Miami last played Toledo on a football field on Oct. 22, 2011. The two teams are due to meet for the first time since then on Saturday when the Rockets, the defending Mid-American Conference champions and current MAC West Division leaders, visit Yager Stadium in Oxford to meet the East Division-leading RedHawks in Miami’s Homecoming Game.
Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
The similarities are abundant. Both teams are 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the conference. Both teams are riding six-game winning streaks after losing their season openers. Miami fifth-year junior quarterback Brett Gabbert was named the MAC East Offensive Player of the Week after the RedHawks’ 34-21 win at Western Michigan last Saturday. Toledo junior running back Peny Boone was named the West Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 148 yards and the game-winning touchdown with 1:31 left in the Rockets’ gritty 13-6 win over Ball State.
Toledo leads the MAC with an average of 36.9 points per game. Miami is right behind at 31.6 points per game.
Gabbert leads the MAC with average of 162.9 passing yards per game. Boone has five straight 100-yard outings and leads the MAC with an average of 113.1 rushing yards per game.
“I think he’s very consistent,” Toledo coach Jason Candle said of Gabbert. “He has a lot of starts under his belt. He’s comfortable with who he is. He does a great job leading their team. He’s created a lot of explosive plays in the passing game. He’s gotten into the end zone a few times the last couple weeks with his legs. He’s going to play efficiently. He’s not going to screw it up. He’s not going to give you the ball a bunch of times. You have to do the best job you can to disrupt his rhythm and timing. You have to have a good plan to stop him.”
Dequan Finn, Toledo’s junior quarterback, is equally as big of a challenge as Boone to opposing defenses. Finn ranks fifth in the MAC with an average of 62.6 rushing yards per game and third in total offense with an average of 149.3 yards per game.
Miami senior cornerback Yahsyn “Frizz” McKee was confident that Miami’s defense would be able to keep Finn in check.
“We have confidence in the guys up front,” McKee said. “We’ll prepare the same way. They’re a good opponent for us. We’re a good opponent for them.”
“They have really good players who are really well-coached,” 10th-year Miami coach Chuck Martin said of the Rockets. “They have a lot of guys who’ve been in the program for a while.”
Toledo’s roster include sophomore linebacker Sawiaha Ellis from Fairfield, junior running back Bryce McMahon from Centerville, junior tight end Justin Stephens from Trotwood-Madison and sophomore wide receiver Larry Stephens from Springfield.
Since Miami and Toledo last met, the RedHawks have faced Marshall four times, Minnesota and Kentucky three times, Iowa and Ohio State twice in non-conference games while facing West Division teams such as Ball State nine times in the Redbird Rivalry, Central Michigan seven times, Western Michigan six times, Northern Illinois in five games and Eastern Michigan four times.
Candle recognized the incongruity of the series record.
“We recruited some of these guys we’re going to play against,” he said. “You know a little bit about them that way, but there is a level of uncertainty. We’ve played Ohio State more in my time here than Miami of Ohio, which is crazy, but I don’t make the schedule and I don’t want to. We’ll play the ones we’re given, and wherever they’re at, we’ll go play them, but like I said, a good team that will present a lot of challenges for us.
“We have to hit the road this week and play a good Miami team. They’re getting good quarterback play from their starter who’s a veteran guy. A very good defensive team led by a really good front. A team that communicates at a really high level on both sides of the football, and they have a field goal kicker who hasn’t missed and is a real weapon. It’s a complete team that’s very well-coached and a program we have a lot of respect for. We’ll have to be at our best to go on the road and get a victory.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Toledo at Miami, 4 p.m., ESPNU, 980, 1450
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