DaytonDailyNews.com

OXFORD — It looked bad at first, the sight of junior quarterback Daniel Raudabaugh lying on the Yager Stadium turf, clutching his right ankle in the closing minutes of Miami University's scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 16.

But it was just a scare. The worst fears of the several hundred RedHawks fans, coaches and players holding their

collective breath were not

realized.

Raudabaugh, whose ankle had been stepped on accidentally by a teammate, apparently suffered only a minor injury.

According to Miami spokesperson Mike Pearson, a preliminary examination by head athletic trainer Gale Newton indicated that Raudabaugh probably would be back to practice early this week.

"He hurt his ankle a little bit in the spring," Miami coach Shane Montgomery said. "I think when he went down today, he thought it was worse than it was."

After lying on the turf for a couple minutes, Raudabaugh got up under his own power and limped off the field. The ankle was wrapped in ice, and later he walked along the sidelines, putting a fair amount of weight on his right foot.

"He got stepped on," Montgomery said, "and when you've got a big lineman stepping on your ankle with cleats, it hurts."

Miami's offense was hit by serious injuries to its quarterbacks, running backs and linemen in 2006 and '07.

Otherwise, a good day

Until the injury, Raudabaugh had reason to smile. He and junior wide receiver Dustin Woods were on fire.

He fired a 29-yard touchdown pass to Woods early in the scrimmage, and early in the second half Raudabaugh hooked up with Woods on a 97-yard scoring strike.

This, despite the fact that Woods said his body still isn't performing at 100 percent

efficiency.

"I've got a little hamstring problem," said Woods, who missed spring practice as a result of shoulder surgery. "You've just got to fight through it ... I haven't been able to open up, but I've still got a little speed burst left in me."

"He sure looked like he was going full speed to me," Montgomery said with a grin. "He's the fastest guy on our team. The thing he'll give us on that deep ball, he'll be able to run by some people. He's really been our big-play guy the last two years."

Raudabaugh completed

7-of-12 passes for 173 yards, two touchdowns and no interception.

Redshirt freshman Clay

Belton also played well, completing 17-of-22 passes for 170 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

His touchdown, a 19-yard pass to sophomore wideout Donovan Potter, capped the drive on which Raudabaugh had been hurt.

Tri-captains named

Senior linebacker Joey Hudson became only the third player in modern Miami history to be named as a team captain for a second time.

Joining Hudson as tri-captains this season are senior safety Robbie Wilson and senior offensive guard Dave DiFranco.

Hudson was a co-captain last season. The only other Miami players to serve as captain twice were Pat McDermott (1977-78) and Aaron Kromer (1988-89).

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