RedHawks lose game, 3 starters on offense
Zack Annexstad threw two short touchdown passes to Tyler Johnson, and freshman Bryce Williams had 176 yards of total offense as Minnesota beat Miami 26-3 on Saturday.
Annexstad completed 12 of 20 throws for 142 yards in his third collegiate start and was resting on the sideline by the third quarter. Williams had 33 rushes for 141 yards as featured back in place of Rodney Smith, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last week against Fresno State.
The visiting RedHawks (0-3) lost three offensive starters in the first half, including leading receivers Kenny Young and James Gardner.
With the RedHawks again struggling to run — they had 91 rushing yards and still haven’t broken 100 yards on the ground this year — the Gophers (3-0) steadily moved the ball and wore down Miami’s defense on a steamy 90-degree afternoon.
Gus Ragland completed 11 of 20 passes for 108 yards and an interception that set up the second Annexstad-to-Johnson touchdown in the third to make it 26-3.
This is not the way Miami wanted to end its non-conference schedule. After a respectable season-opening loss to Marshall, the RedHawks are reeling after a 21-0 loss to Cincinnati and Saturday’s sputtering performance in Minneapolis. Now they’ll head into conference play wondering about the status of their starting running back (Young), top receiver (Gardner) and starting right tackle Tommy Doyle.
Cincinnati 63, Alabama A&M 7: Desmond Ridder threw for three touchdowns and the Bearcats (3-0) scored on their first six possessions to topple the Bulldogs (2-1).
Ridder completed 9-of-10 passes for 199 yards for the Bearcats. He added a 22-yard run for his first career TD. He was finished for the game after the first quarter.
Khalill Lewis, Josiah Deguara and Thomas Geddis caught touchdown passes from Ridder of 61, 22 and 29 yards, respectively. Tavion Thomas was the leading rusher for the Bearcats with 141 yards and two TDs on 18 carries. Fellow freshman Charles McClelland had the first 16 carries of his career for 121 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown.
Hayden Moore took over at quarterback in the second quarter and led the Bearcats to their fifth touchdown, completing 6-of7 passes for 51 yards to set up a 6-yard TD run by Michael Warren II. Thomas added an 11-yard TD run, the first of his career, and the Bearcats led 42-0 at halftime.