DaytonDailyNews.com

OXFORD — Miami University football coach Shane Montgomery knows his RedHawks don't compare to the school's 10th-ranked squad of 2003 or the teams that won three straight Tangerine Bowls and went 32-1-1 in the mid-1970s.

Shoot, the 2007 RedHawks need to beat Central Michigan in the Mid-American Conference Championship Game on Saturday just to avoid a losing season.

But this year also has been, in some ways, the most remarkable season in program history.

"Even though our record (6-6 overall) isn't anywhere near where I'd like it to be," Montgomery said, "if you'd told me after the Colorado game, after such a poor performance, that eight weeks ahead we'd be in the championship, I'd feel very good about that."

Miami is one victory away from being crowned MAC champions and securing a bowl game berth despite the type of adversity that has decimated other more glamorous teams this fall, such as Notre Dame and Nebraska.

The RedHawks lost two of their three captains to knee injuries, quarterback Mike Kokal and tailback Brandon Murphy, the two players who were expected to touch the ball on offense more than any others. So far they've missed a total of 16 games.

"When you lose offensive guys like we have throughout the year, it's been tough," Montgomery said.

Miami also has seen so many tailbacks fall to injuries that against Ohio, an important game, the ball was given eight times to walk-on freshman T.J. Lattimore who, according to Montgomery, "(was) eighth or nine on the depth chart at the start of camp."

The low point, Montgomery said, was the 42-0 loss at Colorado which had followed the 47-10 loss to Cincinnati.

"That was the worst offensive performance I've been around," he said of the Colorado game, in which the RedHawks were outgained 634-139.

"After that we were very unsure about what kind of team we were going to be," Montgomery said. "To get to where we are is really a credit to the team as a whole.

"It hasn't been pretty at times," he added, "but it has been pretty enough to put us where we are. We won the games we needed to win."

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