By Packy Moore
MIAMI GAME NOTES
https://miamiredhawks.com/documents/2024/10/1/Game_Notes_-_2024_Toledo.pdf
The Miami University football team opens Mid-American Conference play on Oct. 5 with a trip to Toledo. Saturday’s contest will be a rematch of last season’s MAC title game.
About Miami
• Miami football ranks first all-time in the Mid-American Conference in wins (725), conference wins (317), MAC Championships (17) and bowl wins (8).
• Historically, Miami’s 725 career wins are third all-time among Group-of-Five programs, behind just Navy (742) and Army (731).
• 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 131-72.
• 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 121 games coached at Miami is tops in program history and his 57 career wins ranks behind only Randy Walker (59) and ahead of the Terry Hoeppner (48), Frank Wilton (44) and John Pont (43).
About Toledo
Toledo finished non-conference play at 3-1 behind an offense that averages 37.3 points per game. Quarterback Tucker Glesson has thrown for 862 yards and 11 touchdowns through the first month of the season. Defensively, Emmanuel McNeil-Warren is tops on the team with 38 tackles, while the Rockets as a team have 12.0 sacks this year.
Last Meeting Versus Toledo
Saturday will be a rematch of the 2023 MAC Championship Game. Rashad Amos ran for two touchdowns and Aveon Smith added 208 all-purpose yards as Miami defeated No. 23 Toledo 23-14 back on Dec. 2. Austin Ertl blocked a pair of kicks and Graham Nicholson converted three field goals for the RedHawks, who won their 17th MAC title and first since 2019. Dequan Finn threw for 273 yards to lead the Rockets, who saw their 11-game win streak snapped.
Series Vs. Toledo
The RedHawks lead the all-time series 29-23-1 over Toledo, but have not beaten Toledo on the road since Oct. 26, 2002. To be fair, these two teams did not face each other for 4,382 days (no contests from 2011 to 2023), but will now square-off for the third time since Oct. 21, 2023.
UMass Recap
Dom Dzioban hit a career-long 47-yard field goal on the final play of regulation to force overtime and followed it with a 43-yard kick in the extra session to lift the Miami University football team to a dramatic 23-20 win over Massachusetts Saturday afternoon. Keyon Mozee led the RedHawks offensively with 114 yards and a touchdown on nine carries.
• Mozee produced the second 100-yard rushing game of his career and the first since Sept. 24, 2022. His first-quarter touchdown run was his first score since rushing for two touchdowns versus Delaware State back on Sept. 23, 2023.
• Matt Salopek made a game-high 10 tackles and moved into ninth place on Miami’s all-time list for career tackles with 428, passing Terrell Jones (2000-03).
• Andre Johnson made a 44-yard reception for Miami, his longest since Sept. 18, 2021 with Arizona State.
• Adam Trick made a career-high six tackles and recorded his first half-sack as a RedHawk.
• Mychal Yharbrough made his first career start.
• Dzioban had made four career field goals coming into the game, nearly equaling that total as he went 3-for-3 and added a pair of extra points to account for 11 of Miami’s 23 points.
• Miami has now won two-straight overtime games, downing Cincinnati last season (2-6 all-time in OT).
Offense Finding Its Way
The 23 points Miami scored versus UMass was a season high. Miami entered last Saturday’s game with just two touchdowns in three games and the RedHawks scored a pair of touchdowns against the Minutemen.
Running Game Keeps Getting Better
Miami managed just 64 yards rushing through the first two weeks of the season versus Northwestern and Cincinnati. In week three the Red and White rumbled for 110 yards versus Notre Dame and added a season-best 168 yards in the win over UMass.
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 dominant 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 428 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 428 tackles ranks ninth all-time in program history.
43 And Counting…
Matt Salopek made his 44th start last week versus UMass, but he is not the only defender that has played a ton of football on the defensive side of the ball. Kobe Hilton (40), Brian Ugwu (24) and Ty Wise (23) 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 42 starts in his career and is all over the Miami record books. He ranks third in program history with 8,759 passing yards, sixth in completion percentage (.590) and third in passing touchdowns (62). He is also 41 yards shy of 500 career rushing yards and is responsible for 69 touchdowns (62 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 30th nationally in receptions per game (6.0) and 37th in receiving yards per game (82.0). His 24 catches for 328 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 44 games for the Red and White and is followed by Will Jados (28), Kolby Borders (27), and John Young (18). Those four have combined to start 117 games and all four started all 14 games a year ago. Charlie Nank has made four 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 7-of-9 field goals this season, while Bevelhimer is averaging 40.6 yards per punt through four 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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