UB looks for another step forward
Miami is on outside of MAC East race
During the preseason, Miami (Ohio) and the University at Buffalo seemed headed for an early November clash that would help decide the Mid-American Conference’s East Division.
The RedHawks were picked to finish second behind Bowling Green and UB third, but all is a little more subdued now. Inconsistent play by Miami has stripped some of the luster from the game and while the Bulls are tied for first place in the division, the RedHawks are one loss away from being eliminated from bowl consideration.
So tonight at UB Stadium, UB (4-4, 2-2 MAC) will try to continue its quest for a postseason berth while Miami (2-6, 1-3) tries to salvage its season.
“I don’t know if we’re spoilers yet because we’re not out of the race,” said Miami coach Shane Montgomery. “It’s still wide open in the East so we’re not even talking about the role of spoiler because we still have a lot to play for.”
Indeed, the MAC East is up for grabs with five teams still in contention. UB and Akron are tied for first with 2-2 records, followed by Bowling Green and Temple at 2-3 and Miami at 1-3. Kent State and Ohio University are tied for last place at 1-4.
But Miami, which has lost four of its last five games, has struggled since the beginning of the season. The RedHawks opened with back-to-back losses to Vanderbilt and Michigan before beating Charleston Southern. They were dealt consecutive losses by Cincinnati, Temple and Northern Illinois before finally beating Bowling Green on the road. But in its last game, Miami was trounced at home by Kent State, 54-21.
“You never know what’s going to happen in the Mid-American Conference,” said UB coach Turner Gill. “There’s such competitiveness from top to bottom.”
The RedHawks had issues at quarterback. They started with junior Daniel Raudabaugh but after he began the season with four touchdowns and five interceptions, Montgomery switched to heralded red-shirt freshman Clay Belton, who many RedHawks fans were clamoring to see last year. Tonight is the third start for Belton, who has thrown for 461 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.
“He’s doesn’t have to go in there and win the game for us, he just has to manage our offense,” Montgomery said. “I think we have enough guys around him and we’ve been running the ball somewhat effectively the last few weeks so he can turn to that when he needs to.”
Miami’s biggest problem, Montgomery said, has been lack of scoring and turnover margin. The RedHawks are averaging a conference low 18.5 points and just 320.2 yards on offense, which ranks 12th in the league. In eight games, the RedHawks have 18 turnovers and just eight takeaways.
“We turn it over too much but it’s been in spurts, we’ll have three or four games where we don’t have any,” Montgomery said. “In the Vanderbilt game, we had three to start the season, the Temple game we had four and then last week we had six. When you turn the ball over that much, you lose a lot of scoring opportunities.”
Turnovers become more of a problem when playing an opponent like the Bulls, who lead the league in turnover margin at plus-nine.
“The ball’s on the ground a lot, and we got the majority of those,” Gill said. “That puts a big smile on my face when I see that happen.”
A win over Miami will do the same. Miami has won all 10 games between the schools, including last season’s 31-28 win in Ohio, which ended the Bulls’ bowl hopes. That fact isn’t lost on UB.
“We’re trying to get somewhere, we’re trying to get to a MAC championship and to a bowl game,” said junior tailback James Starks. “Our focus is not that this is a TV game, it’s basically to get to where we want to go and that’s the MAC championship.”
