Buffalo Stuns Miami (OH) 34-31 in OT as Jason Wright and Chance Morrow Erase a 15-Point Hole

Miami (OH) had this one boxed up. Fifteen points ahead with 12 minutes to play, a blocked punt in its pocket and a defense that had already picked off two passes, the RedHawks looked headed for a fourth straight win. Then Jason Wright and Chance Morrow decided Tuesday night was theirs.

Buffalo erased a 31-16 fourth quarter deficit and beat Miami (OH) 34-31 in overtime at Yager Stadium in Oxford, Ohio. Oliver Hautanen's 27-yard field goal gave the Bulls the lead in the extra period, and Kellan McLaughlin's 45-yard try to tie it bounced off the right upright. Buffalo players flooded the field. It was the program's first win at Miami since 2015.

The Bulls are now 6-3 overall and 4-1 in the MAC, winners of four straight. Miami fell to 5-4 and 3-2, and its own three-game streak is over.

The RedHawks set the tone

Buffalo struck first, with Hautanen hitting from 33 yards on the opening drive. Miami answered with a nine-play, 75-yard march that belonged to Braylon Isom. Isom caught four passes on the drive alone, the last a 21-yard touchdown from Caleb Heavner on an out-and-up down the right sideline, and Miami led 7-3.

The next possession was all ground game. Miami piled up 58 rushing yards on the drive, with D'Shawntae Jones ripping off runs of 15 and 18 yards around a 20-yard reverse by Scoop Smith. Rodney Nelson finished it with a 10-yard touchdown run, and the RedHawks led 14-3 with 14:14 left in the first half.

Wright got Buffalo back in it with a 1-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter, cutting the gap to 14-10. Miami had the last word before the break, though. Heavner kept the drive alive with a shovel pass to Christian Ross on 4th-and-2, and McLaughlin knocked through a 35-yard field goal with 26 seconds left for a 17-10 halftime lead.

A special teams gut punch

Less than a minute into the third quarter, Miami made the kind of play that usually decides MAC games. Jermaine Agee broke through and blocked a Buffalo punt, and Smith fell on it in the end zone. Just like that, it was 24-10.

That was no fluke for this group. According to Miami, the RedHawks became only the second team in the country this season, joining Virginia Tech, to return multiple blocked punts for touchdowns, and it was the first time in at least 30 years that Miami had done it twice in one season.

The Miami defense kept stacking stops. Toney Coleman Jr. and CJ Young intercepted Wright on back-to-back third quarter drives, both in Miami territory. Coleman's pick was the first of the junior's career, and Young became the first RedHawk this season with multiple interceptions.

Buffalo finally broke through with 1:30 left in the quarter when Wright found Morrow for a 2-yard touchdown, but Hautanen's extra point missed and it stayed a two-score game at 24-16. Miami answered right away. Carl Jenkins moved the chains on 3rd-and-8, and Smith punched in a 6-yard run with 12:01 to go. The RedHawks led 31-16.

The turning point

Down 15 with 12 minutes left, Buffalo needed two touchdowns and two conversions just to tie. It got all four.

Wright led an 11-play, 75-yard drive and hit Morrow for a 4-yard touchdown with 8:56 left, then found Morrow again for the two-point conversion. Suddenly it was 31-24.

The biggest defensive play of the night came on the next series. Miami worked the ball to the Buffalo 33, close enough to think about a field goal that would have made it a two-score game again. Will Clark sacked Heavner, the first of his two sacks in the fourth quarter, and knocked the RedHawks out of range. Buffalo got the ball back at its own 20 with 5:02 to play.

What followed was the drive of Wright's season. The Bulls went 80 yards in 12 plays, and Wright kept it himself from 2 yards out with 1:35 left. Tied at 31, and neither team scored again in regulation.

