This Week's Matchup
Miami travels to Muncie, Ind., for a noon showdown with the Cardinals of Ball State on Friday, Nov. 29. 

Television
The matchup with the Cardinals will be carried live on CBS Sports. Jason Knapp will handle play-by-play duties, while Randy Cross will serve as the color analyst.

Radio
In its first year of its partnership with Van Wagner, 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.)

First And Ten
• Miami football ranks first all-time in the Mid-American Conference in wins (697), MAC Championships (15) and bowl wins (7).

• Miami was 4-26 in Coach Martin's first 30 Mid-American Conference games. Miami is 22-7 in the last 29 conference games, the best record in the MAC in that span.

• The RedHawks have clinched the MAC East Championship with a 6-1 record. With one more win the RedHawks would claim the top overall record in the MAC for the first time since the 2003 RedHawks went 8-0. 

• After graduating 25 seniors a year ago, Miami's depth chart is much younger in 2019. On the two-deep alone, Miami features 16 players classified as sophomores or younger.

• Martin, in his sixth year, has had many of the same coordinators in all six seasons. Eric Koehler and George Barnett, both in their sixth years with Miami, handle the offense and Spence Nowinsky (second year) and John Hauser (sixth year) manage the defense.

• Since 2014, Miami Athletics has added nearly $40 million in facilities for the football program. The Dauch Indoor Sports Center was opened in 2015 and the  Athletic Performance Center was added in early 2017. Both facilities are located in the north end zone.

• Miami has won six of its last seven games, after opening the season 1-3 with losses to Ohio State, Iowa and Cincinnati.

• Miami arguably has one of the top special teams units in the nation. Place kicker Sam Sloman ranks fifth in the nation with 19 made field goals and Kyle Kramer is 26th in the nation with a 43.9 punt average. Maurice Thomas ranks fifth in the country in punt returns (13.6) and 64th in kick returns (20.2).

• Sam Sloman was recently named a semi-finalist for the Lou Groza Award, given to the nation's top collegiate placekicker. On the season he has made 19-of-23 field goals and is a perfect 27-for-27 on extra points. Sloman has also shown an extremely strong leg in 2019, connecting on 3-of-4 field goals from 50-plus this year.

• In conference only games, Miami's defense ranks near the top in almost every category. The RedHawks rank first in scoring defense (19.9), second in total defense (320.7), first in pass defense (155.7) and third in rush defense (165.0).

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 17 seasons.  Martin has an all-time head coaching record of 103-50.
• 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.

Paced By Pace
Ivan Pace Jr.'s six sacks not only helped Miami secure a 20-17 win over Akron, he also placed his name in the NCAA record books. His 6.0 sacks are tied for the most in NCAA history in a single game, with Elvis Dumervil (Louisville in 2005) and Ameer Ismail (Western Michigan in 2006). Miami's 12.0 sacks are the fifth-most in NCAA history for a single game. The last time a team recorded at least 12.0 sacks in a game was Utah State in 2012.

Detroit Bound
Miami clinched a trip to Detroit for the 2019 MAC Championship back on Nov. 14. The Dec. 7 contest versus a yet to be determined opponent will be Miami fifth trip to the MAC Championship game. Miami is 2-2 all-time when playing for a championship.
2010 - W, 26-21 vs. Northern Illinois.
2007 - L, 35-10 vs. Central Michigan
2004 - L, 35-27 vs. Toledo
2003 - W, 49-27 vs. Bowling Green

Home Cooking
Miami finished a perfect 5-0 at home during the 2019 season and has won eight straight at Yager Stadium. Miami's last home loss was Sept. 29, 2018.

About Ball State
Ball State is 4-7 overall and 3-4 in MAC play entering the final week of the regular season. In its last three games, all losses, the Cardinals have lost by a combined eight points. Drew Plitt leads an offense that averages 34.3 points per game. Plitt has thrown for 2,601 yards and 21 touchdowns this season. Defensively, the Cardinals give up 31.8 points and 438.3 points per game. Jacob White leads the team with 113 tackles.

Series Vs. Ball State
Miami is 19-12-1 all-time versus the Cardinals and have won the previous three contests. The RedHawks are 8-6-0 all-time in Muncie. Ball State and Miami will play every season as they have been granted rivalry status on the MAC football crossover schedules. The only other league series that has that status is Bowling Green (MAC East) and Toledo (MAC West). 

