’Hawks aim to build on success

COLLEGE FOOTBALL RANKINGS: NO. 69 MIAMI (OHIO)

Orlando Sentinel college insider Matt Murschel ranked all 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in the country entering the 2017 season. The Sentinel staff takes a closer look at a new team daily, counting backward from No. 130 to our projected No. 1 team.

Miami (Ohio)

Chuck Martin (11-26, entering fourth season; 85-33 overall)

6-7, 6-2 in Mid-American Conference, second in East Division

Miami (Ohio) started the season with six consecutive losses, but things took a dramatic turn in October. Improvements on the defensive side helped the RedHawks string together six straight wins to wrap up the regular season. It was the first time the program finished the regular season with a .500 or better record since 2010, which also was the last time the program qualified for a bowl.

9 the Mid-American Conference in total defense in 2015 to first in 2016.

The turnaround can be credited to the development of several players who earned all-conference accolades last season, including CB Heath Harding, LB Junior McMullen and LB D’Andre Montgomery.

Miami’s second-half turnaround also was fueled by the strong performance of QB Gus Ragland.

The sophomore, who started the final seven games of the season, was one of the more efficient quarterbacks in college football with a touchdownto-interception ratio of 17-to-1.

Miami hasn’t produced a 1,000-yard rusher in more than a decade, with the program ranked at the bottom of the league during the past few seasons in rushing offense.

The RedHawks featured one of the best rush defenses in the MAC, but several key pieces along the defensive front are gone, including all-conference DL JT Jones and DL Alan Gearing. The duo combined for more than 10.5 of the team’s 24 sacks last season.

Martin and his staff are working to build on the momentum from the second half of the 2016 season and keep winning.