Sunday, November 19, 2000
Miami 17, Buffalo 16
Little rushes for 222 yards
The Associated Press
AMHERST, N.Y. — Steve Little ran for a career-high 222 yards and scored two touchdowns as the Miami RedHawks beat Buffalo 17-16 Saturday to finish the season 6-5.
Little — who finished 14 yards short of 1,000 for the season — had scoring runs of 9 and 4 yards, and Andy Brumbergs hit a field goal as the RedHawks did all their scoring in the first half.
Little's 986 yards rushing is 10th on MU's all-time single-season list.
Scott Keller missed a 21-yard field goal attempt with 7:29 left that could have given the Bulls the lead. Keller also missed an extra point in the second quarter.
The win extends Miami's streak of consecutive winning seasons to seven. The last losing season for the RedHawks came in 1993 when they went 4-7 under current Northwestern coach Randy Walker.
“I'm happy for our seniors,” MU coach Terry Hoeppner said. “Six and five is six and five and, baby, we're sending them out winners.”
Buffalo (2-9) announced Oct.30 — with three games still remaining — that it would not renew Craig Cirbus' contract at the end of the season. The Bulls won their first game after the announcement — a 20-17 overtime victory over Kent State — before losing 49-14 at Akron last weekend.
In his six seasons as coach, Cirbus had a 19-47 record. Since moving to Division I-A last season, the Bulls have gone 2-20, including a 2-12 record in the Mid-American Conference.
With Miami ahead 17-13 at halftime, it began to snow and the second half became a sloppy affair. At one point in the third quarter, there were turnovers on three consecutive plays — a fumble by Miami, an interception by Buffalo, followed by an interception by Miami.
The Bulls did manage to close within a point in the third on a 20-yard field goal by Keller.
Miami ....... 3 14 0 0—17
Buffalo ....... 0 13 3 0—16
First Quarter
MU—FG Brumbergs 21, 10:25.
Second Quarter
MU—Little 9 run (Brumbergs kick), 10:56.
UB—Freedy 1 run (kick failed), 5:50.
MU—Little 4 run (Brumbergs kick), 4:52.
UB—Singfield 13 pass from Freedy (Keller kick), :18.
Third Quarter
UB—FG Keller 20, 0:44.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Miami, Little 35-222, Robinson 5-10. Buffalo, Dwarte 26-156, Gordon 11-70, Bereton 5-39, Grundy 8-31.
PASSING—Miami, Bath 9-21-104-4. Buffalo, Freedy 11-22-119-3, Grundy 1-1-2, Team 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING—Miami, Branch 4-34, Henry 3-53. Buffalo, Singfield 4-48, Forde 4-44.
Sports Stories
Bearcats 'bowl' over So. Miss
UC's defense takes over
UC 73, Boise State 61
Injured Jones counting on early return
Xavier 68, Miami 54
DAUGHERTY: XU's Sato provides peek into potential
New XU arena draws raves
Xavier-Miami notebook
Xavier reaches A-10 volleyball final
Brown backs QB call
Who's got the edge?
Bengals-Patriots by the numbers
Players to watch
Blue Jays want Williamson
Cinergy adds grass, view
Taubensee will be missed by community
Harnisch rehab encouraging
Miami 17, Buffalo 16