RedHawks Open Season at Pittsburgh

Saturday, September 5

Pittsburgh, Pa.

12:30 p.m.

Miami University

Pittsburgh

9/1/2026 7:31:00 AM | Football

Game Notes vs. Pitt

The Miami University football team travels to face the Pittsburgh Panthers on Saturday, Sept. 5 to open the 2026 season. The contest will be carried live on the CW Network, beginning at 12:30 p.m.

About Miami
• Miami football ranks first all-time in the Mid-American Conference in wins (740), conference wins (329), MAC Championships (17) and bowl wins (9). Historically, Miami's 740 career wins are third all-time among Group-of-Five programs, behind just Navy (756) and Army (745).

• Miami was 4-14 in Coach Martin's first 18 Mid-American Conference games. Since then, the RedHawks are 55-22 in their last 77 games versus schools from the MAC, the best in the conference during that span. Miami is 22-5 over their last 27 MAC games, which includes three-straight trips to the MAC Title Game.

• The RedHawks have competed in five straight bowl games and have been bowl-eligible in nine of the past 10 seasons.

• Since Oct. 15, 2016, Miami has lost back-to-back conference games just three times in that span (2017, 2022, 2025). Miami is 17-4 following a conference loss, dating back to midway through the 2016 campaign.

• Of the 119 players on the 2026 roster, 55 (27 transfers, 28 freshmen) are new this season. Another 16 players are red-shirt freshmen and eight transferred in for the 2025 campaign. In all, 46.2% of the roster is new this season and 66.4% of the team has been with the RedHawks for one season or less.

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 23 seasons.
• Martin has an all-time head coaching record of 145-81.
• He is 72-74 all-time at Miami (57-34 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.

All In The Family
Nearly every member of the RedHawks' staff either played at Miami, played for Chuck Martin previously or worked for him before getting hired on as assistant coaches. In some cases, such as running backs coach Chris Hudson and safeties coach Zane Ries, they did all three. (In fact, the only exception who doesn't check at least one of those boxes is Mitchell White...but White's twin brother worked for Martin!)

RedHawks Picked Second in Preseason Poll
Back in late July, the RedHawks were picked second in the MAC preseason coaches poll with 134 points, trailing only Western Michigan (138 points). Four of the league's head coaches picked the RedHawks to capture the MAC Title.

About Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is coming off an 8-5 season, which includes a 6-2 record in ACC contests. The Panthers went on to play in the Military Bowl versus East Carolina, a contest they lost 23-17.

Series History With The Panthers
This will be the third meeting between the two programs, with the Panthers winning the first two contests. Pittsburgh won 35-26 back on Oct. 15, 1949 and the series began on Sept. 26, 1931 in a 61-0 Pitt victory.

Big Game Hunting
Miami has downed a Power-4 program in two of the past four years, including wins over Northwestern (2022) and an overtime victory versus Cincinnati (2023). In 2024 the RedHawks also threatened Northwestern (Lost, 13-6) and led Notre Dame 3-0 midway through the second quarter (Lost 28-3).

It's Not How you Start...
Miami football has a knack of crawling out of some deep holes. Over the past nine years, the RedHawks have started above .500 in the first month of the season just once, but have closed the year with a winning record each season.

Year Start Finish
2025 0-3 7-4
2024 1-4 8-1
2023 3-1 8-2
2022 2-2 4-5
2021 1-3 6-3
2019 1-3 7-3
2018 1-3 6-3
2017 2-5 3-2
2016 0-6 6-1
Totals 11-30 55-24

New Home For McComb
Red-shirt freshman David McComb is expected to take the opening snap at quarterback for the RedHawks in 2026. McComb, who did not see any game action at Kansas last season, threw for 7,034 yards and 60 touchdowns in his high school career. He added 1,574 rushing yards with 14 scores on the ground.

Other Martin QBs and Their First Starts
Head coach Chuck Martin has had 11 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, including:
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, 2022) -- 14-of-22 for 155 yards and three TDs
Thomas Gotkowski (vs. Ball State, 2025) -- 12-of-24 for 226 yards and three TDs

Gotkowski to Miss Season
Thomas Gotkowski, who led Miami to an appearance in the MAC Championship Game last season, is expected to miss the entire 2026 campaign with an injury. Gotkowski saw major game action in the final four games of the season, including starts in the MAC Title Game and the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl.

Agent Zero
Joining McComb in the backfield will be another new addition to the RedHawks in No. 0 Rodney Nelson. The red-shirt junior rushed for 1,802 yards and 18 touchdowns at Monmouth last season, earning the CAA Offensive Player of the Year.

In The Trenches
While there are many new players on the Miami roster, the RedHawks do return four starters along their offensive line: Kris Manu (14), Jacob Schorsch (7), Eric Smith (14) and Greg Smith Jr. (14) started a combined 49 games. Evan Malcore, who started 32 games at NIU over the past three years, is expected to join the other four in the starting lineup.

Can History Repeat Itself?
Over the past five years, the Miami defense has been outstanding, finishing in the top-41 nationally every year since 2021. Miami allowed 23.1 points (40th) in 2021, 21.0 (35th) in 2022, 17.8 (7th) in 2023, 18.8 (15th) in 2024 and 21.7 (41st) this past season.

Sack Attack
Over the past three seasons, the RedHawks have recorded 107 sacks. Last year, they finished eighth nationally with 40 sacks, were 47th in 2024 (32 sacks) and 20th in 2023 (35 sacks).

Linebacker Overload
Miami's linebacker group is arguably the deepest on the team. Malcolm McCain returns for his fourth year with the team and is Miami's top returning tackler with 73 stops. He is joined by Blayne Myrick, a transfer from South Alabama, who earned first-team all-conference a year ago (second-team in 2024) and CJ Young, who was named second-team All-MAC at Kent State in 2025. On top of that, Brock Uihlein had 11 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in the MAC Championship Game a year ago.

Kicker University
Miami football is making a habit of producing incredible kickers. Dom Dzioban earned first team All-MAC in 2024 and 2025, Graham Nicholson won the Lou Grosa Award in 2023 and Sam Sloman kicked for the RedHawks from 2016-19, eventually being drafted by the LA Rams in 2020. Up next for Miami is Kellan McLaughlin. The junior has served as the team's kickoff specialist for the past two years, but has attempted just one field goal in his Miami career.

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.

Graduating Champions
Before Miami even takes the field in 2026, 14 different RedHawks have already earned their collegiate degrees: Maleek Huggins, Amariyun Knighten, Brandon Lawhorn-Moore, Grant Lyons, Evan Malcore, Ben Minich, Leo Scheidler, James Schott, Shaun Shahu, Brady Simmons, Eric Smith, Dillon Tatum, Trey Wallman and Cade Yacamelli.