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Staff photo by Nick Daggy Miami University linebacker Evan Harris takes a breather during practice Tuesday, August 31, 2010, in Oxford, Ohio.

Sophomore Harris is coming off a productive freshman season.

By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer Updated 8:02 AM Thursday, September 2, 2010

OXFORD — The better the competition, the better Evan Harris likes it.

In which case the Miami University sophomore outside linebacker should be in hog heaven when the RedHawks open their season against the Florida Gators.

“I try to have fun, first and foremost,” said Harris, who was Miami’s fifth-leading tackler as a true freshman in 2009. “I enjoy great competition, so if the competition level is high, that’s when I’m at my peak performing.

“I’m losing sleep already,” he added. “I think I’ll be ready as soon as we start packing.”

Harris shouldn’t be intimidated by the 80,000-plus Florida fans at “The Swamp.”

He had barely ventured onto the Miami campus before he found himself playing — starting, in fact — before a huge crowd in last year’s opener against Kentucky at Cincinnati’s Paul Brown Stadium.

“It was surreal. You could see a sea of blue with the red, and it was sold out,” Harris said. “It was the largest crowd I’ve ever played before.”

It didn’t seem to faze Harris, who recorded nine tackles.

“That was a good first game. I’ll admit I had a little slump the next two or three games,” Harris said, explaining that he was trying to get used to his classes and college life in general. “But then in midseason I picked it back up. I just had to step up, grow up, be more mature and handle my responsibilities. Once I got that down, then I was ready to go.”

That will be his posture, he said, when the RedHawks take the field against the Gators.

“Once this game starts, I know it’s just football, what I’ve been playing my whole life since I was 6,” he said.

“I just like to fly around and have fun, you know. Talk a little trash here and there. But stay humble, also.”

Harris was a two-way starter as a senior at Westlake High School in Waldorf, Md., totaling 37 tackles for loss as a linebacker and 672 yards as a running back.

There was no question about which position he would play in college.

“I guess I was born to play linebacker,” he said.

Harris said he didn’t think he would work his way into Miami’s starting lineup so quickly. “Honestly, when I came in, I was thinking to myself, ‘All right. Let’s go out here and work hard, and make special teams so I can make a name for myself.’ ”

Instead, Harris started in 11 of Miami’s 12 games and finished with 61 tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss, the team’s third-best total.

“There’s always room for improvement,” he said. “That’s what I live by. Even though I played 12 games last year, I know I can come out and do much better and play harder on every play.”