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Wednesday, August 20, 2008
A hairy situation for Hudson
By Pete Conrad
How does the song go?
“Gimme a head with hair. Long, beautiful hair.” Something like that. Miami University senior linebacker Joey Hudson has caught the fever. Hair fever. Locks fever.
Dreadlocks, to be precise.
That was not his original intention. At first, he apparently wanted the look of straight, shining locks flowing in the breeze.
“I wanted long locks like Jordan Gafford, my roommate,” Hudson said, “but since mid-spring I realized my hair wasn’t as nice as Jordan’s. So I’ve been growing it out (in dreadlocks). It gets pretty frizzy.”
A friend of Hudson, Brittany Griffis, a hair stylist in Dayton, did the honors. “It took about two and a half hours,” Hudson said.
“It takes a lot more upkeep that I expected,” he added. “I have to keep waxing them. You have to sit there and just twist them, get the hair to knot up.”
Hudson acknowledges that his locks have a way to go. They don’t compare to those, for instance, of teammate Jamel Rogers.
“He’s got some great hair,” Hudson said of Rogers, a wide receiver, adding that he’s also impressed with that of defensive back Peris Edwards.
“I encouraged him to get his dreads,” Rogers said. “I think most of the players like it. I’ve had mine going on four years.”
Another player with dreadlocks, cornerback Brandon Stephens, said Hudson’s are “looking pretty good. Joe likes to be different.”
“I like ‘em,” quarterback Daniel Raudabaugh said of Hudson’s new look. “Joey does Joey. He’s not worried so much about what anyone else thinks. When Joey does something, nobody asks him about it. We respect him.”
“My hair’s a little short for that,” guard Dave DiFranco said with a laugh. “I like it, though.”
That opinion isn’t quite unanimous.
“The coaches’ responses are kind of interesting,” Hudson said. “Some like it. Some walk right by me, kinda smirking. Coach (Shane) Montgomery was probably my biggest non-fan. He was nice enough to allow me to keep them.”
And then there is punter Jake Richardson, who has relatively short hair, and who said he has been inspired by Hudson’s locks.
“It’s inspired me not to make that change,” he said.
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Still waiting for a running game
By Pete Conrad
I see a trend here.
For the second straight weekend the Miami RedHawks’ running game was overshadowed on offense — coming in a very distance second, in fact — by the passing attack during the team’s scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 16 at Yager Stadium.
Wideout Dustin Woods alone caught 170 yards worth of passes. Which was 138 yards more than those gained on the ground by the RedHawks’ top two tailbacks, Andre Bratton and Thomas Merriweather.
“We’re not running the ball as well as we need to,” Miami head coach Shane Montgomery said. “Of course, part of that is our defense.”
No, the offense does not need to be reminded that all three starting linebackers, against whom they butt heads every day, have been named to the Butkus Award watch list for the nation’s top linebacker.
And there are more where they came from. According to Clayton Mullins, one of the three, there isn’t a huge fall-off in talent once you get past him, Joey Hudson and Caleb Bostic. Not with super-sub Chris Shula waiting in the wings, not to mention Ryan Kennedy and David Davis.
To be fair, Bratton and Merriweather combined for only seven carries during the scrimmage. And Bratton did pick up 23 yards on three rushing attempts.
Part of the reason for those limited attempts is that Montgomery wanted to take a good look at running backs Jamel Miller, Dan Green and J.R. Taylor in case something happens to Bratton or Merriweather.
Also, part of it might be that Montgomery doesn’t want that something to happen during a scrimmage.
Still, Daniel Raudabaugh and Clay Belton had a combined total of 343 passing yards. All three touchdowns scored in the scrimmage came through the air.
Last year Miami passed the ball 52 precent of the time and ran it 48 percent.
It makes me wonder whether the RedHawks, with a running game short on depth and a receiving corps filled to the brim, doesn’t intend to be nearly so balanced this fall.
