Preview 2019: Previewing and looking ahead to the Miami University season with what you need to know.
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Miami Previews 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2018 Record: 6-6 overall, 6-2 in MAC
Head Coach: Chuck Martin, 6th year, 22-39
– CFN Preview 2019: All The Team Previews
5. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MIAMI UNIVERSITY OFFENSE
– Seven starters are back from an offense that was okay, but underwhelmed. There was enough talent last season to do more than 372 yards and 28 points per game, and this year the pieces are there, but …
– It’ll be a battle throughout fall camp for the starting gig. Gus Ragland is done, leaving the team without anyone with any appreciable experience. Sophomore Jackson Williamson has the inside track after serving as a third stringer last season, but freshman Brett Gabbert – brother of Blaine – and redshirt freshman AJ Mayer are in the mix.
– The rushing offense that sputtered at times finishing with just under 2,000 yards loses the top two backs, Alonzo Smith and Kenny Young. The speedy Maurice Thomas is back after serving as a strong kick returner and finishing third on the team with 233 yards, and a slew of young backs are ready after waiting their turn.
– Three starters are back on the line but the left side has to be replaced. Last year’s group was fantastic at keeping defenses out of the backfield, and now it has to figure out if 6-8, 315-pound Tommy Doyle will work on the left side after playing at right tackle, and with all-star Danny Godlevske back at center. The starting five will be fine, but the depth is sketchy.
– While the offensive backfield is a bit of a question mark, the receivers are in place. Junior Jack Sorenson is back after catching 53 passes for 742 yards and two scores, and 6-5 Luke Mayock was second with 22 grabs averaging 14.5 yards per play. The tight end situation is fine, too, with junior Andrew Homer leading a promising group.
NEXT: What You Need To Know About the Defense, Top Players, Keys to the Season, What Will Happen
4. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MIAMI UNIVERSITY DEFENSE
– Seven starters are back from a defense that allowed 368 yards and 25.5 points. However, four of the top seven tacklers are done, hurt mostly by the loss of leading tackler Brad Koenig at one linebacker spot and third-leading tackler De’Andre Montgomery at safety. However …
– The secondary should be a plus. It wasn’t a brick wall last season allowing 209 yards per game, but it welcomes back three starters including the senior corner tandem of Zedrick Raymond and Travion Banks.
They need to pick off more passes, but they’re good enough to get by. 6-1, 211-pound Mike Brown is a hybrid hitter with 58 tackles – he’s the leading returning tackler – and Bart Baratti can fit into the mix somewhere after coming up with 40 stops.
– The defensive front four will be a strength, but there needs to be more of a pass rush and it has to be a bit stronger against the run. Senior Doug Costin is the team’s top defensive star on the nose, coming up with six sacks serving as an anchor up front. Junior Ben Kimpler is the most experienced end, but he’s just an okay pass rusher, and 229-pound Cam Turner is a smallish quick option on the other side.
– Losing Koenig from the middle is a killer, but the outside defenders should be good. For the most part, Brown – or anyone playing the nickel role – in the 4-2-5 will serve as another linebacker option, but senior Myles Reid should be among the team’s leading tacklers again, and 231-pound hybrid safety/linebacker Kobe Burse will find a bigger role.
On the inside in place of Koenig will either be Reid or Ryan McWood, a part of the rotation last season who’ll need to be a big hitter somewhere in teh corps.
NEXT: Top Players, Keys To the Season, What Will Happen
3. TOP MIAMI UNIVERSITY PLAYERS
Best Miami University Offensive Player
C Danny Godlevske, Jr.
The RedHawk O line has the upside to be one of the MAC’s best as long as the starting five stays healthy. The 6-2, 300-pound Godlevske is one of the rocks to work around.
After missing most of a year hurt, he was terrific when he came back to his spot. A starter as a freshman, an all-star as a sophomore – his second time around – now he might just be the league’s best center.
2. WR Jack Sorenson, Jr.
3. RB/KR Maurice Thomas, Sr.
4. OT Tommy Doyle, Jr.
5. WR Luke Mayock, Sr.
Best Miami University Defensive Player
DT Doug Costin, Sr.