Red Bird Rivalry
The Red Bird Rivalry trophy game between Ball State and Miami, two Mid-American Conference universities separated by a little more than 70 miles, is in its third year.

The rivalry between the schools dates back to a 1931 meeting in Oxford, Ohio, but didn't blossom until Ball State joined the MAC in the mid-1970s. The two teams played each other in football every year from 1985 through 1998. MAC expansion in the late 1990s changed league scheduling as the conference had too many teams to play every team on an annual basis. Because Miami is in the MAC East and Ball State is in the MAC West, they have only faced off nine times since 2000.

Red Hot
Miami is 31-for-36 this season on red zone opportunities. In those 36 attempts, Miami has scored 19 (52.8%) touchdowns. Last season, Miami was 42-for-43 in the red zone with 35 (81.4%) touchdowns. Miami was also 33-for-33 in the red zone during MAC play with 27 touchdowns last year. In its last 21 games, Miami has scored on 73-of-79 red zone opportunities and are 52-of-56 in its last 15 MAC contests.

Martin vs. the MAC Since 2016
Miami is 22-7 in MAC play over its last 29 games,  best in the conference in that span. WMU is 21-8, followed by NIU (19-10), Toledo (19-10) and Ohio (19-10). In that span Miami has outscored its opponents 845-606.

So Many New Faces
This season freshmen can be found all over the Miami two-deep and many of those players are playing significant roles for Miami in 2019.
Brett Gabbert: Freshman QB has started all 11 games for Miami this season.
Tyre Shelton: Redshirt freshman is second on the team with 474 yards rushing.
James Maye: Freshman wide receiver is third on the team with 14 catches. He currently leads the nation with a 24.6 yard catch average among freshmen wide receivers.
Caleb Shaffer: Freshman has started six games along the offensive line.
Rusty Feth: Freshman has started the last three games on the offensive line.
Ivan Pace Jr.: Freshman leads the team with 6.0 sacks
Lonnie Phelps: Freshman is second on the team with 4.0 sacks.

Gabbert Makes History
When Miami opened the season at Iowa, Brett Gabbert became the first true freshman quarterback to open the season as the starter in Miami football history. The younger brother of NFL quarterback, Blaine Gabbert, has started all 11 games this season, throwing for 1,851 yards and nine touchdowns.

Bester's Best
Jaylon Bester suffered an injury in the season opener at Iowa and after missing a few games he seems to be 100-percent healthy now. In his last seven games the junior has rushed for 548 yards and 10 touchdowns, while adding 11 catches for 61 yards through the air. Bester has scored a touchdown in seven straight games and has three multi-touchdown performances and two 100-yard rushing performances this season.

Maye Day Maye Day
Wide receiver James Maye has burst onto the scene over his last six games (missed game at KSU). The 5-foot-9 freshman had three touches (2 catches, 1 rush) total in his first four contests. In his last six games he has combined for 12 receptions for 334 yards, including a 52-yard catch versus Buffalo, a 46-yard grab against WMU, a 45-yard touchdown versus NIU, a 63-yard catch at Ohio and a 47-yard reception versus Bowling Green. Maye currently leads the country among freshmen wide receivers with a 24.6 yards per catch average.

The Man In The Middle
Doug Costin has played 47 games (34 starts) for the RedHawks, all along the defensive line, and each year he gets better. After recording just 1.5 sacks in 2016, Costin had 5.0 in 2017 and 6.0 in 2018, earning second team All-MAC accolades. In his career, the defensive tackle has posted 164 tackles, 30.5 tackles for loss and 14.5 sacks.

History Returns
With a 23-yard return in the first quarter of Buffalo, Maurice Thomas became Miami's all-time leader in kick return yards. In his career, the local product from Talawanda High School has 2,238 kick return yards. Thomas has also added 927 rushing yards on the ground, 249 yards through the air and 182 punt return yards for a total of 3,596 yards in his career.

Kicking It With Sloman
Senior Sam Sloman can be found throughout the Miami record books:
• Is fourth all-time in field goals made (42)
• Is third in field goal percentage (.769)
• Is third in extra points made (105), fourth in extra points attempted (107) and fourth in extra point percentage (.981).