Football's Seniors Play Home Finale
11/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 11, 2011
Game 11
Miami RedHawks (4-6 overall; 3-3 MAC, 3rd in East)
vs. Western Michigan Broncos (5-4 overall; 3-3 MAC, 3rd in West)
THREE QUICK HITS
1. Miami wide receiver Nick Harwell set RedHawk single-game records for catches (15) and receiving yardage (229) at Temple. It marked the seventh time in nine games this season that Harwell has recorded more than 100 receiving yards.
2. Zac Dysert's 7,745 career passing yards ranks 16th on the MAC's all-time passing yardage list.
3. Thirteen Miami football seniors play their final home game on Nov. 16 vs. Western Michigan. the class includes Aaron Griffo, Tyrone Jones, Jerrell Wedge, Anthony Kokal, C.J. Marck, Ryan Kennedy, Na'eem Outler, Jordain Brown, Will Diaz, Cory Brown, Brandon Brooks, Kendrick Bruton and Chris Givens.
PREVIEWING WESTERN MICHIGAN: The Western Michigan Broncos enter their game in Oxford with the same MAC record as Miami (3-3). WMU scored 63 points on Nov. 8 in a three-point loss at Toledo last Tuesday, adding to their impressive offensive statistics. The Broncos, triggered by quarterback Alex Carder (300.5 ypg) and receiver Jordan White (140.2 ypg), rank 11th in FBS passing with 318 ypg. Western turns to Tevin Drake for rushing yardage (54.3 ypg). Defensively, the Broncos are yielding 453.5 ypg, and are led by Johnnie Simon (93 tackles, 2 INT, 6.5 TFL), Mitch Zajac (79 tackles), Drew Nowak (69 tackles, 12.5 TFL, 4 INT) and Freddie Bishop (11 TFL).
Upcoming MAC Games:
Nov. 12
*Buffalo at E. Michigan, 1 p.m.
*Kent State at Akron, 2 p.m. (STO)
Nov. 15
*Ball State at N. Illinois, 8 p.m. (ESPNU)
Nov. 16
*W. Michigan at Miami, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
*Ohio at Bowling Green, 8 p.m. (ESPNU or ESPN2)
Nov. 18
*Toledo at C. Michigan, 8 p.m. (ESPNU)
Nov. 19
*Akron at Buffalo, 12 p.m. (Time Warner)
*E. Michigan at Kent State, 1 p.m.
*Army at Temple, 1 p.m. (ESPN3)
Nov. 22
*Miami at Ohio, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Nov. 25
*Akron at W. Michigan, TBD. (ESPNU or 3)
*Bowling Green at Buffalo,TBD (ESPNU or 3)
*E. Michigan at N. Illinois, TBD (ESPNU or 3)
*Kent State at Temple, TBD (ESPNU or 3)
*Toledo at Ball State, TBD (ESPNU or 3)
*MAC game; All starting times ET
HOW MIAMI CAN PLAY IN THE MAC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
1. Miami must defeat WMU and Ohio in its last two games. Two victories would leave the RedHawks with a 5-3 record. Ohio would also have at least three losses in this scenario
2. Temple must lose its final MAC game vs. Kent State. A loss would leave the Owls with a 4-4 record.
MAC BOWL SYNOPSIS
Miami needs victories in its last two regular-season games to become bowl eligible. Teams with .500 records can qualify for bowl games if their conference has a contract with a bowl game. Also, teams with .500 records (i.e. 6-6) could earn bowl bids if all other FBS teams with winning records have been taken and postseason spots still remain vacant. The MAC's three (3) primary bowl agreements are with the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl (Ford Field/Detroit), GoDaddy.com Bowl (Mobile, Ala.) and uDrove Humanitarian Bowl (Boise, Idaho). The GoDaddy.com Bowl will have the MAC's No. 1 selection in 2011. Also, the MAC has secured secondary agreements through the 2013 football season with the BBVA Compass Bowl (Birmingham, AL), New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque, NM), Beef O' Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl (St. Petersburg, FL), TicketCity Bowl (Dallas, TX) and Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (San Francisco, CA.). The MAC's No. 4 selection could play in any of the following games through 2013: Birmingham, New Mexico or St. Petersburg, while the No. 5 selection could play in San Francisco in 2011 (vs. the Pac-12).
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
*Miami has won 10 of its last 14 games against MAC opponents.
*Miami's final two MAC opponents of 2011--Western Michigan (3-3) and Ohio (3-2)--currently have a combined record of 6-5 in league play.
*Miami's offense has totaled 97 total points in its last three games (41 vs. Buffalo; 35 vs. Akron; 21 at Temple), averaing 32.3 points per game.
*Miami's defense has yielded only 40 total points to its last three opponents--13(vs. Buffalo), 3 (vs. Akron) and 24 (at Temple)--an average of 13.3 points per game.
*Should the RedHawks ultimately win the East Division title, they would have 10 days to prepare for the MAC Championship Game.
*Miami has either won outright or shared the MAC's East Division title in five of the last eight seasons.
*Quarterback Zac Dysert and receiver Nick Harwell have hooked up on seven of Miami's eight-longest plays from scrimmage in 2011: 71 yards at Toledo; 66 yards vs. Cincinnati; 66 yards at Minnesota; 52 yards at Akron; 48 yards vs. Bowling Green; 47 yards vs. Cincinnati; 45 yards vs. Army.
*Zac Dysert has 35 pass plays that have resulted in gains of 20 or more yards through the first 10 games of 2011. He had 26 plays of that length in 10 games a year ago.
*Miami's kickoff return defense yielded only 13.3 yards per return at Temple last Wednesday, a figure about half of what the Owls were averaging (26.3). The RedHawks rank as college football's top defender against kickoff returns (14.37 ypr, 38 rets. for 546 yds).
--www.MURedHawks.com--