Overtime

Buffalo got the ball first. Wright missed on his first two throws, then hit Dwayne Early Jr. for 12 yards on 3rd-and-10 to the Miami 13. Terrance Shelton Jr. added 4 yards, two more throws to the end zone fell incomplete, and Hautanen came on to drill the 27-yarder for a 34-31 lead.

Miami had its chances. On 3rd-and-7 from the 22, Heavner went deep to Isom in the end zone, and safety John Keough tracked it down and knocked the ball away. A false start backed the RedHawks up 5 yards, and McLaughlin's 45-yard attempt caught the right upright. Earlier in the night, McLaughlin had also missed from 42 in the third quarter.

The game lasted three hours and 46 minutes. It was only the ninth overtime game in Miami football history.

Wright and Morrow, career nights

Wright was far from perfect. He completed 22 of 46 passes and threw two interceptions. He also threw for a career-high 358 yards and two touchdowns, ran for two more and was at his best when Buffalo had no margin left.

Morrow was his answer all night. The receiver caught 12 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns, plus the two-point conversion that made the comeback possible. His 12 catches were one shy of Buffalo's school record, according to UB Athletics. Early added four catches for 80 yards, and Jaylen Andrews had four for 41.

Buffalo's ground game never got going. Messiah Burch, who came in on a run of five straight 100-yard games, was held to 56 yards on 14 carries, and the Bulls ran for 101 yards as a team. Buffalo finished with 459 total yards to Miami's 350.

The RedHawks' bright spots

Jones was the best player on the field for Miami. He carried a career-high 17 times for 112 yards, 6.6 yards a pop, and became the first RedHawk with a 100-yard rushing game since Jordan Brunson did it at Buffalo on Nov. 19, 2025. Nelson added 45 yards and a score, and Miami ran for 196 yards on 48 carries.

Isom set career highs with seven catches for 89 yards and the touchdown. Heavner was efficient but limited, completing 12 of 23 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown without an interception. Smith scored two touchdowns, and according to Miami, has now scored four different ways this season: on a kickoff return, a run, a catch and a blocked punt.

Malcolm McCain led everybody with 11 tackles.

The defense that woke up

Buffalo's defense gave up 31 points, but it won the game in the fourth quarter and overtime. The Bulls posted a season-best five sacks and nine tackles for loss, according to UB Athletics. Clark had two sacks, Sedrick Vessah also got to Heavner, and Ronnell Davis led the team with nine tackles. Keough's overtime breakup might be the play Buffalo fans remember longest.

Miami coach Chuck Martin spoke at a postgame press conference that did not begin until after midnight.

"We played three-and-a-half really good quarters…the best we've played all year," Martin said, per Miami Athletics.

"Every week, get better and win a game. That's all we worry about, so that's all we're going to worry about tomorrow. And it is tomorrow already."

What it means

For Buffalo, this is a team that was 2-3 in early October and now has four straight wins, with the last two decided by a touchdown or less. Wright and the Bulls are 4-1 in the conference with three regular season games left, and they keep finding ways to win close ones. On Oct. 24 it was Burch and the run game in a 31-24 win over Bowling Green, as we covered here. This time the ball went up and Morrow came down with it.

For Miami, it stings. The RedHawks led for most of the night, won the turnover battle 2-0, blocked a punt for a touchdown and still lost. They were the team that won the close one on Oct. 24, edging Central Michigan 28-27 on a late Jones touchdown. This time the fourth quarter got away from them.

Next up, Buffalo plays at Ball State on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Miami hosts Ohio in the Battle of the Bricks on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

The last word

Miami did nearly everything it wanted for 48 minutes. Buffalo did everything it needed in the last 12, and an upright did the rest. The full numbers are in the box score (opens in a new tab), and both schools posted recaps, Buffalo's here (opens in a new tab) and Miami's here (opens in a new tab).

Sources: Miami University Athletics and University at Buffalo Athletics recaps, ESPN box score and play-by-play, and The Associated Press via WKRC. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: UB Athletics; Miami University Athletics.