By Mark Schmetzer
Enquirer contributor

OXFORD - For a span of about eight minutes Saturday afternoon, Miami looked like the RedHawks of old - well, a year old, anyway.

Miami responded to Ohio scoring a touchdown on the opening possession of the second half by reeling off 23 unanswered points to take a 33-7 lead on the way to a 40-20 victory before 20,113 fans at Yager Stadium.

Josh Betts passed 38 yards to running back Mike Smith for one touchdown, Ryne Robinson returned a punt 74 yards for another and Luke Clemens capped the RedHawks longest scoring drive of the day with a two-yard run as Miami (2-2, 1-0 MAC) snapped a two-game losing streak and won its Mid-American Conference opener.

"We have that potential," coach Terry Hoeppner said. "Sometimes, we're sputtering. We're running on six cylinders."

Junior quarterback Josh Betts went 21-for-32 for 268 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw an interception. "We didn't start off the way we wanted to, but we finally got it together," Betts said.

Said Hoeppner: "We're 1-0 in the MAC East Division, and that's what we needed to be after today. It was an interesting game. There were a lot of crazy bounces."

Miami also scored two points on a safety during its 23-point run when a shotgun snap from Ohio's 15-ayrd line sailed over the head of Bobcat quarterback Ryan Hawk and into the RedHawk end zone, where he fell on it. Robinson lost two fumbles on punt returns, and the RedHawks had two other fumbles that they recovered.

"There were too many balls bouncing around, but I thought we played a focused, smart football game for the most part," Hoeppner said.

Miami took a 3-0 lead on Todd Soderquist's 39-yard field goal after a Miami punt grazed the back of Ohio's Stafford Owens for a fumble that was recovered by Ryan Redd. The RedHawks increased their lead to 10-0 on Smith's 10-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter.

The Bobcats (1-2, 0-1) went 83 yards in eight plays and scored on Kalvin McRae's 39-yard pass from Hawk. Miami responded by going 80 yards in six plays, a drive capped by Betts' pass back across the field to Smith after rolling to his right.

That play touched off Miami's scoring run. "We were hurt by sacks today," Ohio coach Brian Knorr said. "It's difficult to make it on third-and 12 and third-and-14."

Ohio	0	0	7	13-20
Miami	3	7	23	7-40

First Quarter

Mia-FG Soderquist 39, :18.

Second Quarter

Mia-Smith 10 run (Soderquist kick), 2:34.

Third Quarter

Ohio-McRae 39 pass from Hawk (Rossman kick), 11:38.

Mia-Smith 38 pass from Betts (Parseghian kick), 9:44.

Mia-Robinson 74 punt return (Soderquist kick), 6:45.

Mia-Safety, Hawk fell on bad snap in end zone, 6:24.

Mia-Clemens 2 run (Parseghian kick), 3:18.

Fourth Quarter

Ohio-Hawk 1 run (Rossman kick), 13:16.

Ohio-Mayle 24 pass from Hawk (pass failed), 5:27.

Mia-Nance 23 pass from Betts (Soderquist kick), :37.

A-20,113.

	Ohio	Mia
First downs	17	21
Rushes-yards	34-9	36-146
Passing	253	268
Comp-Att-Int	23-39-0	21-32-1
Return Yards	0	86
Punts-Avg.	8-47.9	4-35.2
Fumbles-Lost	2-1	4-2
Penalties-Yards	4-33	1-5
Time of Possession	31:19	28:41

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Ohio, McRae 21-65, Owens 1-3, Team 1-(minus 15), Hawk 11-(minus 44). Miami Clemens 15-52, Smith 10-41, Betts 6-35, Murphy 3-13, Robinson 1-6, Team 1-(minus 1).

PASSING-Ohio, Hawk 23-39-0-253. Miami, Betts 21-32-1-268.

RECEIVING-Ohio, Jackson 12-86, Antle 3-31, Maxwell 2-37, Riley 2-18, McRae 1-39, Mayle 1-24, Hackett 1-10, Jefferson 1-8. Miami, Nance 7-108, Williams 3-31, Corbin 3-27, Larkin 2-40, Smith 1-38, Clemens 1-13, Robinson 1-6, Kirkpatrick 1-5, Vogele 1-4, Vogel 1-(minus 2), Norden 0-(minus 2).