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 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 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 three touchdowns and the Cincinnati Bearcats scored on their first six possessions to topple Alabama A&M.
Ridder completed nine of 10 passes for 199 yards for the Bearcats (3-0). He added a 22-yard run for his first career touchdown. 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. Fellow freshman, Charles McClelland, had the first 16 carries of his career for 121 yards, including a one-yard touchdown.
Hayden Moore took over at quarterback in the second quarter and led the Bearcats to their fifth touchdown, completing six of seven passes for 51 yards to set up a 6-yard touchdown run by Michael Warren II. Thomas added an 11-yard touchdown run, the first of his career, and the Bearcats led 42-0 at halftime.
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