Sports

OXFORD — The Miami University football team had hoped to make a little history by welcoming Vanderbilt as the first Southeastern Conference team to visit Yager Stadium, then socking it to the guests.

Instead of making history, the RedHawks repeated it. For big chunks of time Thursday night, Aug. 28, it was the 2006 season all over again, the season when nothing went right.

Senior quarterback Chris Nickson had his way with the RedHawks, rushing for a career-high 166 yards and two touchdowns and passing for another TD as the Commodores won 34-13 to spoil Miami's season opener.

"A very disappointing loss tonight," Miami coach Shane Montgomery said. "We felt very good coming in, but knew Vanderbilt would be a tough opponent.

"Obviously, we didn't do a very good job against Nickson," he added. "They've got quality athletes, and they did a good job tonight."

It was a night that featured many big plays, almost none of them by the players in red and white, who were hoping to avenge last season's 24-13 loss at Vanderbilt on Oct. 27.

That was the last time the Commodores had won. At that point, they needed only one more victory to become bowl-eligible. Instead, Vanderbilt lost its last four regular-season games.

"It feels great," Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson said. "Our guys played extremely hard, made some big plays that got us the lead, and we were able to protect it."

The RedHawks took a 3-0 lead on a 37-yard field goal by Nathan Parseghian early in the first quarter.

The Commodores answered in a big way by scoring the next 17 points with the help of an interception and a 91-yard punt return, the second-longest in Vanderbilt history, by junior defensive back D.J. Moore.

"That's typical D.J.," Johnson said. "He's just a natural."

Miami junior quarterback Daniel Raudabaugh was hot and cold.

He was hot when he fired a 30-yard touchdown pass to Eugene Harris to cut the Commodores' lead to 17-10 with 6:58 left in the second quarter, but more often the passing offense sagged as Raudabaugh completed 19-of-41 passes with three interceptions.

The Commodores regained control of the game with a three-play drive that started with a 59-yard run by Nickson and ended with a 14-yard touchdown run by Nickson.

Sophomore Thomas Merriweather was one bright spot for the Miami offense, rushing 10 times for 59 yards. Another was Jamal Rogers, who picked up 32 yards on a pair of reverses.

Nickson completed 9-of-16 passes for 91 yards and no interceptions for the Commodores.

The season doesn't get any easier for the RedHawks, whose next game is at Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 6.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197

or pconrad@coxohio.com.