SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 8, 2012
Miami (OH) 30, Southern Illinois 14: Zac Dysert passed for 226 yards and Pat Hinkel had two interceptions, one he returned for a touchdown, as the RedHawks handled the visiting Salukis.
Dysert became the 22nd player in Mid-American Conference history to throw 50 career touchdown passes with his 10-yard strike to Andy Cruse with 5:39 left in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead.
Hinkel’s second interception set up a Jamire Westbrook 12-yard run that gave the RedHawks (1-1) a commanding 24-7 lead with 3:35 left in the third quarter.
Mika’il McCall scored the first of his two touchdowns on a 1-yard dive with 1:38 remaining in the first quarter to tie it 7-7 for the Salukis (0-2), but the RedHawks took over from there behind Hinkel.
Miami took a 14-7 lead into halftime thanks to Hinkel’s 24-yard interception return with 12:41 left in the second quarter.
Spencer Treadwell, who led Miami with 73 yards rushing, capped the scoring with 16-yard touchdown run just 44 seconds before the end of the contest.
Southern Illinois quarterback Kory Faulkner threw for 293 yards in the opener, but Miami held him to 195.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Dysert now has 9,059 yards passing, second only to Ben Roethlisberger in school history. … Miami is 88-29-4 in home openers, but just 2-6 in its last eight. … Southern Illinois is 2-7 against FBS teams since 2004. … Miami is 7-0-1 against FCS schools.