The Miami University football team opens the 2025 football season on Thursday, Aug. 28 at Camp Randall Stadium versus the Wisconsin Badgers. Opening kick is slated for 9 p.m. EST and the contest will be carried live on the Big Ten Network.

About Miami
• Miami football ranks first all-time in the Mid-American Conference in wins (733), conference wins (324), MAC Championships (17) and bowl wins (9).  Historically, Miami's 733 career wins are third all-time among Group-of-Five programs, behind just Navy (748) and Army (739).

• Miami was 4-14 in Coach Martin's first 18 Mid-American Conference games. Since then, the RedHawks are 49-19 in their last 68 games versus schools from the MAC, the best in the conference during that span.

• Over the past two years Miami has captured 20 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). Only 14 teams in the nation have won more games than the RedHawks over the past two years.

• Miami has competed in five straight bowl games and has been bowl-eligible in eight of the past nine seasons. The RedHawks are coming off a 43-17 win over Colorado State in the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl last season.

• 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.

• Miami returns zero offensive starters from a year ago. Gone are first-team All-MAC QB Brett Gabbert, 1,000-yard rusher Keyon Mozee and Miami's top four pass catchers.

• Defensively the RedHawks return four starters, led by safeties Silas Walters (95 tackles) and Eli Blakey (89 tackles). Miami returns just 7.5 of 30 sacks and six of 13 interceptions from last season.

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 after an 11-3 season.
• 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 22 seasons.  
• Martin has an all-time head coaching record of 139-74.
• He is 65-67 all-time at Miami (51-33 in MAC play) and has won more games at Miami than any other coach. The previous high was held by Randy Walker (60 wins).
• Martin is the longest tenured active coach in the MAC.
• 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 Wisconsin
Wisconsin is coming off a 5-7 season, which included a five-game losing streak to end the year. The Badgers feature five new quarterbacks on their roster and linebacker Christian Alliegro is the top returning tackler after posting 66 stops and 3.0 tackles in 2024.

Series History Versus Badgers
This is just the second meeting between the two programs. Miami dropped a 58-0 decision to the Badgers back on Sept. 12, 2015.

Big Game Hunting
Miami has downed a Power-4 program in two of the past three years, including wins over Northwestern (2022) and an overtime victory versus Cincinnati (2023). Last season the RedHawks also threatened Northwestern (Lost, 13-6) and led Notre Dame 3-0 midway through the second quarter (Lost 28-3).

Finn To Win
While Dequan Finn will be making his first start as a member of the RedHawks program, the seventh-year quarterback has years of experience. Throughout his career he has thrown for 7,381 yards and 66 touchdown passes. He has added 1,906 rushing yards and 27 scores on the ground in 48 career games. Most of that damage came during his time at Toledo. In 45 career games with the Rockets, Finn threw for 7,074 yards and 63 scores, while adding 1,840 yards and 25 touchdowns on the ground. He earned first-team All-MAC and was the MAC Player of the Year in 2023 and is the only player in Toledo football history to throw for over 2,000 yards and rush for 500 yards in multiple seasons (2021, 2022, 2023).

Take Me To Your Leader
Finn's 93 career total touchdowns (66 passing, 27 rushing) ranks first among active players in the NCAA. The next closest is Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia (80 total touchdowns).

Other Martin QBs and Their First Starts
Head coach Chuck Martin has had nine different QBs make starts for him since arriving in Oxford, and many of those QBs have made impacts in their first career starts with the RedHawks, invluding:
Andrew Hendrix (vs. Marshall, 2014) -- 24-of-49 for 318 yards and three TDs.
Gus Ragland (vs. Kent State, 2016) -- 10-of-21 for 181 yards and two TDs
Brett Gabbert (vs. Iowa, 2019) -- 17-of-27 for 186 yards and two TDs
Aveon Smith (vs. Robert Morris) -- 14-of-22 for 155 yards and three TDs

New QB In The House
Over the past 47 games the Miami RedHawks have featured just three quarterbacks: Brett Gabbert, Aveon Smith and Henry Hesson. Besides Hesson's lone start in the 2023 Cure Bowl, Gabbert and Smith started the other 46 contests. The last quarterback to start a game for the Red and White not named Gabbert/Smith/Hesson was AJ Mayer back on Oct. 16, 2021 versus Akron.

