Miami and Kent State will play for the MAC East Championship at noon on Saturday, Nov. 27. The winner of the contest heads to Detroit to play for the 2021 MAC Championship.

Television
The matchup with the Kent State Golden Flashes will be carried live on ESPN+. Michael Reghi will handle play-by-play duties, while Ryan Cavanaugh will serve as the color analyst.

Radio
In its third 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. 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)

First And Ten
• Miami football ranks first all-time in the Mid-American Conference in wins (706), conference wins (306), MAC Championships (16) and bowl wins (7). The RedHawks also captured the 2019 MAC Championship with a 26-21 win over Central Michigan.

• Although Miami was 4-26 in Coach Martin's first 30 Mid-American Conference games, the RedHawks are 30-11 in the last 41 games versus schools from the MAC, the best record in the conference during that span.

• Miami went 2-1 in 2020, missing the final three contests of the year due to COVID. The RedHawks beat Ball State, the eventual MAC Champions, to open 2020, 38-31.

• The RedHawks clinched the MAC East Division Championship with a 6-2 record in 2019 and went 2-1 in 2020. Miami has now had a winning conference record in five of the past six years.

• Martin, in his eighth year leading the RedHawks, has had many of the same coordinators in the previous six seasons. Offensive Coordinator Eric Koehler has been with Martin all eight years on the offensive side of the ball. Spence Nowinsky (fourth year) and John Hauser (eighth year) manage the defense.

• Miami is 9-3 in one-score games, dating back to the 2018 campaign. The RedHawks were 5-0 in one-score games in 2019, including a 26-21 victory over Central Michigan in the MAC Championship Game. Miami's 31-26 loss to Minnesota earlier this year ended Miami's consecutive one-score win streak at eight.

• In its last 36 contests, Miami has had a lead at some point in 31 of those games. The only five setbacks were a 42-10 loss at Buffalo in 2020 and four different losses in 2021.

• Miami competed in the 2020 LendingTree Bowl and with a win last week the RedHawks have now been bowl eligible five of the last six seasons. From 2006-15, Miami was bowl eligible just twice.

• Miami's defense has forced a turnover in 36 of its last 52 games and is 23-13 in contests when it forces a turnover. The RedHawks' defense has also recorded a sack in 41 of its last 52 games.

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 19 seasons.  Martin has an all-time head coaching record of 112-58.
• 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 Kent State
Kent State is 6-5 overall and 5-2 in MAC play after a 38-0 win at Akron last Saturday. The Flashes are led by quarterback Dustin Crum, who has thrown for 2,569 yards and 13 touchdowns. Crum has added 560 yards and 10 scores on the ground.

Series Vs. Kent State
Miami is 50-17 all-time versus the Golden Flashes, which includes a 31-6 win in 2018 and a 23-16 victory in 2019. These two teams did not play in 2020 due to COVID issues.

Another November to Remember?
Since 2016, the RedHawks are 15-4 in the month of November. Miami was 3-0 in 2016, 2-1 in 2017, 3-0 in 2018, 3-1 in 2019 and 2-1 in 2020 (season started in November).

Notes From BGSU
• BGSU opened the game with a 62-yard touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead before Miami scored the final 34 points of the contest.
• The RedHawks defense held the Falcons to 258 yards of offense.
• Chris Cavalaris blocked a punt in the first quarter to set up Miami's first TD.
• Miami had a season-high eight sacks in the win over BGSU. The defensive line recorded 6.5 of those sacks, led by Lonnie Phelps (2.0), Kameron Butler (2.0) and Dominique Robinson (2.0).
• Jack Sorenson had a career-long 83 yard catch and finished the contest with 111 yards receiving, his sixth straight 100-yard performance.
• The RedHawks had a pair of one-play drives and two other touchdown drives that were just two plays apiece.

Offensive Explosion
Over the last three games Miami's offense has found its rhythm, led mainly by the passing attack. A few highlights:
• Averaging 37.3 points the past two games.
• Brett Gabbert has thrown for 1,070 (356.7/game) yards and 11 touchdowns. Nearly half of those yards have gone to Jack Sorenson (23-506-4)
• As a team, Miami is averaging 483.7 yards of offense the last three contests.

