RedHawks Close Out 2015 Season With Trip to UMass
11/17/2015 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 672-441-44 (.600).
- 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 78-26.
- Miami is 2-9 on the season following a 37-28 loss last week versus Akron. A win over UMass would give them three wins on the year, improving upon its 2-10 record in 2014.
- This Saturday's contest will be the fourth meeting between the two schools. Miami is 2-1 all-time versus the Minutemen, which includes a 42-41 win last season.
- 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 UMass
The Minutemen are 2-8 overall and 1-5 this year in the Mid-American Conference. They are coming off a 28-17 victory over Eastern Michigan last Saturday in Ypsilanti, Michigan. UMass has a strong passing attack, led by quarterback Blake Frohnapfel, who has thrown for 2,575 yards and 16 touchdowns this year. His top receiving target is Tajae Sharp, who has 99 catches for 1,100 yards and five scores. No other pass catcher for the Minutemen has more than 29 grabs.
Series vs. UMass
Miami holds a 2-1 all-time advantage over UMass, but have never traveled to Amherst, Mass., and come away with a win. Miami's lone road contest versus the Minutemen came in 2013 in a 17-10 loss. That contest was Mike Bath's first game as interim coach following the firing on former head coach Don Treadwell.
Akron Recap
Trailing 34-7 just 55 seconds into the third quarter, Miami scored three consecutive touchdowns to get within 34-28 with 8:37 to play, but an Akron field goal with 2:45 to go clinched the game for the Zips. Miami turned the ball over four times in the loss. Freshman quarterback Billy Bahl was 11-of-25 for 206 yards and two touchdowns, while also throwing two interceptions.
Road Woes
Miami has lost 22 straight road games, dating back to the 2012 season. The last time the RedHawks traveled home with a victory was following a 56-49 win at Akron on Sept. 29, 2012.
For the Last Time
Miami will have 21 players competing for the last time when they take the field versus UMass. Those players include: Bryson Albright, Jake Aleck, Trevan Brown, Brison Burris, Terry Davis, Orlando David, Joe Donlan, Josh Dooley, Nate Gerbus, Alvonta Jenkins, Kevin Johnson, Kent Kern, Christian Koch, Drew Kummer, Bryce Lehwald, Kaleb Patterson, Jimmy Rousher, Marshall Taylor, Nick Walter, Rokeem Williams and Mitch Winters.
Saving The Best for Last
Playing in his final game in Yager Stadium, wide receiver Rokeem Williams (who will graduate early) had the best game of his career, recording a career-best seven receptions for 181 yards and one touchdown. His touchdown was a 78-yard grab from Billy Bahl, the longest catch of his career and Miami's longest play from scrimmage this season.
Take it to the House!
During Miami's frantic near comeback over Akron, Marshall Taylor had a pick-6 from 31 yards out to get Miami to within a single score at 34-28. It was Miami's second pick-6 in three weeks. Brison Burris recorded a 76-yard interception for a touchdown in the loss versus Buffalo.
Close Is Not Good Enough
Last spring and during fall camp, many RedHawks wore shirts that said "close is not good enough," detailing the amount of close losses the team had in 2014, something that has rung true in 2015 as well. Overall, in the past 23 games, Miami has lost eight games by a single score. This year alone they have dropped losses to Cincinnati (37-33), Kent State (20-14) and Buffalo (29-24). Last season they had five one-score losses to Eastern Kentucky (17-10), Cincinnati (31-24), Buffalo (35-27), Central Michigan (34-27) and Ohio (24-21).
Defensive Line of Destruction
Two weeks ago 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.
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.
- Miami's top five all-purpose performers are sophomores or freshmen.
- Of Miami's top-29 tacklers, 17 are sophomores or younger.
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 134 pass attempts he has turned the ball over just four times (1 INT every 33.5 throws).
In Gus We Trust
Gus Ragland had the best game of his young career versus Akron, completing 7-of-10 passes for 69 yards and one touchdown, while adding 65 yards on the ground in spot duty for Billy Bahl. Martin announced on Monday that Ragland would miss the UMass game with an injury.
Road Graders
Miami is averaging 128.8 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 (35.4), Gus Ragland (33.1) and Kenny Young (25.8), along with true freshmen Maurice Thomas (29.6) 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 39 times this season. Thomas has 13 rushes for 207 yards (15.9 avg.), including three carries for over 20 yards and has 25 kick returns, with seven of them surpassing 20-plus yards. He is averaging 17.4 yards per return.
Take it to the House (Almost)
One of those 20-yard plays that Thomas had was a 77-yard run versus Eastern Michigan in which he was tackled 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.
Bring It Back
Thomas had a 100-yard kick return for a touchdown versus Akron last week that was wiped away due to a penalty and had another 50-yard return taken away versus the Zips for the same reason.
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 (68) and fifth in tackles for loss (6.5). He is fourth 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 77 tackles and one forced fumble. He also leads the team with four 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 288 tackles and 28.5 tackles for loss from his middle linebacker position in his three-plus years of action. He currently leads the team with 82 tackles and 12.0 tackles for loss this season.
Block That Kick
Sophomore Tony Reid had two blocked punts in the loss to Akron. His first block gave Miami the ball at their own 37 and later blocked an Akron punt that spotted Miami the ball at the UA 1-yard line. For his efforts he was named MAC East Special Teams Player of the Week
Miami Picked To Finish Sixth in East
Back in late July, the Mid-American Conference announced that the RedHawks were picked to finish sixth in the East Division. Bowling Green (160 points) was picked to win the East with 18 of 24 first-place votes. Ohio and Akron were second (118 points), followed by UMass (113 points), Buffalo (70 points), Miami (47 points) and Kent State (46 points).
In the West, Toledo recorded 11 first-place votes to finish with 121 points. Western Michigan was second (120 points), followed by Northern Illinois (113 points), Ball State (66 points), Central Michigan (56 points) and Eastern Michigan (28 points).
Youth Is Served
The youth movement for Miami football under head coach Chuck Martin is underway. Miami enters the 2015 season with 110 players on its roster with 62 (56.4%) of them as redshirt or true freshmen. The RedHawks have 15 seniors (13.6%), 17 juniors (15.5%) and 16 sophomores (14.5%).
We Recruit Even Younger
Miami University head football coach Chuck Martin announced on Monday, June 8 the addition of five-year-old Liam Kaufman to the 2015 football roster. Liam, a member of Team IMPACT, will serve as a member of the RedHawks' team.
Liam, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in early February of 2015 and began treatment immediately at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital. He was discharged on March 6 and is expected to continue treatment until April of 2018.
Liam was presented a game ball in the locker room following the 26-7 win over Presbyterian.
If You Build It...
Miami's Athletic Director, David Sayler, has been busy in his first 32 months, adding several facilities for the department. The newest installment can be seen just north of Yager Stadium. The new David and Anita Dauch Indoor Sports Center (DISC) opened last February and featured a full length 120-yard field and four sprint lanes.
Between Yager Stadium and the DISC will feature the Gunlock Family Athletic Performance Center. The Gunlock Center will provide much-needed upgrades to Miami Football's locker room and offices while also hosting a state-of-the-art medical and athletic training facility that will serve all Miami's student-athletes.
Other facilities in the works/complete are the new weight room at Steve Cady Arena for the ice hockey team (complete), The Legacy Project at Hayden Park (nearly complete) and Millett Hall renovations for basketball and volleyball.
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.