Miami Football Entertains Bowling Green Thursday Night
11/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 10, 2009
OXFORD, Ohio - With all its road games behind them, the Miami University football team will close out the season with a pair of home contests, starting Thursday at 6 p.m. against the Bowling Green Falcons (4-5, 3-2 Mid-American Conference).
The RedHawks (1-9, 1-5 MAC) are looking for their second straight win at home after knocking off Toledo, 31-24, on Halloween. Miami nearly defeated MAC East-leading Temple last Thursday, rallying from 18 points down in the fourth quarter to grab a one-point lead, but the Owls kicked a game-winning field goal with three seconds left to steal a 34-32 victory. The RedHawks have won three straight over Bowling Green and nine of the last 10 meetings.
QUICK HITS
1. Redshirt freshman quarterback Zac Dysert passed for 426 yards at Temple last Thursday, fourth-most on Miami's all-time single-game passing yardage list and more than any other Miami QB except Ben Roethlisberger. In his seven starts, Dysert is averaging 297.6 yards passing per game. He threw for 337 yards against Kent State in his first start, then followed up that performance with a 286-yard effort against 10th-ranked Cincinnati. In his last three games he's tossed for consecutive totals of 348 yards vs. Northern Illinois, 344 yards vs. Toledo and 426 vs. Temple (372.7 avg.).
2. Miami is averaging 31.5 point per game over its last two contests compared to just 11.6 points in its first eight games of 2009.
3. Miami has played one of the toughest schedules in all of college football. Two of its opponents are ranked in the Top-10, six are already bowl eligible with six wins, and two others are just one victory away from being eligible for post-season play.
PREVIEWING BOWLING GREEN: Coach Dave Clawson's Falcons are still battling for MAC East Division supremecy, so Miami should expect to get Bowling Green's very best effort Thursday evening. It's been the Tyler Sheehan-Freddie Barnes Show thus far in 2009 for BG, so expect footballs to fill the air at Yager Stadium. The MAC's premier quarterback-wide receiver duo is averaging nearly 40 percent of Bowling Green's passing total. In nine games, Sheehan has thrown for 2,990 yards and 16 touchdowns. Sheehan, who will be making his 35th consecutive start on Thursday, has thrown for 9,056 yards (second-best in school history) and 59 touchdowns. Barnes already has an astounding 107 catches, a BG single-season record, for 1,176 yards and 10 TDs. His most outstanding single-game effort was a 22 catch-278 yards-3 TD performance against Kent State. BG has a bevy of terrific wideouts, also including Adrian Hodges and Chris Wright who have 44 and 33 receptions, respectively. Willie Geter is the Falcons' primary ground threat. Defensively the Falcons are led by linebacker Jerett Sanderson, who is tied for the team lead in tackles (59) and first in tackles for loss (6.5) and has chipped in with a sack, quarterback hurry and a forced fumble. The defense got a major boost with the return of P.J. Mahone, who after missing the last six games had a team-high 10 tackles, blocked a punt and recovered two blocked punts in a 30-29 win over Buffalo Tuesday, Nov. 3.
MIAMI'S TOP INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES VS. BOWLING GREEN:
Most Passing Yards: 440 yards by Ben Roethlisberger (26-35, 3TD), 2003
Most Receiving Yards: 181 yards by Tom Murphy (9), 1983
Most Rushing Yards: 210 yards by Chris Alexander (27), 1989
AFTER BOWLING GREEN: The RedHawks play their season finale at home on Wednesday night, November 18, with a 6 p.m. game against Buffalo.
