By Cord Rankin
GAME NOTES
https://miamiredhawks.com/documents/2024/9/24/Game_Notes_-_2024_UMass.pdf
The Miami University football team closes out non-conference action with a Saturday, Sept. 28 contest with the UMass Minutemen. The 3:30 p.m. kickoff is Miami’s annual Homecoming/Hall of Fame Game.
About Miami
• Miami football ranks first all-time in the Mid-American Conference in wins (724), conference wins (317), MAC Championships (17) and bowl wins (8).
• Historically, Miami’s 724 career wins are third all-time among Group-of-Five programs, behind just Navy (741) and Army (730).
• Miami was 4-14 in Coach Martin’s first 18 Mid-American Conference games. Since then, the RedHawks are 42-17 in their last 59 games versus schools from the MAC.
• Miami captured its second MAC Championship in the last five years, defeating Toledo 23-14 last season. Chuck Martin won his first MAC Championship back in 2019.
• The RedHawks have been bowl-eligible seven of the last eight seasons. From 2006-15, Miami was bowl-eligible just twice.
• The 11 wins last season were tied for the second-most in program history. The last time Miami won 11 games in a season, NFL future Hall of Fame quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was taking snaps for Miami back in 2003 (13-1).
About Chuck Martin
• Chuck Martin was named Miami head coach on Dec. 3, 2013.
• He was named a 2023 Finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.
• 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 21 seasons. Martin has an all-time head coaching record of 130-72.
• 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 120 games coached at Miami is tops in program history and his 56 career wins ranks behind only Randy Walker (59) and ahead of the Terry Hoeppner (48), Frank Wilton (44) and John Pont (43).
About UMass
UMass is 1-3 on the year and is coming off a 35-31 win over Central Connecticut State last Saturday. The Minutemen are 0-3 versus the MAC in 2024, dropping contests to Eastern Michigan, Toledo and Buffalo. Offensively, Taisun Phommachanh has thrown for 844 yards and four touchdowns this season. Derrieon Craig is tops on the team with 20 tackles.
Last Meeting Versus Minutemen
Brett Gabbert threw for 302 yards and Gage Larvadain finished with eight catches for 273 yards and three touchdowns as Miami downed UMass 41-28 on Sept. 9 (and into Sept. 10), 2023. Due to several weather delays, the contest lasted nearly nine hours.
Series Vs. UMass
The two teams have met on five previous occasions (all since 2012), with Miami claiming four of the five contests. Miami is 2-0 all-time at home and have won each of the past three contests.
Special Homecoming Jerseys
The spirit of Western College will run through Yager Stadium on Sept. 28. To honor the legacy of the Western College for Women, Miami University’s football team will don special blue, white, and red jerseys as part of the Homecoming 2024 celebration. Featuring a dark blue base and white numbers with a red border, the jerseys display “Western College” across the front, with a Miami logo patch in the upper right corner. The patch can be tapped by phone to connect to a special website promoting this year’s Homecoming theme, “Celebrating the Spirit of Western: A Homecoming for Love, Honor, and Legacy.”
The unique jersey design mimics a 1970s-era throwback with its shoulder stripes and sleeve numbers, as this weekend’s festivities honor the 50th anniversary of the final Western College graduating class from 1974. The jersey details fuse the color scheme of Western’s blue and white with Miami’s red and white to recognize the merger of Miami University and Western College and show the institutions coming together as one. The RedHawks will wear their traditional white pants with the matching red stripe for the Homecoming game, which will be broadcast on ESPN+. The jersey combination includes Miami’s trademark white helmets, with the Beveled-M logo on either side.
Eight Inducted Into Miami Hall of Fame
At halftime, Miami Athletics will honor the 2024 Hall of Fame class. This year’s Hall of Fame Class includes Steve Baker (administration–Voice of the RedHawks), Lori Brown (administration), Dane Campbell (wrestling), Champy Halim (tennis), Pei Lin (diving), Alec Martinez (hockey), Ryne Robinson (football/baseball) and Ashley Swinehart (soccer).
