivan 1-8, Monk 1-8, Prentice 1-7, Washington 1-7.
Previous game reports
BOWLING GREEN 28, MIAMI 21 September 7, 1997
MIAMI 27, BALL STATE 10 August 31, 1997
