Oct. 18, 2004

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UCF at Miami
Saturday, October 23, 2004
7 p.m. - Yager Stadium; Oxford, OH

ON THE TUBE: Miami's Saturday contest with UCF will be televised locally by WB 64 out of Cincinnati and carried nationwide as part of the ESPN Gameplan package. Calling the action are play-by-play commmentator Tim Bray and color commentator Neil Dougherty. All of Miami's home games thus far have been televised by either WB64 or Time Warner Cable. The RedHawks Nov. 2 home finale versus Toledo will be televised on ESPN2, marking Miami's second appearance on the deuce this season and fifth in the past two years. The RedHawks made their ABC debut on Sept. 4 at Michigan.

SCOUTING UCF: Miami hosts a dangerous University of Central Florida team Saturday night in its 88th annual Homecoming tilt. Despite their winless record (0-6; 0-3 MAC), the Golden Knights, coached by first-year mentor George O'Leary, have come close to putting it all together in each of their last two meetings, taking MAC West leader Northern Illinois to the wire two weeks ago and coming up just short in a 26-21 loss at Akron last Saturday. UCF, which played a brutal non-conference schedule that included Wisconsin, Penn State and West Virginia, enters Saturday night on a 10-game losing streak. Leading the charge for the Knights is senior running back Alex Haynes, who enters the contest ranked third in the MAC in rushing (86.4 ypg) and just 66 yards shy of 3,000 for his career.

THE SERIES: Miami and UCF are meeting for the third and final time as MAC rivals. The Golden Knights, who joined the MAC as an affiliate member for football in 2002, are departing for Conference USA next season. Thus far the two programs have split a pair of lopsided meetings, with the visiting team prevailing in each. UCF captured the teams' inaugural meeting in 2002, handling Miami, 48-31, in Oxford. Last season, the RedHawks' returned the favor, dominating the Golden Knights, 56-21, in Orlando. UCF is the last team to defeat Miami in Yager Stadium.

LAST MEETING--Miami 56, UCF 21 (Nov. 28, 2003): Miami quarterback Ben Roethlisberger assembled a masterful performance in Miami's 2003 regular-season finale, completing his first 14 passes on the way to a 327-yard, five-touchdown day in Orlando. Miami cruised to a 35-0 halftime lead and would lead by as much as 49-0 with Roethlisberger playing only one series into the second half. Miami's defense forced three turnovers and scored on a John Busing interception return for a TD, while holding UCF's Alex Haynes to just nine yards on five carries. The RedHawks never punted during the game.

HOMECOMING: Saturday marks the 88th homecoming contest for Miami football, which has been strong on the special day. Since its first homecoming contest versus Denison college in 1914, Miami has posted a 57-26-4 (.678) mark on homecoming. The going has been more difficult lately, as the RedHawks have won just four of their last 11 homecoming games, including last year's 45-20 defeat of Akron. This year's homecoming features five-time NBA World Champion and Miami basketball legend Ron Harper as Grand Marshal.

YAGER, SWEET YAGER: The RedHawks return to their home field this weekend with a chance to make a little Yager Stadium history. Miami owns an eight-game winning streak on its home turf--matching the longest in Yager Stadium history--and has not lost at home since the end of the 2002 campaign. The RedHawks, who had a FieldTurf playing surface installed prior to last season, have yet to lose on their new carpet and have actually been quite dominant, winning by an average margin of 30.5 points per game over that span. Under Hoeppner, Miami has posted a 20-7 (.741) record in Yager Stadium. Miami's last eight-game winning streak, which came in the midst of a Yager Stadium record 11-game unbeaten streak, came between 1985-86. The streak is the longest since Miami won 14 straight from 1980-82.

BUILDING ON THE MOMENTUM: With a 49-0 victory over Indiana State in its season opener, Miami won a school record and national leading 14th consecutive game. After a 43-10 loss at Michigan the following week, however, the RedHawks have struggled to keep their momentum and were unable to capture back-to-back victories until its current two-game win streak over Kent State and Buffalo. Miami, which enters Saturday's game looking for its first three-game winning streak of the year, has not gone a season without a three-game winning streak since 2000.

RALLY `HAWKS: Plagued by sluggish starts in each of the last two weeks, Miami has found itself trailing at the half in each of its last two contests. The RedHawks trailed 20-17 at the half versus Kent State before seizing the lead on its opening possession of the second half and outscoring the Golden Flashes 30-7 in the half. Last week, Miami trailed Buffalo 7-6 at halftime but assembled a pair of impressive scoring drives and a key defensive stop in scoring 19 unanswered second-half points. Miami has gone into the half trailing 24 times under Terry Hoeppner, posting a 7-17 mark. Prior to the Kent State win, Miami had lost eight straight games in which it trailed at the half.

BETTER AT HOME: Miami's offense has been sure to put on a show for its home fans over the past two seasons, placing at least 30 points on the scoreboard in 11 straight games, including 40 or more in eight of those contests. The RedHawks are averaging 45.3 points per game at home this season, while posting an impressive 430.7 yards of total offense. Miami also has taken better care of the ball at home, committing just six of its 21 total turnovers on its home turf. Leading the way is quarterback Josh Betts, who has completed 64 percent of his passes for seven TDs and just one interception in Yager Stadium.

