Saturday, November 04, 2000
Miami hopes to rebound against OU
By Dave Goldstein
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Miami football team still can earn some hardware this season, but its road to a championship will have to continue against archrival Ohio University.
Miami, coming off a 45-14 Victory Bell loss to Cincinnati, can win the Mid-American Conference Eastern division if it wins its three remaining games. The RedHawks, however, are thinking about just one of those.
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OHIO at MIAMI
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• Kickoff: 12:05 p.m. today, Yager Stadium (30,012), Oxford.
• Records: Miami 4-4 (2-1 MAC); Ohio 5-3 (2-1).
• TV: Channel 64.
• Radio: WCKY-AM (1360), WMOH-AM (1450), WFMG-FM (101.3).
• Series: MU leads 45-29-2 (last: 1999, OU 40-28).
• Line: Ohio by 4 1/2.
• What to watch: The RedHawks have dominated MAC opponents at home, and a win against OU would make them 16-2 at Yager since Oct.5, 1996. Ohio's option has been awesome, scoring 46 points a game in its past three wins.
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“We're not talking about something that could happen three weeks from now, we're talking about what's happening this Saturday,” coach Terry Hoeppner said. “But everybody is well aware that we are very much back in this race, and we're very excited about that.”
The RedHawks' hopes also rest on Marshall winning all of its remaining games but losing to Miami, or on Akron losing a second time.
Last week, Miami's thoughts were on anything but championships. The RedHawks were sloppy in losing to an arch rival, committing four turnovers and getting blown out. Miami actually outgained UC on the day, 389 yards to the Bearcats' 383, and picked up 24 first downs to UC's 18.
Miami receiver Sly Johnson, slightly hobbled last week but probable for today, said his team is just excited to move on.
“It's always good to get rid of that "L,' get that taste out of our mouths,” Johnson said. “We've just got to get our games going so we can pick up a win in our last game at home.”
After last week's loss, Miami quarterback Mike Bath said he wished he could play Ohio immediately, but he might not have been speaking for his teammates on defense. Ohio has won its past three games, averaging 46 points a game inthat span.
“You can't stop them,” Hoeppner said. “I'm not even telling the guys we're going to stop them. We just want to slow them down enough to get this win.”
A win is something the RedHawks have experienced in just one of their last four games. Three in a row is something they haven't done since 1998.Hoeppner gave practice a theme this week: Believe. Miami will have to, if it expects to pull off this come-from-behind division title.
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