Championship Experience
While Miami's 2019 MAC Championship victory was two seasons ago, Miami still has 13 starters returning in 2021 that started in that championship game. On offense: Andrew Homer, Rusty Feth, Jaylon Bester, Tyre Shelton, Brett Gabbert, Pete Nank, Caleb Shaffer and Jack Sorenson all started in the 26-21 win over CMU. Defensively, Mike Brown, Sterling Weatherford, Ryan McWood, Kameron Butler and Ben Kimpler return in 2021. In all, Miami has 26 players on the 2021 roster that participated in the 2019 MAC Championship Game.

Home Cooking
Miami finished a perfect 5-0 at home during the 2019 and 2021 season (1-0 in 2020) and has won 14 straight at Yager Stadium. Miami's last home loss was on Sept. 29, 2018. In all, when Miami hosts Robert Morris on Sept. 10, 2022 it will be 1,442 days since Miami's last loss at home.

Longest Home Win Streaks in School History
1.     22 Wins (1943-1948)
T-2. 14 Wins (1973-1975, 1980-1982)
        14 Wins (2018-present)

Longest Active Home Win Streaks in the Country
1. Clemson - 33
2. Cincinnati - 26
3. Oregon - 18
4. Miami -14

Bounce Back
Since early in the 2016 season Miami has lost back-to-back MAC games just once in that span. In fact, Miami is now 10-1 following a MAC loss under Martin, dating back to Oct. 15, 2016.

Martin vs. the MAC Since 2016
Miami is 30-11 versus MAC opponents over its last 41 games, best in the conference in that span. Over that time, Miami has outscored its opponents 1,191-876.

Five Things to Know About No. 5 Brett Gabbert
• Younger brother of NFL quarterback, Blaine Gabbert.
• Gabbert was named the 2019 MAC Freshman of the Year, joining Ben Roethlisberger (2001) and Deland McCullough (1992) as the only other RedHawks to capture this award.
• When Miami opened the 2019 season at Iowa, Gabbert became the first true freshman quarterback to open the season as the starter in Miami football history. 
• Is responsible for 38 touchdowns (35 passing, 3 rushing) in his Miami career.
• In his last three games, Gabbert has thrown for 1,070 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Jack of All Trades
Jack Sorenson is in the middle of his sixth year with the RedHawks and is starting to find himself all over the Miami record books. The 2019 MAC Championship Offensive Player of the Game and Biletnikoff Award Watch List member has many career highlights:
• Has caught a pass in 37 straight games.
• His 180 career catches rank sixth all time and the senior is fourth at Miami with 2,874 receiving yards.
• Ranks sixth with 19 career touchdowns.
• His 14 catches at Ohio were one shy of a school record and he blew past the old school record (229 yards) with 283 receiving yards against the Bobcats. The 283 yards are the third-most in MAC history.
• Sorenson currently leads the MAC with 1,209 receiving yards (third in the nation) this season, becoming just the sixth different RedHawk to record a 1,000 yard receiving season in program history. The all-time school record for receiving yards in a season is held by Martin Nance (1,498) in 2003.

Monsters of The MAC
Miami's defense does not look out of place at all in 2021. After having one of the top defenses in the MAC in both 2019 and 2020, Miami ranks atop several defensive categories once again. In MAC games only, the RedHawks rank first in defensive scoring (18.3), total defense (343.1), rush defense (94.4) and sacks (27.0). Four different RedHawks rank in the top-15 in the MAC for tackles for loss: Kameron Butler (3rd, 13.0), Lonnie Phelps (5th, 12.5), Mike Brown (14th, 9.5) and Ivan Pace (15th, 9.0).

Paced by Pace
In his first year as a starting linebacker, sophomore Ivan Pace is having one of the best defensive performances in recent memory. Not only do his 103 tackles rank second in the MAC, it's the most tackles a RedHawk has had since Chris Wade recorded 128 tackles in 2012.

Dynamic Duo
Not sure who is Batman and who is Robin, but a pair of Miami defensive ends have terrorized quarterbacks all season long. Lonnie Phelps ranks second in the MAC with 8.5 sacks, while Kameron Butler is fourth with 7.0.