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Sports Twittermiami redHawks football season preview
Montgomery wants more big plays
Miami football coach happy with defense heading into tonight's opener but says offense needs to step up.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
OXFORD — The Miami RedHawks are confident about their defense as they begin a season in which they hope to win their second straight Mid-American Conference East Division title and post their first overall winning record in three years.
The big play. That's what worries them. On offense.
It's something in which the RedHawks once specialized behind quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Josh Betts, something that has been lacking the past two years.
"We've got to get more big plays in our running game, more big plays in our passing game," said Miami coach Shane Montgomery, whose team opens its season tonight, Aug. 28, at home against Vanderbilt. "We've got to score more points. We've got to take some pressure off our defense."
The defense should be fine. All three starting linebackers made the Butkus Award watch list. Nine starters are back.
On offense, however, the running game that averaged 130.7 yards per contest last year remains a question mark with tailbacks Thomas Merriweather (143 career rushing yards) and Andre Bratton (coming back from a knee injury).
Junior Daniel Raudabaugh, who passed for 2,431 yards last season after replacing the injured Mike Kokal, will start at quarterback ahead of redshirt freshman and Northmont grad Clay Belton.
"We played (Raudabaugh) as a first-time quarterback with a bunch of first-time receivers," Montgomery noted. "He has more confidence now because of what he went through last year.
"At some point we've got to get (Belton) into the ballgame," the Miami coach added. "You want to get him in when you want to, before you have to."
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197
or pconrad@coxohio.com.
TODAY'S GAME
Who: Miami vs. Vanderbilt
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Yager Stadium
TV: ESPNU
Radio: WIZE-AM (1340)
BY THE NUMBERS
1899: The year Miami and Vanderbilt first played on the football field. Vanderbilt won 12-0.
32: Consecutive passes attempted by Shane Montgomery, which still stands as the NCAA record, when he played quarterback for North Carolina State, in the second half of a game against Duke. He completed 16.
9: Opening-day victories by Vanderbilt over the last 25 years.
