Through two quarters of football, the UMass Minutemen and Miami (Ohio) RedHawks are tied, 7-7, with neither team really distinguishing themselves as the better team. Austin Boucher and Steve Marck hooked up for a 13-yard touchdown pass at the 13:20 mark of the quarter and both teams went scoreless for the remainder of the half.
Miami started moving the ball as the first quarter came to a close and closed the yardage gap between the two teams to 248-159 at the half. The touchdown to Marck was one of the nicer throws by Boucher on the day, rolling to his right and throwing against his momentum to float the ball to Marck, who bulldozed his way into the end zone.
Miami had another opportunity to score, but Boucher was intercepted in the end zone by Khary Bailey-Smith, who had just replaced Antoine Tharpe at safety after the safety was ejected for a hit to the head. UMass also had a red-zone possession to finish the half, but A.J. Doyle's throw bounced off the hands of Bernard Davis and was picked off by Miami at the two-yard line.
In total, the two teams have turned the ball over three times in the red zone today.
The second half will begin the same way as the first half did: with a tied score and anyone's guess as to who will win the game. UMass has been the slightly more impressive team, but the fact that they haven't been able to capitalize on opportunities has kept Miami in the game.
Halftime Leaders
UMass
- Passing - A.J. Doyle: 13/23, 188 yards, touchdown, 2 interceptions
- Rushing - Jamal Wilson: 6 carries, 21 yards
- Receiving - Wilson: 4 catches, 64 yards
Miami (Ohio)
- Passing - Austin Boucher: 6/11, 79 yards, touchdown, interception
- Rushing - Dawan Scott: 3 carries, 44 yards
- Receiving - Jared Murphy: 2 catches, 23 yards