The Miami University football team, winners of seven-straight, will face the Ohio Bobcats on Saturday, Dec. 7 at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich. for the 2024 MAC Championship. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. and will be carried live on ESPN.

About Miami
• Miami football ranks first all-time in the Mid-American Conference in wins (732), conference wins (324), MAC Championships (17) and bowl wins (8). 

• Historically, Miami's 732 career wins are third all-time among Group-of-Five programs, behind just Navy (745) and Army (736).

• Miami was 4-14 in Coach Martin's first 18 Mid-American Conference games. Since then, the RedHawks are 49-18 in their last 67 games versus schools from the MAC.

• Miami is competing in their third MAC title game in the past six years. The RedHawks won the 2019 and 2023 MAC Championship. The last time Miami repeated as MAC Champs was from 1973-1975 when the Red and White won three-straight titles.

• The RedHawks have a chance to become just the fourth program in MAC history to win back-to-back MAC Championship games. NIU (2011-2012), Central Michigan (2006-2007) and Marshall (1997-1998-1999-2000) are the only other programs to do so.

• With eight wins this season, Miami is bowl eligible for the seventh-straight year and eight of the last nine seasons. 

• Since Oct. 15, 2016, Miami has lost back-to-back conference games just twice in that span (2017, 2022). Miami is 16-3 following a conference loss, dating back to midway through the 2016 campaign.

• Over the past two years Miami has a combined for 19 wins, the fourth-best two-year span in Miami history. Only the 2003-04, 1973-74 and 1974-75 squads combined for more wins (21).

Ticket Punched!
The Dec. 7 contest versus Ohio will be Miami's seventh trip to the MAC Championship game. Miami is 4-2 all-time when playing for a championship.
2023 - W, 23-14 vs. Toledo
2019 - W, 26-21 vs. Central Michigan 
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

About Chuck Martin
• Chuck Martin was named Miami head coach on Dec. 3, 2013.
• He was named a 2023 Finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.
• 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 21 seasons.  
• Martin has an all-time head coaching record of 138-73.
• He is 64-66 all-time at Miami (51-32 in MAC play) and has won more games at Miami than any other coach. The previous high was held by Randy Walker (60 wins).
• 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 Ohio
Ohio is 9-3 on the year and finished MAC play at 7-1. Ohio features the third-ranked offense in the MAC at 28.5 points per contest. Quarterback Parker Navarro has thrown for 1,934 yards and 10 touchdowns and added 876 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground. The Bobcats allow just 18.7 points, third best in the MAC, and are led by Bradley Weaver's 8.0 sacks.

Last Meeting Versus The Bobcats
Miami defeated rival Ohio 30-20 back on Oct. 19. Brett Gabbert threw for 178 yards and three touchdowns for the RedHawks, while Keyon Mozee added 111 rushing yards and a score. Miami's defense, which held Ohio to just six points through three quarters of play, forced two interceptions and added three sacks in the win.

101st Battle of the Bricks
Miami leads the all-time series 56-42-2 against Ohio in the Battle of the Bricks. The rival programs have faced off every year since 1945 except for 2020 (COVID) and this will be the first MAC title contests between the two schools. In four career starts, Brett Gabbert has thrown for 1,063 yards and 12 touchdowns (1 INT) versus the Bobcats, while Matt Salopek has recorded double-digit tackles in all four games against OU (44 tackles, 2.5 TFL and 1 INT in his career).

Slow Start/Fast Finish
Slow starts are nothing new for Miami football, mostly due to the tough non-conference schedule the team plays every year. Since 2016, Miami continues to improve as the season moves forward. In the months of Aug./Sept. Miami is 13-23. In October, Miami is 19-14 and by the time they reach November, the RedHawks are 22-5 under Coach Martin.

We're Going Streaking
Miami enters Saturday's play riding a seven-game win streak, their longest during the Martin era. The last time Miami won at least seven games in a row ... 2003 when the RedHawks won 12-straight contests. During the seven-game win streak Miami has trailed for just 10:27 of 420 minutes of play.

Best Win Streaks Under Martin
7 wins - 2024 (Oct. 12-Current)
6 wins - 2023 (Sept. 9-Oct. 14)
6 wins - 2016 (Oct. 15-Nov. 22)
5 wins - 2023 (Oct. 28-Dec. 2)
5 wins - 2019 (Oct. 19-Nov. 20)

BGSU Recap
In a win or go home scenario, Miami earned a return trip to the MAC Championship Game with a 28-12 win at Bowling Green last Friday afternoon. Brett Gabbert threw for 255 yards and three touchdowns for the RedHawks and Miami's defense stifled BGSU all afternoon, holding the Falcons to just 261 yards of offense.
• Keyon Mozee rushed for 108 yards on 18 carries, producing his seventh 100-yard game of the year.
• Javon Tracy's 72-yard reception was the longest of his career, surpassing a 41-yard grab earlier this year against Central Michigan.
• Miami had three touchdown drives of less than a minute.
• Brett Gabbert started the 50th game of his career. 
• The Miami defense forced eight punts, recorded two fourth-down stops, collected four sacks and added one interception by Ty Wise.