Tracy Returns
Running back Kenny Tracy was lost on the second day of fall camp back in 2024, but looks to return to full health a year later. He has 749 yards rushing and five touchdowns in his career and has added 40 grabs for 360 yards and three touchdowns through the air.

A Show of Hands
Miami lost its top two pass catchers to the portal (Javon Tracy and Reggie Virgil) and another two to graduation (Cade McDonald and Kevin Davis). Kam Perry is Miami's top returning pass catcher (10-166), but is joined by a handful of new additions: Keith Reynolds (Washington), Brady Simmons (Indiana) and Deion Colzie (Notre Dame). The only other non running backs that have caught a pass with the RedHawks are Cole Weaver (2-38), Braylon Isom (1-17) and Brian Shane (1-12).

New-Look OL
Miami's OL lost one player to the transfer portal, while four others graduated. In all, those five players started a combined 166 career games for the RedHawks. Miami's 2025 offensive line will have a much different feel. Drew Terrill and Greg Smith are tops on the team with one career start apiece along the offensive line.

Can History Repeat Itself?
Over the past four years, the Miami defense has been outstanding, finishing in the top 40 nationally every year since 2021. Miami allowed 23.1 points (40th) in 2021, 21.0 (35th) in 2022, 17.8 (7th) in 2023 and 18.8 (15th) in 2024. Defensive coordinator Bill Brechin's biggest challenge will be breaking in seven new starters if he wants Miami's defense to once again be a strong point.

From Walk-on to Team Leader
Silas Walters came to Miami back in 2021 as a walk-on. Prior to the 2023 season, Walters earned a scholarship, and in 2024 he finished second on the team with 95 tackles and 12 pass breakups. He also represented Miami's defense at the 2025 MAC Football Media Day in Detroit.

The Book of Eli
Eli Blakey, despite missing the final two games of 2024, was third on the team with 89 tackles. For his efforts he was named Third-Team All-MAC and is back helping to run Miami's defense. Blakey had a career-high 18 tackles in a win over EMU last season and averaged 7.5 tackles per game prior to his injury. He has 163 career tackles with the RedHawks.

Kicker University
Miami football is making a habit of producing incredible kickers. Dom Dzioban returns for his senior year after being named a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award in 2024. He connected on 26-of-30 field goals and matched a Yager Stadium record with five field goals in the win over CMU. Prior to Dzioban, Graham Nicholson won the Lou Groza (made 27-of-28 FGs) in 2023 and from 2016-19 Sam Sloman made 48-of-61 kicks, eventually getting drafted by the LA Rams. All three kickers rank in the top-5 for percentage in Miami football history.

Sean McVay Joins Cradle of Coaches
Miami added a 10th bronze statue to its Cradle of Coaches in Sean McVay back in 2023. McVay, the current head coach of the Los Angeles Rams, joined Ara Parseghian, Paul Brown, Weeb Ewbank, John Harbaugh, John Pont, Carm Cozza, Bo Schembechler, Red Blaik, and Paul Dietzel in the south end of Yager Stadium.

New Faces New Places
The transfer portal has changed college football and Miami is no different. The RedHawks have 21 players on the team that transferred from other schools: Koy Beasley (Purdue), Mitch Bolden (Army), Jordan Brunson (Virginia Tech), Mitchell Butler (Southern Miss/Miss. Col.), Deion Colzie (Notre Dame), Luke Evans (Mississippi State), Dequan Finn (Toledo/Baylor), Bai Jobe (Kansas/Michigan State), Eric Karner (Texas A&M), Brody Kosin (Indiana), Jackson Kuwatch (Ohio State), Grant Leeper (Iowa),  Kam Perry (Indiana), Keith Reynolds (Washington), James Schott (Michigan State), Eli Shereshovech IV (Wash U.), Brady Simmons (Indiana), Austin Uke (Stanford), Darion Williamson (Florida State) and Kam Wilson (Cincinnati/Louisville). 

Graduating Champions
Before Miami even takes the field in 2024, 15 different RedHawks will have already earned their Miami degree: Eli Blakey, Jordan Brunson, Deion Colzie, Dom Dzioban, Dequan Finn, Henry Hesson, Corban Hondru, Oscar McWood, Brian Shane, Kenny Tracy, Austin Uke, Marcus White, Nasir Washington, Darion Williamson and Kam Wilson.