OxfordPress.com

TOLEDO — It was a bitterly cold night at the Glass Bowl. But it wasn't cold enough to numb the even more bitter frustration and embarrassment of the Miami University football team.

Toledo redshirt freshman running back Morgan Williams rushed for three touchdowns and a school-record 330 yards as the Rockets overpowered the RedHawks 42-14 Friday, Nov. 21.

The loss was the fourth straight for Miami, which must beat Ohio in its season finale Friday in order to avoid its second 2-10 record in the last three years.

"We were very embarrassed today in all phases," said Miami coach Shane Montgomery, whose team slipped to 1-6 in the Mid-American Conference.

Miami junior Daniel Raudabaugh did throw two touchdown passes of 2 and 30 yards to sophomore wide receiver Chris Givens, who finished the night with nine catches for 85 yards.

But Givens was not inclined to talk about his touchdowns.

"I'm upset as a teammate," he said afterward. "From top to bottom, we're obliged to live up to the tradition at Miami. What we did on the field, it wasn't enough. As a teammate, I'm disappointed for the Miami program and I'm upset.

"We were hoping to carry on the tradition, and we're not carrying on the tradition," Givens added. "I'm just a frustrated athlete right now. It comes down to the players executing and right now we're not executing, we're not doing the little things, and sometimes we're not even supporting each other, to be honest with you."

Toledo (3-8, 2-5 Mid-American Conference) took a 7-0 lead when Williams ran through about five RedHawks defenders on an 8-yard touchdown run just four minutes into the game.

"Again, we got off to a slow start," Montgomery said. "It had to do with a couple things. We could not stop them rushing, and we couldn't run the football."

Toledo had an overwhelming advantage in both rushing yards (377-75) and total yards (516-271).

The fortunes of football seemed to be toying with the RedHawks in the closing seconds of the second quarter when an apparent 2-yard touchdown pass from Raudabaugh to Givens was negated; the officials ruled that Toledo had called timeout before the ball was snapped.

When play resumed, Raudabaugh found Givens in the end zone again. This time the 2-yard touchdown pass counted and Miami trailed 21-7 at halftime.

Raudabaugh and Givens struck again on a 30-yard touchdown toss with 11:10 remaining in the third period, but Toledo put the game away with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, a 14-yard run by Williams and a 10-yard run by Adonis Thomas.