Bombs Away
Miami's offense has also been explosive in the big play category over the past six weeks. From weeks 1-5, Miami had 12 plays of over 20 yards. During this seven-game win streak, the RedHawks have 34 plays of over 20 yards, 13 of those coming on the ground. Brett Gabbert is averaging 15.7 yards a completion over the past seven games (92 completions for 1,448 yards).

Mozee On Down
Helping with the recent offensive output has been senior running back Keyon Mozee. Mozee had just 60 combined rushing yards in the first three games. Since then, he has posted seven 100-yard games (and 91 yards in the win over NIU) and Miami is 7-0 when Mozee goes for 100-plus yards (UMass, EMU, Ohio, CMU, Ball State, Kent State and BGSU). Mozee's seven 100-yard games is tied  for seventh in single season Miami history. 

Joining the 1,000-Yard Club
Keyon Mozee has rushed for 1,045 yards this season and is just the 23rd player in program history to rush 1,000 yards in a single season. He has also rushed for 2,223 yards in his career, 177 yards shy of cracking the top-10 in Miami history.

Gabbert In The History Books
Brett Gabbert, who missed the last six games of the 2023 season with a leg injury, has made 50 starts in his career and is all over the Miami record books. He ranks third in program history with 10,503 passing yards, sixth in completion percentage (.590) and second in passing touchdowns (80). He is also 29 yards shy of 500 career rushing yards and is responsible for 87 touchdowns (80 passing, 7 rushing) in his career.

Five More Tidbits on #5
• Back in 2019, Gabbert became the first true freshman to start at quarterback in program history.
• He was named the 2019 MAC Freshman of the Year.
• Younger brother of former NFL quarterback, Blaine Gabbert
• In conference games only, he leads the MAC with 18 touchdown passes and is second in touchdown to interception ratio (18:4).
• This will be Gabbert's second MAC Championship start (2019 and 2024). He missed the 2023 title game with a leg injury.

Trench Warfare
Miami's offensive line is the most experienced unit on the 2024 roster. Reid Holskey has started each of the last 52 games for the Red and White and is followed by Will Jados (36), Kolby Borders (35), and John Young (26). Those four have combined to start 149 games and all four started all 14 games a year ago. Charlie Nank has made  11 starts at center and Greg Smith has one start in his career. That's 161 starts combined for the offensive line.

Balanced Passing Attack
Brett Gabbert has been spreading the ball around all season long. Miami has three different receivers averaging at least 58 yards receiving per game and his top targets have all had their moments. 
• Cade McDonald is second on the team with 47 receptions this season and has two 100-yard games against Northwestern and Cincinnati.
• Javon Tracy leads the team with 50 catches and is second with 760 yards receiving. He has scored five touchdowns in the past six games.
• Reggie Virgil has a team-high nine touchdown receptions this season and leads the way with 787 receiving yards. He comes into the MACC having scored a touchdown in seven-straight games.

Monsters of the MAC
The RedHawks rank 12th nationally in scoring defense (17.3), 14th in total defense (309.3), 37th in rush defense (128.9), 18th in pass defense (180.3), fourth in passing defensive efficiency (104.1) and 40th in sacks (29).
• Over the past five weeks, Miami's defense has allowed just five touchdowns.
• Opponents are averaging 2.7 yards pur rush over the past five games (432 yards on 162 carries).
• Miami has forced eight turnovers and has recorded 18 sacks over the past five contests.

Tackling Machine
Linebacker Matt Salopek, the reigning 2023 MAC Defensive Player of the Year, has 498 career tackles and has surpassed 100 stops in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Salopek, is the first player in program history to hace at least 100 tackles in four different seasons. His 498 tackles ranks fifth all-time in program history.

52 And Counting...
Matt Salopek made his 52nd start last week versus BGSU, but he is not the only defender that has played a ton of football on the defensive side of the ball. Kobe Hilton (45), Brian Ugwu (32), Ty Wise (30), Raion Strader (23) and Eli Blakey (23) have all started at least 20 games for Miami's defense. 

Kicker University
For the second-straight year Miami has a placekicker up for the Lou Groza Award. Dom Dzioban is one of 20 semifinalist for the nation's top kicker. He currently has made 22-of-26 field goals, including a Yager Stadium record five makes in the win over Central Michigan. Last season Graham Nicholson won the Lou Groza (made 27-of-28 FGs) and prior to that, Sam Sloman made 48-of-61 kicks from 2016-19, eventually getting drafted by the LA Rams.