Willis McGahee and Ravens wear down Dolphins

Oct/20/08 01:06 AM Filed in: Willis McGahee
WillisMcGahee
MIAMI GARDENS — Miami native Willis McGahee returned to South Florida and dominated the Dolphins' defensive front in the second half Sunday.

McGahee, a star at Miami Central High and the University of Miami, found his rhythm after halftime and picked up 45 of his game-high 105 yards on his first four carries of the third quarter.

He gained nine yards on his first run and 14 on each of his next two. He followed up with a back-breaking 8-yard end-around on 3rd-and-2 to keep the Ravens moving.

The Ravens' drive lasted 13 plays and more than six minutes, resulting in a field goal that gave Baltimore a 20-6 lead. They went on to win 27-13.
"We were wearing them down," Baltimore left tackle Jared Gaither said. "We're a hard-nosed offense and we'll run straight at you."

McGahee did exactly that. He averaged more than 5 yards on his five runs up the middle, and finished with 105 yards and a touchdown on 19 attempts.

The Ravens relied on rookie Ray Rice early in the game, then turned to McGahee and mixed in bruising fullback Le'Ron McClain to average four yards per carry.

The Dolphins insisted that they knew Baltimore would lean on its ground game to take the burden off rookie quarterback Joe Flacco, but that knowledge did not seem to help.

"They had their way with us," safety Yeremiah Bell said. "It's frustrating defensively not to be able to execute when we knew what they were going to do."

McGahee nearly scored a second touchdown on a screen pass, but Bell jarred the ball loose when he was just 8 yards from the end zone. Dolphins linebacker Charlie Anderson recovered the fumble with 12:43 left in the game. The gain was 35 yards, Baltimore's second-longest play of the afternoon, but McGahee was embarrassed afterward.

"That was the worst highlight of my career," he said. "It was a good screen, a good run and it wasn't a good finish — like it was all for nothing."

Aside from that mistake, McGahee's performance was reminiscent of his UM years (2000-02). McGahee, who had his best game of the season, had been slowed by knee and rib injuries. Last week, he had only eight carries in a 31-3 loss to Indianapolis.

His success Sunday alleviated pressure on Flacco, who produced his best game, completing 17 of 23 passes for 232 yards and a touchdown.

(palmbeachpost.com)