Central Florida's Alex Haynes pushes past Miami's Phil Smith for a first down. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

By Mark Schmetzer
Enquirer contributor

OXFORD - Well, at least Miami didn't have to root for Ohio.

Going into Saturday's football game against Central Florida, the RedHawks were hoping the rival Bobcats would beat Marshall and keep Miami in the Mid-American Conference East Division race.

But Ohio's result didn't matter because the RedHawks lost to Central Florida 48-31 in the regular-season finale at Yager Stadium.

With the win, the Golden Knights (6-5, 5-2) leapfrogged Miami (7-5, 5-3) for second place in the East. Marshall defeated Ohio 24-21 later in the day, clinching its sixth straight East title. The Thundering Herd will host either Toledo or Northern Illinois in the conference title game Dec.7.

"We talked all week about how we wanted to make a statement for the program with this game," UCF coach Mike Kruczek said. "We wanted to let people know how far this program has come."

Central Florida's Andreal Curry (42) dives into the end zon. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

Miami's pass defense, which led the MAC last season, was ranked second to last going into the game. The Golden Knights took advantage, piling up 520 yards - the most allowed by the RedHawks this season - and matching the most points scored against Miami this season.

UCF junior quarterback Ryan Schneider completed 20 of 30 passes for 374 yards and three touchdowns, and sophomore tailback Alex Haynes ran for 164 yards and two touchdowns.

Mike Smith capped Miami's opening possession with a 9-yard touchdown run. Jared Parseghian extended the lead to 10-0 and his MAC-record streak of consecutive field goals to 17 with a 27-yarder on the RedHawks' next possession.

Schneider then touched off a streak of five unanswered UCF touchdowns with a 76-yard pass to Jimmy Fryzel on the Golden Knights' first play following Parseghian's field goal. On Miami's next possession, Mike Wafzig's punt was blocked by Patrick Holland and fumbled into the end zone, where Alphonzo Hopkins recovered for the go-ahead TD.

Ben Roethlisberger is sacked by Rashad Jeanty (AP photo) | ZOOM |

"We got out of the blocks like we have in other games, but then we lost the momentum in one fell swoop," RedHawks coach Terry Hoeppner said. "There was a momentum change, and we couldn't get it back. They made big plays on both sides of the ball."

NOTES: Roethlisberger's 17-yard completion to Korey Kirkpatrick on the RedHawks' first possession made him the first Miami quarterback to pass for 3,000 or more yards in back-to-back seasons.... Luke Clemens became the first Miami running back to reach 1,000 the a thousand yards rushing since Travis Prentice in 1999.

Central Florida	14	14	7	13-48
Miami	10	0	7	14-31

First Quarter

MIA-Smith 9 run (Parseghian kick), 10:16.

MIA-FG Parseghian 27, 3:27.

UCF-Fryzel 76 pass from Schneider (Prater kick), 3:05.

UCF-Hopkins 2 blocked-punt return (Prater kick), :43.

Second Quarter

UCF-Fryzel 20 pass from Schneider (Prater kick), 2:51.

UCF-Curry 1 run (Prater kick), :28.

Third Quarter

UCF-Haynes 7 run (Prater kick), 9:38.

MIA-Tillitz 6 pass from Roethlisberger (Parseghian kick), :17.

Fourth Quarter

UCF-Gabriel 22 pass from Schneider (Prater kick failed), 11:35.

UCF-Haynes 3 run (Prater kicker), 2:34.

MIA-Branch 4 pass from Betts (Betts pass failed), 1:13.

MIA-Tillitz 34 pass from Betts (Tillitz pass from Betts), :02.

A-7,962.

	UCF	Mia
First downs	23	25
Rushes-yards	32-146	35-107
Passing	374	328
Comp-Att-Int	20-30-1	27-51-2
Return Yards	78	30
Punts-Avg.	3-35	3-31
Fumbles-Lost	3-0	2-1
Penalties-Yards	8-70	2-15
Time of Possession	28:52	31:08

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Central Florida, Haynes 26-156, Gaudion 1-4, Curry 1-1, Williams 1-(minus 1), Schneider 3-(minus 14). Miami, Clemens 17-67, Smith 7-38, Wallace 2-6, Murray 2-4, Roethlisberger 7-(minus 8).

PASSING-Central Florida, Schneider 20-30-1-374. Miami, Roethlisberger 23-41-2-271, Betts 4-10-0-57.

RECEIVING-Central Florida, Gabriel 7-95, Fryzel 6-174, Gaines 2-51, Haynes 2-24, Capers 2-13, Huggins 1-17. Miami, Branch 8-67, Tillitz 6-77, Clemens 2-47, Brandt 2-35, Kirkpatrick 2-30, Nance 2-28, Stegman 1-18, Robinson 1-16, Wallace 1-6, Larkin 1-4, Murray 1-0.

MAC race

East

Team	Conf.	overall
Marshall	6-1	8-2
Central Florida	5-2	6-5
Miami	5-3	7-5
Ohio	4-3	4-7

West

Northern Illionis	7-1	8-4
Toledo	6-1	8-3
*Bowling Green	5-1	8-2

Saturday's Games

Toledo 33, Northern Illinois 30

Ball St. 41, Buffalo 21

UCF 48, Miami 31

W. Michigan 35, C. Michigan 10

Akron 48, Kent St. 10

Marshall 24, Ohio 21

E. Michigan at Bowling Green, night

* Late game not included

Saturday, Nov. 30

Ohio at UCF, 1:30 p.m.

Ball St. at Marshall, 4:30 p.m.

Bowling Green at Toledo, 7 p.m.