RedHawks Host Akron on Senior Day
11/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Miami Twitter Hits
- The Miami University football team has begun its 127th season and has an all-time record of 672-440-44 (.601).
- Head coach Chuck Martin is in his second year at the helm of the Miami program and has an all-time head coaching record of 78-25.
- Miami snapped an eight-game losing streak last week with a 28-13 win over Eastern Michigan. A win this week versus Akron would give the Red and White their first two-game win streak since the 2012 campaign.
- This Saturday's contest will be the 25th meeting between the two schools. Miami is 16-7-1 all-time versus the Zips, but Akron has won the last two meetings.
- Miami has an extremely young roster. Of its 110 players, 62 are either red-shirt or true freshmen. The RedHawks have just 15 seniors, 17 juniors and 16 sophomores.
- The RedHawks were picked to finish sixth in the East in the MAC Preseason poll, announced in late July.
Need To Know
- Miami football ranks first all-time in the Mid-American Conference in wins (672), MAC Championships (15), bowl appearances (10) and bowl wins (7).
- In 127 years of Miami football, the RedHawks have had just 32 losing seasons. Since joining the MAC in 1948 (67 years) Miami has had just 15 losing seasons.
About Chuck Martin
- Head coach Chuck Martin, who earned that title on Dec. 3, 2013, brings an impressive resume to Oxford, Ohio.
- 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 14 seasons.
- 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.
About Akron
Akron enters Saturday's action with a 4-5 overall and 2-3 Mid-American Conference record, which includes a 17-13 victory last week over UMass. Offensively, they are led by running back Conor Hundley and the Zips rushing attack that averages 156.0 yards per game. As a team, they average 21.0 points and 345.7 yards per game.
Defensively, they have one of the top units in the conference, ranking third in scoring defense (23.2) and total defense (336.8). The defense is led by a strong pass rush, that has recorded 22 sacks this season.
Series vs. Akron
Miami is 16-7-1 all-time versus Akron, but the Zips are currently ridding a two-game win streak over Miami with victories in 2013 (24-17) and 2014 (29-19). The RedHawks are 10-2-1 all-time versus Akron in Oxford, Ohio.
Eastern Michigan Recap
The RedHawks snapped an eight-game losing streak last Saturday versus Eastern Michigan, capturing a 28-13 record. The offense was led by a strong rushing attack (291 yards) and an efficient passing game (13-of-18 for 150 yards), while the defense had an incredible performance, allowing just 10 first downs and 192 yards (3.3 per play).
Defensive Line of Destruction
In the win over Eastern Michigan, Miami recorded nine sacks for a loss of 72 yards and finished the game with 15 tackles for loss for a total of 86 negative yards. The nine sacks were a new school record, surpassing the eight sack mark versus Buffalo back in 1999. Miami's front four added another nine quarterback hurries and held EMU to 5-of-16 on third downs. Of those 16 third down attempts, 10 were at least 10 yards or longer. Overall, EMU dropped back to throw the ball 29 times and was sacked on nine of them, was hurried an addition nine times and threw one interception.
Playing With an Edge
Of those nine sacks, seven were record by Miami's starting defensive end duo of JT Jones and Bryson Albright. Jones finished the game with a school record four sacks (ranks 12th in the MAC all-time), while Albright recorded three sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. The duo combined for another six quarterback hurries versus the Eagles. Jones was named MAC East Defensive Player of the Week following the contest versus EMU.
Running on Full
Miami rushed for a season-best 291 yards versus EMU, the RedHawks' top rushing performance since they ran for 391 yards versus Akron in 1999. Miami's 291 yards were very balanced. Alonzo Smith led the way with 93 yards (career-best), followed by Maurice Thomas (80 yards), Kenny Young (52 yards), Gus Ragland (42 yards) and Spencer McInnis (22 yards).
Senior Day
Miami will honor 12 seniors this Saturday prior to the start of the game. Those seniors include: Bryson Albright, Trevan Brown, Brison Burris, Joe Donlan, Josh Dooley, Alvonta Jenkins, Kent Kern, Christian Koch, Drew Kummer, Bryce Lehwald, Kaleb Patterson and Mitch Winters
Building Blocks
Coach Martin has always said the rebuild is going to take some time, but one thing he is doing early is playing a lot of guys on both sides of the ball and a lot of those guys are extremely young. Miami has already played 68 players this season, which includes 30 freshmen (15 true freshmen), 11 sophomores, 12 juniors and 15 seniors.
Young Guns
Clearly Miami has one of the youngest rosters in the entire country, but below are a few more notes on exactly how many young guys are playing in 2015.
- Miami's top five rushers are either redshirt or true freshmen.
