As the third down conversions went, so did Miami University in its 31-16 loss to Ball State University on Tuesday.
In the first half Miami converted seven of nine third downs, allowing the RedHawks to keep the Cardinals' offense off the field for much of the half. Miami went into halftime down by less than a touchdown, 17-13.
"In the first half we weren't getting it done," Ball State linebacker Bryant Haines said. "We were horrible on third downs."
Ball State had four possessions in the first half - its lowest amount of the season - however, the Miami defense wasn't able to stop the Cardinals' offense.
Ball State put points on the scoreboard three times. On the possession that yielded no points, the Cardinals drove 57 yards before failing to get in on fourth down on the RedHawks one-yard line. However, because Miami was converting on third downs, the RedHawks were able to keep the score close at the end of the half.
"We knew we were going to have to keep them off the field," Miami coach Shane Montgomery said. "The problem was we did get 13 points but we could have had more ... I thought we did some good things in the first half offensively. I think we kept them off balance."
The RedHawks controlled the ball for more than 11 minutes in the opening quarter. As a defensive-minded head coach, Hoke said, it was aggravating to watch his defense not be able to stop the RedHawks.
"It's real frustrating to not be able to get off the field," he said.
"When they are seven of nine and you got an offense that is pretty prolific and got some guys who can make some plays and you can't get the ball back to them it bothers you."
Things turned in the second half as the Ball State defense stopped Miami on third down five out of seven times.
In the third quarter the Ball State defense stopped Miami three out of four times.
Linebacker Davyd Jones said the defense played with more intensity in the second half, holding Miami to three points in the final 30 minutes.
"Our main thing is to get off the field three and out," he said. "In the second half we came out and played our butts off."
The RedHawks got into a couple third and longs in the first half but was able to convert them. For the most part in the first half Miami was able to make the third downs shorter than five yards, which Montgomery said made them more manageable. In the second half Montgomery said his team got into too many third and longs, leading to the failed conversions.
Another part in the Ball State defense being able to get off the field after third down in the second half Hoke said was the team made some adjustments to help the defense.
"We had to play a little tighter man coverage and also get more pressure on the quarterback," he said. "I feel we kind of worked our way through that and got the job done."
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