The main man on the line, the 6-2, 295-pound All-MAC performer has been good from his first season, improving as a sophomore and rolling last year, coming up with 52 tackles while becoming the team’s best pass rusher.
Great in the interior, he came up with six sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss, and now he has to be even more of an anchor with some retooling being done on a decent front four.
2. S Mike Brown, Jr.
3. LB Myles Reid, Sr.
4. P Kyle Kramer, Sr.
5. CB Travion Banks, Sr.
NEXT: Keys to the Season, Prediction & What Will Happen
2. KEYS TO THE SEASON
Biggest Key To The Miami University Offense
Keep on not screwing up. This isn’t going to be the most explosive of offenses – it struggled to crank up too much of a downfield passing game last year, and that was with Gus Ragland under center. This season, it should take a little while to come up with any consistency considering the schedule over the first month – more on that in a moment.
Since this isn’t going to be a scoring machine – at least for a bit – doing all of the little things right is a must. The offense only turned the ball over ten times, there was only one fumble over the last five games, and the attack was automatic inside the 20 – MU led the nation in red zone offense. Now it has to do it all again, while hoping the O starts to score in bunches like it did once the MAC campaign kicked in.
Biggest Key To The Miami University Defense
Force more field goals after giving up long drives. Two. That’s how many field goals opposing offenses ended up making inside the red zone against the Miami defense. To be fair, opposing kickers missed two of them, but the two made were the fewest allowed by any defense – that’s not a positive.
The RedHawks were hit for touchdowns on close to 77% of the scoring drives deep into their own territory – only five teams were worse. Again, to be fair, Oklahoma was dead last in the nation in red zone defense and touchdowns allowed, and it turned out to be pretty good.
Miami’s O isn’t/wasn’t Oklahoma’s O.
Key Player To A Successful Season
QB Jackson Williamson, Soph.
Or Brett Gabbert, or AJ Meyer, or any one of the six quarterback options looking to replace All-MAC performer Gus Ragland. Williamson got on the field for a few games last year, but he didn’t get a shot to do much of anything. He’s a dangerous passer, though, with a live arm and the ability to grow into the gig – if he wins it in fall camp.
Key Game To The Miami University Season
Buffalo, Sept. 28
Unless something crazy happens, MU should be 1-3 to start the season. It’ll beat Tennessee Tech, and it should give Cincinnati a hard time, but starting out the season with road games at Iowa, Cincinnati and Ohio State isn’t going to be fun. And then comes the MAC opener against Buffalo.
Last year, MU started out the season 1-4 as it dug a hole it couldn’t pull out of. It was close to doing it, but the 51-42 loss to Buffalo turned out to be a killer for bowl hopes. This time around, after going 2-4 in the series in the last six, a win over the defending East champ is a must with Western Michigan and Northern Illinois to follow.
– Miami University Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2018 Miami University Fun Stats
– Field Goals: Miami 10-of-13 – Opponents 5-of-9
– 2nd Quarter Scoring: Miami 124 – Opponents 60
– Punt Return Average: Opponents 11.2 – Miami 2.7
NEXT: What Will Happen
1. MIAMI UNIVERSITY WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN
Miami University has been the close-but-not-quite team over the last three seasons.
It’s been a whole lot better after winning a total of five games between 2013 and 2015, but it can’t seem to bust past the six-win mark over the last three years.
Last season, it lost to Marshall by seven to open up the season. It lost to Western Michigan by one, dropped a heartbreaking fight against a great Army team by one, and lost the firefight with Buffalo 51-42 on the way to a 6-6 season with no bowl invite.
Close, but not quite.
And now this year’s team is a little worse, with the offensive backfield needing some retooling, all while hoping the defense can hold its own for a while until the O finds its footing.
Set The Regular Season Win Total At … 6
Get ready for a carbon copy of last season, shrugging early with a nasty schedule and then kicking it all in as the year goes on.
Figure MU loses on the road to Iowa, Cincinnati and Ohio State on the way to a 1-3 start, and like last year, loses in a fun battle against Western Michigan.
The RedHawks will be good enough to come up with a win at home against a Northern Illinois and get rolling late against Bowling Green, Akron and Ball State, but a loss at Ohio and one other slip along the way will mean a second straight 6-6 regular season.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