Notre Dame Recap
Miami dropped a 28-3 decision at No. 17 Notre Dame last Saturday afternoon. Miami led 3-0 with eight minutes left in the second quarter before Notre Dame scored 28 unanswered points to claim the victory.
• Miami rushed for a combined 64 yards versus Northwestern and Cincinnati. The Red and White had 110 yards on the ground versus the Irish.
• Kam Perry and Preston Daniel made their first receptions as RedHawks.
• Brian Ugwu collected his first sack of the season for the Miami defense.
• Four different Miami ballcarriers had a run of more than 10 yards in the game.
• Cade McDonald led the RedHawks in receiving for the third game in a row, pulling in four catches for 52 yards.
Slow Start
Playing Power-4 football teams in non-conference play is nothing new for Miami. Since 2019, Miami has won two MAC Championships, but just once in that time has Miami come out of non-conference play with a winning record. Miami has played 13 Power-4 program in non-conference play over the last five years (2.6 per year), but has still found a way to play in a bowl game each season.
Monsters of the MAC
Miami’s defense was even better in conference play last year. Miami ranked first in scoring (10.8), total defense (272.5) and sacks (27). Miami was second in rush defense (114.4) and pass defense (158.1). The RedHawks shut out two MAC opponents (BGSU and Akron) and allowed just three points in a win over Kent State. Miami allowed only nine touchdowns in eight MAC games last season.
Tackling Machine
Linebacker Matt Salopek, the reigning 2023 MAC Defensive Player of the Year, has 418 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 and no RedHawk has ever secured 100-plus tackles in four-straight seasons. His 418 tackles ranks 10th all-time in program history.
43 And Counting…
Matt Salopek made his 43rd start last week at Notre Dame, but he is not the only defender that has played a ton of football on the defensive side of the ball. Kobe Hilton (39), Brian Ugwu (23) and Ty Wise (22) have all started at least 20 games.
Gabbert In The History Books
Brett Gabbert, who missed the last six games of the 2023 season with a leg injury, has made 41 starts in his career and is all over the Miami record books. He ranks third in program history with 8,578 passing yards, sixth in completion percentage (.590) and third in passing touchdowns (61). He is also 56 yards shy of 500 career rushing yards and is responsible for 68 touchdowns (61 passing, 7 rushing) in his career.
Ole McDonald Had a Day…again
Senior Cade McDonald set career-highs in catches (8) and yards (135) in the loss versus Cincinnati after opening the year with eight receptions for 105 yards at Northwestern. McDonald ranks 17th nationally in receptions per game (6.7) and 15th in receiving yards per game (97.3). His 20 catches for 292 yards in 2024 is already closing in on his 2023 stats: 28 grabs for 353 yards.
Trench Warfare
Miami’s offensive line is the most experienced unit on the 2024 roster. Reid Holskey has started each of the last 43 games for the Red and White and is followed by Will Jados (27), Kolby Borders (26), and John Young (17). Those four have combined to start 113 games and all four started all 14 games a year ago. Charlie Nank has made three starts at center for the Red and White this year.
All-MAC Specialty
Miami has a pair of All-MAC performers on special teams … both punters. Dom Dzobian was named a second-team All-MAC punter in 2022 and Alec Bevelhimer did the same in 2023. Dzobian, now Miami’s placekicker, has converted on 4-of-6 field goals this season, while Bevelhimer is averaging 41.1 yards per punt through three games in 2024.
Sean McVay Joins Cradle of Coaches
Miami added a 10th bronze statue to its Cradle of Coaches in Sean McVay back in 2023. McVay, the current head coach of the Los Angeles Rams, joined Ara Parseghian, Paul Brown, Weeb Ewbank, John Harbaugh, John Pont, Carm Cozza, Bo Schembechler, Red Blaik, and Paul Dietzel in the south end of Yager Stadium.
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