MIAMI SINGLE-GAME PASSING YARDAGE LEADERS
1. Ben Roethlisberger vs. NIU, 2002 (41-61) ...............525 yards
2. Ben Roethlisberger at Hawaii, 2001 (40-53) .............452 yards
3. Ben Roethlisberger at BG, 2003 (26-35) ................ 440 yards
4. Zac Dysert at Temple, 2009 (31-51) .................... 426 yards
5. Josh Betts vs. Cincinnati, 2004 (26-43) ............... 416 yards
6. Ben Roethlisberger at Kent St., 2003 (28-44) .......... 409 yards
7. Ben Roethlisberger vs. Akron, 2001 (23-40)............. 399 yards
8. Josh Betts vs. Cent. Mich., 2005 (27-46) .............. 395 yards
9. Josh Betts at Temple, 2005 (28-40) .................... 379 yards
10. Ben Roethlisberger vs. UC, 2003 (31-49) .............. 377 yards
11. Ben Roethlisberger vs. L'ville, 2003 (21-33) ......... 376 yards
12. Ben Roethlisberger vs. Akron, 2003 (31-47) ........... 369 yards
13. Josh Betts vs. Cincinnati, 2005 (22-35) .............. 359 yards
14. Mike Bath at Vanderbilt, 2000 (24-41) ................ 358 yards
15. Mike Kokal at Purdue, 2006 (26-43) ................... 355 yards
16. Ben Roethlisberger at NU, 2003 (28-37) ............... 353 yards
17. Mike Bath vs. Cincinnati, 1999 (21-41) ............... 352 yards
18. Josh Betts at West. Mich., 2004 (23-33) .............. 349 yards
19. Zac Dysert vs. NIU, 2009 (27-38) ..................... 348 yards
20. Zac Dysert vs. Toledo, 2009 (31-51) .................. 344 yards
21. Ben Roethlisberger vs. Iowa, 2002 (41-61) ............ 343 yards
22. Mike Bates at Toledo, 1987 (38-65) ................... 341 yards
23. Zac Dysert at Kent State, 2009 (31-53) ............... 337 yards
24. Ben Roethlisberger at Colo. St., 2003 (29-38) ........ 330 yards
25. Ben Roethlisberger at UCF, 2003 (24-29) .............. 327 yards
MIAMI GETS OFFENSIVE: Miami's offense has compiled 3,060 total yards on 598 plays (382.5 ypg and 5.1 ypp) over its last eight games. In its first two games of 2009 (vs. Kentucky and Boise State), the RedHawks plodded along at 191 yards per game and 3.2 yards per play.
GETTING THE POINTS: Over its last two games, Miami is averaging 31.5 points per game (31 vs. Toledo and 32 vs. Temple). Miami's 24 first-half points against Toledo were its most in the opening half since scoring 30 in a 47-14 win over Bowling Green on Oct. 13, 2007. The RedHawks' 32 total points against Temple were their most this year and the most since scoring 38 in a win over Charleston Southern in 2008.
FIRST-AND-TEN: Despite its 1-9 record, the RedHawks have 206 first downs (20.6 per game), five more than it has given up in 2009. Miami had 29 first downs against Toledo, second-most by any MAC team in 2009. Seven times this season Miami has had 20 or more. The RedHawks had first-down outputs of 29 (Toledo), 27 (vs. Western Michigan), 26 (Kent State), 23 (Cincinnati), 23 (Temple), 21 (Northern Illinois) and 20 (Northwestern).
TURNOVER ADVANTAGE: Turnovers have been a problem for Miami all season, though the last three games have been a drastic improvement. The RedHawks committed two turnovers at Temple, only one turnover two weeks ago against Toledo and no turnovers against Northern Illinois three weeks ago. Prior to the last three weeks, the RedHawks had committed at least two turnovers in every game and at least four in five of their first seven contests.
REDHAWKS ON THE AIRWAVES
Entering its third year of its partnership with ISP Sports Marketing, the Miami ISP 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 Tim Bray will provide color commentary. Terry Bridge is the network's sideline reporter. Tune-in to one of Miami's game-day affiliates:
WMOH-AM 1450 (Hamilton, OH)
WFMG-FM 101.3 (Richmond, IN)
WPFB-FM 105.9 (Middletown, OH)
WPFB-AM 910 (Middletown, OH)
WONE-AM 980 (Dayton, OH)
WKVB-AM 1490 (Richmond, IN)
The pregame show on Thursday, Nov. 12, begins at 5 p.m. ET.
GET YOUR TICKETS
Single-game tickets for Miami University football's four remaining home contests are available for purchase at the Athletic Ticket Office in Millett Hall or online. The remaining two home games will be played at Yager Stadium in Oxford against Bowling Green (Nov. 12, 6 p.m.) and Buffalo (Nov. 18, 6 p.m.). For games at Yager, adult tickets may be purchased for $20, tickets for youth under 18 are $15, and reserved tickets in the Hawk's Nest (north end zone) also are $15. Tickets can be ordered online (www.MURedHawks.com), in person at the Millett Hall Box Office or by phone 1-866-MUHAWKS (1-866-684-2957) or 513-529-HAWK. For more information about the game, go to MakeItRed.net.
For the complete release, click here.
--MURedHawks.com--