SETTLING DOWN: When a new starter takes over at quarterback there are bound to be some ups and downs, and RedHawk starter Josh Betts has experienced more than his share over his first seven starts. The first Miami quarterback to pass for at least 200 yards in his first four starts, Betts has been as high as a 416-yard, four-touchdown performance at Cincinnati and as low as a 144-yard, four-turnover outing at Marshall. On the year, Betts is completing over 60 percent of his passes while passing for 14 TDs and eight interceptions. Coming off his second career 300-yard passing day and second MAC East Offensive Player of the Week honor at Buffalo, Betts ranks third in the MAC with a 143.0 pass efficiency rating. Over the past two outings, Betts has completed 42-of-63 (.667) passes for 568 yards, four TDs and just one interception.

HIGHLIGHT: Sophomore Ryne Robinson continues to emerge as an offensive threat in 2004. Coming off a career-best outing of 10 receptions for 153 yards a TD at Buffalo, Robinson broke into the starting lineup on Oct. 9 versus Kent State. Through two starts, Robinson has hauled in 15 catches for 268 yards or an average of 17.9 yards per catch. The sophomore, nicknamed "Highlight" by head coach Terry Hoeppner, also showed off his arm versus Kent State by tossing a 31-yard TD pass to Michael Larkin on a reverse pass. Robinson is the first player in program history to throw a touchdown pass, make a touchdown reception and return a punt for a TD.

GETTING ON TRACK: After averaging only 77.3 yards rushing per game over its first three contests, including an average of 35.0 ypg in losses at Michigan and Cincinnati, Miami's ground attack has been picking up steam over the last four outings, posting 124.2 ypg. The RedHawks are led by the taliback committee of Luke Clemens (87 att.-345 yds.) and Mike Smith (71 att.-266 yds). Miami has run better at home this season, posting 141.3 ypg at Yager Stadium. Throughout Terry Hoeppner's tenure, Miami has been a better team when the ground game is working, posting a 33-5 record when outrushing the opposition and a 25-5 record when rushing for at least 150 yards.

OWNING THE ROCK: Any coach will tell you that the best defense is an offense that keeps the other team's offense off the field, and that's something the Red and White has mastered in the past. Miami led the MAC in time of possession in both 2002 and 2003, owning the ball more than five minutes per game more than its opposition in 2003. This season, a rash of turnovers and struggles in the running game had reversed that advantage, as the RedHawks entered last week's game holding the ball nearly two minutes less per game than its opponents. All that changed in Buffalo, as Miami, which ranks third in the MAC in time of possession (30:42), controlled the ball for a whopping 40 minutes, including more than 23 minutes in the second half.

GRINDING TO A HALT: Since the resurgence of Miami's defense last season, the Red and White has been able to make opposing offenses one-dimensional by taking away the run. Over the last 20 games, Miami has restricted 10 of its opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing and allowed more than 150 yards rushing just six times, including a mere two instances of more than 200 yards rushing. The nine yards rushing surrendered to Ohio on Sept. 18 were the fewest allowed by Miami since it held Akron to -1 yard rushing in the 1995 season finale. Miami is allowing only 72.0 yards rushing versus MAC foes in 2004.

SEALING THE DEAL: With Miami trailing at the half in each of its last two games, the RedHawk defense has risen to the occasion. Over the last two games, Miami has outscored the opposition 49-7 in the second half. After giving up 264 yards of total offense in the first half versus Kent State, Miami slowed the Golden Flashes to 155 yards in second half. Versus Buffalo, the RedHawks allowed only 28 yards in the second half. The RedHawks have been even stronger against the run, allowing just 17 second-half rushing yards to Kent State and only five to Buffalo.

LOCKING THE DOOR: Miami's defense has done more than its share to protect its house, posting a trio of dominant performances in Yager Stadium this season. In wins over Indiana State, Ohio and Kent State, Miami has held its opponents to 295.0 yards of total offense, including a meager 37.0 yards on the ground. Thus far, Miami opponents are averaging just 1.1 yards per carry and have been sacked 14 times in Yager Stadium. The RedHawks also have forced eight of their 13 turnovers this season in their three home games.

A BLIP ON THE RADAR: While a key factor of playing "Miami Football" involves an aggressive defense, the Red and White appeared tentative in a 45-26 loss at Cincinnati, in which it gave up 599 yards of total offense, including the highest rushing total allowed by the Red and White since 1996. Fortunately, the breakdowns experienced by Miami that day appeared to be just a blip on the radar. In the RedHawks' other six games, they have given up just 277.0 yards per game, which would rank among the top 15 programs nationally. Perhaps even more impressively, Miami has allowed just 74.5 yards rushing and 2.15 yards per carry in its other six games, which would rank it sixth nationally in yards per game allowed and second nationally in yards per carry allowed.

A GREAT PAIR OF LEGS: With two great legs on your roster, why not use them both? Head coach Terry Hoeppner has been using both Jared Parseghian and Todd Soderquist to handle Miami's kicking duties this season. Parseghian is 5-of-7 on field goal attempts this season and 10-of-12 on PATs, while Soderquist is 3-of-4 on field goals, including a season-long 43-yarder, and 14-of-14 on PATs. The duo has combined to convert six straight field goals for the RedHawks. Typically, Parseghian comes in on shorter attempts and Soderquist takes longer attempts, with the line of demarcation being determined during pregame warm-ups by head coach Terry Hoeppner. Parseghian, who holds the MAC record with 18 straight field goal conversions at one point, ranks 10th nationally among active kickers by converting 77.5 of his career attempts.