By Melville Van Buren
GAME NOTES
https://miamiredhawks.com/documents/2023/11/20/Game_Notes_-_2023-Ball_State.pdf
The Miami University football team wraps up regular season competition with a trip to Ball State on Saturday, Nov. 25. Opening kick is scheduled for 12 p.m. A win over the Cardinals would give Miami 10-regular season wins for the first time since 2003.
Television
The matchup with Ball State will be carried live on CBS Sports. Dave Ryan will handle play-by-play duties, while Malik Zaire will serve as the color analyst.
Radio
In its fifth year of its partnership with Van Wagner, the Miami Sports Network continues its coverage of Miami Football with a group of affiliates blanketing most of Southwest Ohio and Southeast Indiana. “The Voice of the RedHawks” Steve Baker will deliver the play-by-play coverage, while Terry Bridge will provide color commentary. Tune-in to one of Miami’s gameday affiliates:
WMOH-AM 1450 (Hamilton, Ohio)
WFMG-FM 101.3 (Richmond, Ind.)
WDBZ-AM 1230 (Cincinnati, Ohio)
WONE-AM 980 (Dayton, Ohio)
First And Ten
• Miami football ranks first all-time in the Mid-American Conference in wins (722), conference wins (314), MAC Championships (16) and bowl wins (8).
• Historically, Miami’s 722 career wins, ranks third all-time among Group-of-Five programs, behind just Navy (737) and Army (724).
• Miami was 4-14 in Coach Martin’s first 18 Mid-American Conference games. Since then, the RedHawks are 40-17 in their last 57 games versus schools from the MAC.
• Miami, Ohio State, James Madison, Michigan, Texas, Tulane and Washington are the only schools in the country with five road wins this season. The RedHawks are 5-1 on the road this year with their only loss coming in week one at Miami (Fla.).
• After competing in the 2022 Bahamas Bowl and capturing their sixth win earlier this year, the RedHawks have now been bowl eligible seven of the last eight seasons. From 2006-15, Miami was bowl eligible just twice.
• The RedHawks have picked up Power-5 victories in two straight years, downing Cincinnati (31-24) this season and Northwestern (17-14) a year ago.
• Since early in the 2016 season Miami has lost back-to-back MAC games just twice in that span. In fact, Miami is now 14-2 following a MAC loss under Martin, dating back to Oct. 15, 2016.
• For the first time since 2005, Miami beat both Cincinnati (31-24) and Ohio (30-16) in the same season.
• The last time Miami won 10 games in a season was 2010 (10-4). The last time Miami won 10 games in the regular season was 2003 (12-1).
• Miami received one top-25 vote last week in the AP Poll.
About Chuck Martin
• Chuck Martin was named Miami head coach on Dec. 3, 2013.
• Not only was he 74-7 in six years at Grand Valley State (2004-09), he has coached in seven national championship games in the past 20 seasons. Martin has an all-time head coaching record of 128-68.
• He has twice been named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) National Coach of the Year and has been a coordinator on both sides of the ball.
• Martin was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Grand Valley State University on Oct. 23, 2015.
• Martin’s 115 games coached at Miami is tops in program history and his 54 career wins ranks behind only Randy Walker (59).
About Ball State
Ball State is 4-7 overall and 3-4 in MAC play and are coming off their best performance of the season, downing Kent State 34-3 last Saturday. The Cardinals are averaging 17.0 points per contest and are led by quarterback Kiael Kelly, who has rushed for 500 yards and five scores this season. Defensively Keionte Newson is tops on the team with 70 tackles.
Series Vs. Cardinals
Miami leads the series 22-13-1 against the Cardinals and is 9-7 all-time in Muncie. The RedHawks have captured six of the last seven meetings between the two programs.
Last Meeting
Miami rallied from an 11-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter to shock Ball State 18-17 in the 2022 regular-season finale and claim a trip to the Bahamas Bowl. Aveon Smith threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Miles Marshall with 1:42 to play to give the RedHawks their first and only lead of the night, and Brian Ugwu’s interception in the final minute secured Miami’s sixth win of the year.
Memorable Meeting
In November of 2020, the RedHawks claimed the Red Bird Trophy and their 300th MAC win by defeating the Cardinals 38-31. With the game tied in the final minute, Ryan McWood’s first career interception gave Miami the ball at the visitors’ six-yard line, and Zach Kahn punched it in three plays later for the winning score. AJ Mayer completed 16 of 24 passes for 212 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to former high school teammate Jack Coldiron.
RedBird Rivalry
The RedBird Rivalry trophy game between Ball State and Miami, two Mid-American Conference universities separated by a little more than 70 miles, is in its fifth year. The rivalry between the schools dates back to a 1931 meeting in Oxford, Ohio, but didn’t blossom until Ball State joined the MAC in the mid-1970s. The two teams played each other in football every year from 1985 through 1998. MAC expansion in the late 1990s changed league scheduling as the conference had too many teams to play every team on an annual basis. Because Miami is in the MAC East and Ball State is in the MAC West, they have only faced off 15 times since 2000.
Ticket Punched!
With last week’s victory over Buffalo, Miami will face Toledo on Saturday, Dec. 2 for the 2023 MAC Championship in Detroit, Mich. It is Miami’s sixth appearance in the MAC Championship game (2023, 2019, 2010, 2007, 2004 and 2003).