- Eight of Miami's top nine pass catchers are sophomores or younger.
- Of Miami's 20 touchdowns scored, 17 are by sophomores or freshmen.
- Miami's top five all-purpose performers are sophomores or freshmen.
- Of Miami's top-29 tacklers, 17 are sophomores or younger.
Billy Foot"Bahl"
As Saturday hits, freshman quarterback Billy Bahl is expected to make his sixth career start and his improvements are beginning to show each and every week.
Weeks 1-4 combined (spot duty) 18-40, 194 yards, 1 TD, 5 INT
First career start (at Ohio) 8-23, 150 yards, 0 TD, 4 INT
Second start (NIU) 16-33, 156 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Third start (at WMU) 13-26, 200 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
Fourth start (Buffalo) 13-36, 224 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
Fifth start (EMU) 10-14, 119 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Taking Care of Business
After throwing nine interceptions in his first 63 pass attempts (1 INT every 7 throws), freshman Billy Bahl has started to take care of the football. In his last 109 pass attempts he has turned the ball over just twice (1 INT every 54.5 throws).
In Gus We Trust
Two weeks ago versus Buffalo Billy Bahl took every snap for the Red and White. This past week, Bahl and redshirt freshman Gus Ragland werecloser to a 50/50 split in playing time. Versus the Eagles Ragland had his most efficient game of his career, completing 3-of-4 passes for 31 yards and a touchdown, while adding 42 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Road Graders
Miami is averaging 134.9 yards per game on the ground this season with the help of several young legs. The RedHawks top five rushers this season are all freshmen, led by redshirt freshmen Alonzo Smith (38.3), Gus Ragland (29.6) and Kenny Young (27.9), along with true freshmen Maurice Thomas (34.5) and Leonard Ross (19.6).
Short Recruiting Trip
Head Coach Chuck Martin was able to save on the recruiting budget when he signed freshman running back Maurice Thomas. Thomas, a local product from Talawanda High School (located in Oxford, Ohio) is making Coach Martin happy he made the short trip. Thomas currently leads the team with 10 plays of over 20 yards, despite only touching the ball 34 times this season. Thomas has 13 rushes for 207 yards (15.9 avg.), including three carries for over 20 yards and has 21 kick returns, with seven of them surpassing 20-plus yards. He is averaging 18.6 yards per return.
Take it to the House (Almost)
One of those 20-yard plays that Thomas had last week was a 77-yard run in which he was tackled down at the 1-yard line. The 77-yard run was Miami's longest since Thomas Merriweather had a 96-yard run versus Temple back in 2010.
Only a Matter of Time
It may only be a matter of time before Maurice Thomas takes a kick return to the house for a touchdown. In the last three weeks (had no returns versus EMU), Thomas has had three returns in which he was one tackle away from scoring. Last week versus Buffalo he had a 28-yard return (downed at the Miami 44) and a 54-yard return (downed at the UB-44). In the previous week, he had a 32-yard return versus Western Michigan (downed at the Miami 39).
Making The Switch
Sophomore Paul Moses seems to be taking this switch to defense well. Moses, who was a running back in 2014, is third on the team in tackles (66) and fourth in tackles for loss (6.0). He is third on the team in sacks (3.0) and has one quarterback hurry and a forced fumble.
Sack for a Sack
This might be a first for college football. Austin Gearing, who was Miami's starting quarterback for three games in 2013, is now a member of Miami's defense ... at defensive end. Gearing checked in a 6-foot-5 and 212 pounds back in 2013 and now is up to 250 pounds just two years later. Gearing was sacked 11 times in 2013. Has a division one football player ever been sacked and recorded a sack in a career? Gearing has a chance to do just that.
Burris Healthy
It's been a while since any Miami fan has heard the name Brison Burris. Burris, after starting 23 straight games in 2012 and 2013, was injured early in spring practice back in 2014, missing all of last season. Burris currently is second on the team with 69 tackles and one forced fumble. He also leads the team with three interceptions, including a 76-yard touchdown versus Buffalo.
Behind Enemy Lines
Kent Kern had 14 tackles (second-most in his career) and 5.0 tackles for loss in a close contest versus Kent State back in early October. His 5.0 tackles for loss rank 13th in MAC history. Since his arrival to Oxford, Ohio, he has recorded 281 tackles and 27.5 tackles for loss from his middle linebacker position in his three-plus years of action. He currently leads the team with 75 tackles and 11.0 tackles for loss this season.
Captain, My Captain
Miami will have seven captains in 2015, voted on by the players themselves. The Miami offense will be captained by Trevan Brown, Brandyn Cook and Rokeem Williams, while the defensive captains are Brison Burris, Kent Kern, Bryson Albright and JT Jones.