This Week's Matchup
Miami University and the University of Akron will square-off on Saturday, Oct. 6 at 3:30 p.m. at Infocision Stadium. 

Television
The matchup with the Zips will be carried live on ESPN+. Robert Lee will handle play-by-play duties and John Gregory will serve as color analyst.

ESPN+
ESPN+ is the premium multi-sport, direct-to-consumer video service from The Walt Disney Company's Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) segment in conjunction with ESPN. It offers fans thousands of additional live events, on-demand content and original programming not available on ESPN's linear TV or digital networks. Fans subscribe to ESPN+ for just $4.99 a month (or $49.99 per year) through the ESPN App or ESPN.com.  The ESPN App also provides fans separate access to all of ESPN's "TV Everywhere" streaming of its linear television networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, etc.) and ESPN3 – to fans with a pay TV subscription. ESPN+ and ESPN's authenticated streaming is also available on ESPN.com.

 Fans who have any questions about the new ESPN App or ESPN+, may contact ESPN customer care:

Online: support.espn.com
Phone: 1-888-549-ESPN
ESPN App: Live Chat Feature

Radio
In its 12th year of its partnership with IMG College, the Miami 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 Terry Bridge will provide color commentary. Randy Hollowell will be the network's sideline reporter. Tune-in to one of Miami's gameday affiliates:

WMOH-AM 1450 (Hamilton, Ohio)
WFMG-FM 101.3 (Richmond, Ind.)
WDBZ-AM 1230 (Cincinnati, Ohio)
WONE-AM 980 (Dayton, Ohio)
WKBV-AM 1490 and 100.9 FM (Richmond, Ind.)

Need To Know
• Miami football ranks first all-time in the Mid-American Conference in wins (685), MAC Championships (15) and bowl wins (7).

About Chuck Martin
• Head coach Chuck Martin, who earned that title on Dec. 3, 2013, brings an impressive resume to Oxford, Ohio.
• Earlier this year Martin signed a contract extension that will run until 2020. 
• 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 16 seasons.  Martin has an all-time head coaching record of 91-44.
• 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.

Western Michigan Recap
Sam Sloman missed a 50-yard field goal with 20 seconds remaining in the game as the RedHawks fell to Western Michigan 40-39 last Saturday. Gus Ragland threw for 294 yards and three touchdowns, but WMU's Jon Wassink stole the show, throwing for 439 yards and five touchdowns in the come from behind win.

Tidbits From WMU Contest
• Maurice Thomas opened the game with a 99-yard kickoff for a touchdown. Miami's last kick return for a score was from DeMarrio Jones at Kent State in 1997. The last opening kickoff for a touchdown was in 1986 versus Ball State by Chris Thomas. Thomas earned MAC Special Teams Player of the Week for this performance.
• Jack Sorenson had career bests in catches (9) and yards (156).
• Dominique Robinson had four catches for 59 yards and two touchdowns. Robinson entered the contest with zero career catches.
• Left tackle Jordan Rigg recorded his first career touchdown on a backwards pass from Ragland. Officially, it goes in as a two-yard rushing touchdown.
• Miami had 11 plays last Saturday for over 20 yards. The RedHawks came into the game with just 19 plays of over 20 yards the entire season.
• Tight end Andrew Homer caught his third touchdown of the season.
• Brad Koenig had 10 tackles, 1.0 sack and a forced fumble.

About Akron
Akron is 2-1 on the season. Their opening contest at Nebraska was cancelled due to weather and they had a bye last Saturday. Saturday's contest will be their MAC opener.  Offensively, Akron averages 31.0 points and 349.3 yards per game and are led by Quarterback Kato Nelson. Nelson has thrown for 662 yards and six touchdowns, while adding 135 yards on the ground. Defensively, they allow 22.3 points and 336.7 yards per game.

Series Vs. Akron
Miami is 17-9-1 all-time versus Akron and 6-6 in Akron, Ohio. Miami defeated the Zips last season 24-14 to snap a four-game losing streak that dated back to 2013. Miami's last win in Akron was one for the ages, a 56-49 victory back in 2012.

Career Numbers Versus Akron
• Gus Ragland has completed 24-of-40 passes for 304 yards and four touchdowns in his career versus Akron. Ragland has thrown just four interceptions in his career versus the MAC, but two have come against the Zips.
• Kenny Young has averaged 6.5 yards per carry versus the Zips (23-149). Young has added 89 yards through the air as well.
• Junior McMullen has 19 career tackles and Doug Costin has three career sacks verses UA. 

Martin vs. the MAC Since 2016
Miami is 11-7 versus the MAC since the 2016 season. In 2016 Miami opened 0-2 and won its final six conference games of the season and went 4-4 in 2017 in conference play.

