“The kids really respond by just playing football,” sixth-year coach Chuck Martin said Monday morning during his weekly media session. “They keep digging.”
»RELATED: Revved-up offense leads RedHawks
Miami can improve to 3-1 in the MAC for a second consecutive season with a win Saturday at surprising Kent State.
The Golden Flashes were picked to finish fourth in the East before getting off to a 2-0 conference start that was interrupted last week with a 45-38 loss at division-favorite Ohio.
Kent State, with a roster that includes redshirt sophomore wide receiver Raymond James and fourth-year junior defensive back Richie Carpenter Jr. from Wayne and redshirt freshman offensive lineman and Oakwood product Mike Morris, is 3-4 overall, including losses at Arizona State, Auburn and Wisconsin – three teams all ranked in the current Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Miami has played three teams currently ranked in the AP top 20 – Iowa, Cincinnati and Ohio State.
“Kent State is the only team that’s played a more daunting schedule than us,” Martin said. “They still got some things done on both sides of the ball at Auburn and Arizona State.”
»RELATED: MAC Standings
Junior quarterback Dustin Crum isn’t flashy, but he is efficient. Crum has thrown for 10 touchdowns with zero interceptions while ranking second on the team in rushing with 310 yards.
“He’s playing really good,” Martin said. “He scrambles a lot. He’s a big, strong kid.
“They like to go up-tempo. Other teams do, too, but they’re committed to it. They play at warp speed. They try to spread the field so much that it looks like their wide receivers are lining up out of bounds.
“Their defense was really good a year ago. They have a salty defense. They’re going to win a bunch of games this year.”
Miami enjoys a 49-17 lead in the series against Kent State, including a decisive 31-6 win last season at Yager Stadium.
“They were very physical up front and able to control the line of scrimmage – and they’ve got three of their four starting offensive linemen returning,” second-year Golden Flashes coach Sean Lewis told the Kent Record-Courier. “They were very successful with inside and outside zone runs last year, so that will be a major area of focus.”
Lewis believes Miami true freshman quarterback Brett Gabbert has benefitted from the RedHawks’ grueling schedule. Gabbert threw for a career-high 273 yards against the Huskies.
“They went through a very rigorous non-conference schedule, and you can tell by his confidence, especially the second half he played against Northern Illinois last week, that he’s starting to find his groove,” Lewis told the Record-Courier.
Miami certainly can enhance its chances by avoiding needless penalties such as defensive linemen being called for offsides or lining up in the neutral zone. They were whistled for four such penalties against NIU, one of which was declined.
Martin described the situation as being similar to a basketball game, where players have to adjust to how closely the officials are calling it.
“Everybody lines up offsides,” he said. “Everybody cheats. If they call it, you have to adjust. The first one, you’re OK with. The third one cost us an interception. If anybody should be frustrated, it should be (sophomore safety) Sterling (Weatherford). That when you really wish we weren’t offsides.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Miami at Kent State, 3:30 p.m., 980, 1450
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