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MIAMI FOOTBALL
Vandy's an unusual late-season foe
Thursday, October 25, 2007
OXFORD — Although the Mid-American Conference East Division title race is turning into a free-for-all with just one game separating the top four teams in the standings, the Miami RedHawks must step away from that battle this week.
"This is uncharted territory for us," Miami head coach Shane Montgomery said, referring to the RedHawks' game Saturday at Vanderbilt of the Southeast Conference. "We haven't played a nonconference game this late in the season in a long time."
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It has been almost six years, in fact. On Nov. 17, 2001, Miami played at Hawaii and lost 52-51.
And, the last time Miami faced an opponent from a major conference or major independent team this late in the season that wasn't the Cincinnati Bearcats? Try Nov. 7, 1987, when they took a trip to Miami, Fla., and were beaten by the Hurricanes 54-3.
"I'm not really sure how this will affect us," Montgomery said. "It's a tough football game to play against a tough team at this point in time.
"After a loss, you'd expect to step right back into conference play and play an important game. That's not to say this isn't an important game, but it's not a conference game."
The RedHawks are tied with Bowling Green for second place in the MAC East with a 2-1 record. Buffalo sits atop the division at 2-0.
Should Miami win its final three MAC games (home against Buffalo on Nov. 3, home against Akron on Nov. 14 and at Ohio on Nov. 24), the RedHawks would clinch the MAC East championship.
Injury update
The RedHawks keep getting bitten by the injury bug. The latest casualty is true freshman linebacker Ryan Kennedy, who had become an impact player in limited duty.
"Ryan Kennedy was injured in the first quarter (at Temple)," Montgomery said. "He's out indefinitely. I don't know if we'll get him back."
Kennedy, who hurt his knee, had played on special teams and filled in on Miami's extremely thin linebacker corps.
In five games, Kennedy had nine tackles (eight of them solos, including a quarterback sack) and also recovered a fumble.
Junior defensive tackle Ben Huddle is out for Saturday's game, senior quarterback Mike Kokal is doubtful, and junior defensive lineman Nick DeBartolo is questionable.
DeBartolo, the former fullback and only player in team history to squat 700 pounds, hurt his knee against Bowling Green and didn't play at Temple. "There is a chance he'll be out again this week," Montgomery said.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.