Buffalo Recap
The Miami University football team defeated Buffalo 23-10 last Wednesday night at Yager Stadium to clinch the 2023 Mid-American Conference East championship and advance to the MAC title game. Rashad Amos had 82 rushing yards and two touchdowns for the RedHawks, who won their first division title since 2019 and earned a rematch with MAC West champ Toledo on Saturday, Dec. 2 at Ford Field in Detroit. Aveon Smith threw for a season-high 146 yards for Miami.
Tidbits Versus The Bulls
• Javon Tracy finished with a career-high in both catches and yards, finishing the night with five receptions for 123 yards.
• Ty Wise made a career-high 15 tackles to lead the Miami defense.
• Caiden Woullard’s forced fumble was his second of the season, while Michael Dowell’s was his first of the year.
Bend But Don’t Break
At times, Miami’s defense has surrendered yards between the 20’s, but once the opposition gets to the red zone, the RedHawks have turned them away. In 29 trips inside Miami’s 20-yard line, the RedHawks have allowed just 14 touchdowns.
Monsters of the MAC
Miami’s defense has been downright frightening in conference play. Through seven games, Miami ranks first in scoring (10.1), total defense (259.3), rush defense (91.6), and sacks (26). The RedHawks have shutout two MAC opponents this year (BGSU and Akron) and allowed just three points in a win over Kent State.
Just Keeps Getting Better
As impressive as those numbers above are, Miami’s defense seems to be getting even better as the season goes on. Over the last 14 quarters, Miami has allowed just three touchdowns (26 total points). Miami shutout Toledo in the second half, allowed two touchdowns in the win at Ohio, shutout Akron and gave up just one touchdown versus Buffalo.
Living on the Edge
Miami’s defense ranks first in the MAC and 10th nationally with 32 sacks this season. A majority of those sacks have come from Miami’s edge players. Caiden Woullard (9.0) , Ty Wise (7.0) and Brian Ugwu (6.5) all rank in the top-5 in the MAC and are 11th, 32nd and 42nd in the nation.
42 And Counting…
Defensive tackle Austin Ertl made his 42nd career start last Wednesday in the trenches, but he is not the only defensive standout that has started a bunch of games for the RedHawks. Matt Salopek (37), Kobe Hilton (33), Jacquez Warren (32), Caiden Woullard (23) and Michael Dowell (23) have all started at least 20 games on defense for the RedHawks.
Gabbert In The History Book
Brett Gabbert, who will miss the rest of the 2023 season with a leg injury, has made 39 starts in his career and is all over the Miami record books. He ranks third in program history with 7,893 passing yards, sixth in completion percentage (.592) and third in passing touchdowns (59). He is also 18 yards shy of 500 career rushing yards and is responsible for 66 touchdowns (59 passing, 7 rushing) in his career.
Back at the Helm
With Brett Gabbert suffering an injury late in the third quarter versus the Rockets, Miami has leaned on sophomore Aveon Smith. Smith, who started nine games for Miami last season, threw for 1,2989 yards and 11 touchdowns and added 553 yards and six scores on the ground in 2022. He is 8-4 (3-0 in 2023) as a starter in his career, including a win at Northwestern in 2022 and became the first player in school history to lead a team in both passing and rushing yards last season.
Famous Amos
Sophomore Rashad Amos ranks fourth in the MAC with 784 yards rushing and is third in the conference with nine rushing scores. He has rushed for over 100 yards three different times this season and has scored a touchdown in seven of the past eight games. His 784 rushing yards are the most since Thomas Merriweather rushed for 921 yards in 2010. Miami’s last 1,000-yard rusher was Brandon Murphy in 2005.
Trench Warfare
Miami’s offensive line had two major holes to fill along the offensive line after losing both Rusty Feth and Caleb Shaffer to the transfer portal. Combined, those two started 69 games, dating back to 2019. Miami still has plenty of experience in 2023. Reid Holskey has started each of the last 37 games for the Red and White, followed by Will Jados (21), Kolby Borders (20), Sam Vaughan (15), Ben Jackson (12) and John Young (11). Miami has started the same offensive line lineup in all 11 games this season.
Tackling Machine
Linebacker Matt Salopek has 360 career tackles and has surpassed 100 stops in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The last time Miami had a player record 100-plus tackles three straight seasons was Matt Pusateri from 2002-04. His 112 tackles currently rank 13th in the nation and he has added 7.5 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks and one interception this season.
Nothing But Net
Placekicker Graham Nicholson, a Lou Groza semifinalist, has been nearly perfect in 2023, connecting on 22-of-22 field goals and 31-of-32 extra points. He is one of three kickers in the country that has yet to miss a field goal this season and ranks first in the country with 22 made field goals. In his career, he is 55-of-65 (84.6%) on field goals, including a game-winner last season at Northwestern. He also drilled a career-long 52-yarder in the win over BGSU. Nicholson was named Mid-Season All-America by the Sporting News and the Associated Press placed him on their second team. He has also been named MAC East Special Teams Player of the Week FIVE times in 2023.
Special, Special Teams
Graham Nicholson (Lou Groza semifinalist) leads the MAC with 22 made field goals and is the only kicker in the conference that has yet to miss a kick. Punter Alec Bevelhimer (Ray Guy Award semifinalist) leads the MAC with a 46.4 yard average, Kevin Davis is seventh in the league with a 21.7 yard kickoff return average and Cade McDonald’s 12.6 punt return average ranks atop the MAC.
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