DaytonDailyNews.com

OXFORD — First it was senior tailback Brandon Murphy, team captain. Injured. Out for the season. His career at Miami done.

It's possible, perhaps even likely, the same fate has befallen Miami's other senior captain, quarterback Mike Kokal.

In a span of 4 minutes and 4 seconds of the RedHawks' 20-13 victory at Kent State last weekend, Miami lost sophomore wide receiver Dustin Woods to a shoulder injury, Kokal to a knee injury and junior defensive tackle Ben Huddle to a knee injury.

Miami head coach Shane Montgomery did not sound optimistic about the return this fall of Kokal or Huddle.

"There is a chance (the injuries) to Huddle and Kokal could be long-term," the Miami coach said Tuesday at his weekly news conference.

All three players are "absolutely" out for Miami's home game Saturday against Bowling Green, Montgomery said.

Other than that, he added, "We're really not sure. We're waiting for more information."

Should Kokal and Huddle miss the rest of the season, they would join a club that includes Miami's first- and second-string tailbacks, Murphy and Andre Bratton, and starting offensive lineman Matt McKeown.

Junior Daniel Raudabaugh will start at quarterback Saturday and true freshman Clay Belton will be the backup.

"Daniel Raudabaugh right now is the starter and there's a chance he'll be the starter for the rest of the year," Montgomery said. "Daniel's got a lot of confidence. I don't know exactly what happened at the Colorado game."

Raudabaugh made his first start of the year in the 42-0 loss at Colorado on Sept. 22, and completed just 11-of-32 passes.

The 6-foot-4 native of Coppel, Texas, had been much more effective when he came off the bench in the fourth quarter at Minnesota on Sept. 8 and passed for 222 yards and two touchdowns.

Raudabaugh did not play in Miami's 17-14 victory at Sycaruse, but last week he was brought in against Kent State after Kokal was hurt and completed 8-of-12 passes for 186 yards. His on-target passes resembled those he had thrown at Minnesota, not the wildly overthrown attempts at Colorado.

If anything happens to Raudabaugh, Montgomery said he won't hesitate going to Belton, the 6-5, 231-pound preseason sensation from Northmont High School.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.