Miami eyes MAC East title after impressive win
OXFORD — That the Miami RedHawks opened their 19-0 win Mid-American Conference win over the Akron Zips on Wednesday with a nine-play, all-runs drive that led to a 7-0 lead suggested to some that Miami’s offensive outlook might have changed in the transition from injured quarterback Brett Gabbert to Aveon Smith.
That’s not necessarily the case, coach Chuck Martin said during the program’s weekly media session on Friday, even though Smith threw the ball just 17 times, completing eight for 50 yards. That was one game after the Smith passed 11 times for 103 yards in Miami’s 30-14 win at Ohio in his first start after Gabbert suffered his season-ending injury.
“We try to prepare to run and throw every week,” said the 10th-year coach, who was Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach before taking over at Miami. “The biggest difference is we want to use Aveon’s legs. If we get a good pass opportunity, we’ll take it.”
Martin asserted that the way the game unfolded prompted adjustments to Miami’s approach. Once Miami got a comfortable lead, the goal was to take time off the clock.
“We didn’t plan to throw that little,” he said. “That’s not necessarily what the fans want, but I like to win games. I’d like to throw effectively every week.”
Regardless of the stats, the approach seems to be working. The RedHawks have won both of Smith’s starts since Gabbert’s injury and go into the week 8-2 overall and 5-1 in the MAC East Division, one game ahead of 4-2 Ohio and Bowling Green. Having beaten both the Bobcats and Falcons, Miami can clinch the division championship and a berth in the MAC Championship game on Dec. 2 at Ford Field in Detroit with a win over Buffalo (3-7, 3-3) on Wednesday at Yager Stadium in Oxford. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The championship game opponent would be MAC defending-champion Toledo, which already has clinched the West Division title.
“You can’t not talk about it,” senior defensive tackle Austin Ertl said on Friday. “When you’re this close, you talk about it. I came to Miami to play games like this. I came here to win championships. I want another chance against Toledo.”
Ertl is part of a defense that ranks second in the MAC in points and total offense allowed, a unit Martin again described on Friday
as dominant in the win over Akron. Miami rang up six sacks against Akron and limited the Zips to 36 yards on the ground.
“Over the year, our game has come together,” the 6-foot-2, 285-pound Ertl said. “We have some new faces, and we have some guys who came back, and we’re building on that.”
The Redhawks especially enjoy watching the offense build a lead.
“It’s a ton of fun,” he said. “We’re flying around. First, you’ve got to stop the run and make them one dimensional. Getting after the quarterback is huge, but the first job is to stop the run.”
Another aspect of Miami’s performance has been their special teams. Kicker Graham Nicholson leads the MAC in scoring, while wide receiver Cade McDonald leads the conference with an average of 13.0 yards per punt return. Punter Alec Bevelhimer was named on Friday the MAC East Special Teams Player of the Week after averaging 48.6 yards per punt. Nicholson was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award, given annual to the nation’s best kicker, earlier this week. On Friday, Bevelhimer was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Ray Guy Award, awarded to the nation’s best punter.
Martin described Miami’s injury situation as “OK” for Week 11, though the status of junior Gage Larvadain was questionable. The bigplay Larvadain, who goes into the week leading the MAC with an average of 78.1 receiving yards per game, suffered an apparent right leg injury in the third quarter on Wednesday.
“That will be a late-week or maybe even a game-time situation,” Martin said.
The RedHawks have won eight games overall for the first time since winning the 2019 MAC championship and have earned at least five conference wins for the second time in three seasons.
The last time the RedHawks won as many as six regular-season conference games was when they finished 6-2 in 2019. The last time they won at least nine regular-season games overall was 2003 when they went 11-1 on the way to winning the MAC championship and beating Louisville in the GMAC Bowl in 2003.