Football Shutout at Miami
The Central Connecticut football team lost at Miami, 69-0, on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium. The Hurricanes scored on their first seven drives of the game and never allowed the Blue Devils to threaten.
CCSU was outgained, 789-198, as the Hurricanes set a school-record for yardage. Central accounted for 169 yards in the air and 29 yards on the ground.
Junior Jahlil Brown led the Blue Devils with nine tackles. Juniors Ifeanyi Okorji and Chizi Umanakwe and sophomore Luquay Washington each had a sack for the Central defense.
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Central Connecticut 0, Miami 69
Records: CCSU (1-3), MIAMI (2-2)
Location: Hard Rock Stadium | Miami Gardens, FL
KEY MOMENTS
- Miami took the opening kickoff and drove 64 yards in seven plays for the touchdown. The Canes would score a touchdown on their first seven drives to grab control of the game and take a 49-0 lead into halftime.
- CCSU would drive into Miami territory three times in the opening half, but had each of the drives stall and result in no points.
- The teams traded empty possessions to open the second half before Miami managed to cap a six-play, 59-yard drive with an acrobatic touchdown grab by Romelo Brinson at the 5:35 mark of the third quarter. The Canes would score touchdowns on back-to-back drives in the third quarter before opening the fourth quarter with a scoring run.
- Central drove into the Miami red zone late in fourth quarter, highlighted by a fourth down conversion by graduate Shon Mitchell. CCSU misfired on a 30-yard field goal attempt.
NUMBER TO KNOW
4 - Freshman Aidan Clark put four punts inside the Miami 20-yard line. He had three kicks of over 50 yards, including a long of 58 yards.
GAME NOTES
- The teams were meeting for the first time. CCSU faced an ACC opponent for the second time (Syracuse, 2018), while Miami was playing its first Northeast Conference opponent.
- Senior Tyshaun James led CCSU with 49 receiving yards on four catches. He also added nine yards on a carry.
- The Blue Devils were limited to just 29 rushing yards in the game. Senior Nasir Smith had 22 yards on 12 carries.
- Sophomore Romelo Williams was 15-of-28 for 132 yards through the air. He threw one interception.
- Graduate Shon Mitchell also got into the game and went 4-for-9 for 37 yards. He rushed for four yards to convert a fourth down and got CCSU into the red zone.
- Junior Ifeanyi Okorji, junior Chizi Umanakwe and sophomore Luquay Washington each had a sack for the Central defense. Junior Jahlil Brown collected a team-high nine tackles.
- The Hurricanes tallied four touchdowns of 40 yards or better and scored five rushing touchdowns in the game.
COACH McCARTHY QUOTES
On the experience of playing the Miami Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium…
"We knew coming into it that we were going to be a little bit outmanned, and we certainly were. We certainly learned a lot about us, who we are. We played hard until the end. We had a lot of mistakes, a lot of self-inflicted wounds. You have to minimize, minimize your mistakes when you're facing a superior opponent. Unfortunately, when you make mistakes those are magnified against a team like this, a top-25 FBS program."
On how it will help Central Connecticut State prepare for conference play…
"Playing the most competitive non-conference schedule hardens you for conference play. These are the people we want to play. Our kids want to play this game. When our schedule came out, this was the first game they circled. With the game we played last week against Southeastern Louisiana, and now Miami, it's those games that our kids get up for. They see and say, 'I should've been playing at those places,' whether that's right or wrong. It's a good thing for our program. Our kids get a chance to see what the different levels of football are. Last week, we played a top-tier program and this week we played a top-25 program at the FBS level. It only helps us."
On message to his team after the game…
"You have to take the positives from the game. How many of those were there? Not a lot, you give up over 700 yards of offense and you don't score a point, but you have to find small victories. You have to do that. There were some in there and I know there were some guys that really, really competed well and never stopped playing hard. It's about just playing a little bit smarter."
UP NEXT
Central heads into its bye week. The Blue Devils are back in action for Homecoming against Columbia on Oct. 9.