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DETROIT, Mich.–  ran for two touchdowns and  added 208 all-purpose yards as the ºÚÁÏÉçÇø football team defeated No. 23 Toledo 23-14 in the Mid-American Conference Championship Game Saturday afternoon.
 
 blocked a pair of kicks and  converted three field goals for the RedHawks (11-2), who won their 17th MAC title and first since 2019. Dequan Finn threw for 273 yards to lead the Rockets (11-2), who saw their 11-game win streak snapped.

How it Happened

• The RedHawks opened the scoring with a field goal on the first possession of the game. Sparked by a solid kick return by  to the Miami 37-yard line, the Red and White quickly moved into the red zone after a 10-yard completion to , a 25-yard run by Amos and a pass interference penalty. Nicholson capped the drive with a 33-yard kick to give Miami an early 3-0 lead.
• Miami added a touchdown late in the quarter, capitalizing on a 21-yard punt return by . After taking over at the Toledo 39, a reverse to McDonald and late hit out of bounds gave Miami the ball at the UT 13-yard line. The Miami drive appeared to stall out on an 3rd-down incompletion, but a targeting call against Toledo's Judge Culpepper gave the RedHawks a new set of downs eight yards away from the end zone. A seven-yard run by Smith set up a one-yard Amos touchdown plunge to stretch Miami's lead to 10-0 with 46 seconds left in the first quarter.
• The RedHawk defense came up big throughout the opening 30 minutes, including a forced fumble by  on UT's first drive of the game and an Ertl field-goal block to end the Rockets' first possession of the second quarter. Toledo finally broke through with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Finn to Anthony Torres with nine seconds left in the half. That snapped a string of 13 consecutive empty offensive possessions for the Rockets against Miami's defense (dating back to the teams' regular-season meeting in October). A successful two-point conversion made the score 10-8 at the break.
• Miami got on the board first in the third quarter, moving into Rocket territory on a 32-yard pass to Amos and eventually adding a 40-yard field goal by Nicholson to go up 13-8. UT responded with a scoring drive of its own, taking its first lead of the game on a three-yard scoring run by Finn. The point-after try was no good, keeping the score at 14-13 Toledo with nine minutes left in the period.
• The RedHawks went back on top early in the fourth quarter after a key conversion to McDonald at the Toledo 26-yard line moved the chains on 3rd-and-9 and put Miami back in field goal range. Nicholson, who had missed a 48-yarder in the third quarter, came through with a successful 40-yard kick to give Miami a 16-14 lead with 13:27 remaining.
• Miami put together one of the most important drives of the season in the fourth quarter to stretch the lead to two possessions. Taking over with six minutes remaining in the contest, the Red and White marched six plays in 72 yards to go ahead 23-14. Smith's 50-yard run on third down moved Miami to the Toledo 15, and three plays later, Amos finished the drive with a 10-yard scoring burst at the 2:41 mark.
• Toledo's last-ditch comeback attempt seemed to be thwarted when Ertl blocked his second field goal of the day, but the Rockets were able to advance the loose ball and pick up a first down.  finally intercepted a Finn pass in the end zone with 22 seconds left to seal the victory for the RedHawks.