Nice To Meet You
Due to key injuries to several of Miami's star offensive players, Gus Ragland has had to lean on some new faces his season. Everyone listed below came into the season having never caught a pass for the Red and White.
• Wide Receiver Jack Sorenson leads the team with 22 grabs  for 360 yards. The sophomore has 15 catches for 228 yards and one touchdown over the last two weeks.
• Tight End Andrew Homer is tops on the squad with three touchdowns.
• Last week Dominique Robinson had four catches for 59 yards and two touchdowns, all the first of his career.

Red Means Go
Miami has scored on 31 of their last 33 red zone trips, dating back to last season. Of those 33 trips, 25 have resulted in touchdowns (75.8%). This season Miami is 15-for-16 in the red zone with 12 (75.0%) touchdowns. Miami is also 10-for-10 in the redzone during MAC play with seven touchdowns.

Gardner Expected to Miss Rest of Season
Senior wide receiver James Gardner suffered an injury at Minnesota and is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Gardner, a first-team All-MAC performer last season has 107 career catches for 1,906 yards and 17 touchdowns in his career. Gardner did not play versus the Falcons, but sophomore

In Gus We Trust
After beginning the 2016 season 0-6, head coach Chuck Martin turned to quarterback Gus Ragland. Ragland led Miami to six straight wins over Kent State, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, Buffalo and Ball State. The now senior quarterback is 11-10 all-time as a starter for the RedHawks.

Nice Way to Start a Career
Ragland began his career by throwing 203 consecutive passes before throwing an interception late in the contest versus Mississippi State in the 2016 St. Petersburg Bowl. In all, the Cincinnati, Ohio native has thrown just 10 interceptions in 630 career pass attempts (1 INT every 63.0 pass attempts). In fact, Miami is 10-2 in games in which Ragland does not throw and interception and 1-8 when he throws it to the other team. 

Ragland Timeline
→ Verbally commits to Miami on Dec. 13, 2013
→ Redshirted the 2014 season and played 86 snaps in 2015.
→ Suffered an ACL injury in April of 2016 during a spring football practice.
→ Came back to start versus Kent State on Oct. 15, 2016 and won six-straight games and helped Miami reach a bowl game.

Ragland Versus The MAC
Senior quarterback Gus Ragland is 10-3 in his career as a starter versus teams from the Mid-American Conference. In those 13 games, Ragland has completed 208-of-332 passes (62.7%) for 2,802 yards, 31 touchdowns and four interceptions. The RedHawks are also 10-2 all-time versus the MAC in games where Ragland starts and finishes the contest. 

The Land of Ragland
Gus Ragland has owned the red zone since joining Miami in 2015. In his career, he has completed 43-of-77 passes from inside the 20-yard line for 32 touchdowns, while throwing just one interception. He has added eight rushing scores in his career from inside the red zone, for a 39:1 touchdown to interception ratio.

Offensive Line A Strength
Miami returns all five starters from a unit that allowed just 21 sacks in 2017 and helped Miami rush for a season average of 146.9 yards per game, the highest under Coach Martin. This year Miami has surrendered just four sacks through five games for an average of .80 per game, which ranks ninth in the country. Overall, Miami has 136 career starts among its offensive line members, led by senior Sam McCollum (40). He is joined by senior Jordan Rigg (29), senior Mitch Palmer (20), sophomore Danny Godlevske (16), junior Jarrett LaRubbio (12), junior Matt Skibinski (11), sophomore Tommy Doyle (7) and senior Ryan Mullen (1).

Small But Carries a Big Stick
Kenny Young may be listed at just 5-foot-7, but he was a load to bring down over the past year. The dual-threat running back has been doing it not just on the ground, but through the air as well. Over his last 12 games, the senior has averaged 88.9 combined yards per game.

Dynamic Duo
Alonzo Smith and Kenny Young have played a lot of football for the Red and White. Combined, the duo have rushed for 3,758 yards. Smith's 2,107 rushing yards rank him 12th all-time in the Miami record books. Young is not far behind with 1,666 in his career.

Thomas Back at Full Health
Maurice Thomas missed the final nine games of the 2017 season with a leg injury, but s now healthy. Thomas, a dual threat as a running back and kick returner has averaged 7.1 yards per rush in his career and 21.6 per kick return. Overall, the local product has touched the ball 166 times and has gone over 20 yards on 38 occasions (22.9%).

Last Chance U
The hit documentary show on Netflix, Last Chance U, featured Independence Community College. Junior defensive back Zedrick Raymond, now a member of the Miami University football team, was part of that show. During that season he led the team with four interceptions.