 "Photo:")
The RedHawks are riding the momentum from their first conference win of the season as they head into homecoming weekend.
On the other hand, opponent Kent State University is looking for its first MAC win since September 2007.
In the last two games between these teams, less than one touchdown decided the outcomes.
Kent State's Eugene Jarvis, last year's seventh-ranked rusher in the nation, has been a relative non-factor this year, accumulating just 257 yards this year. He has only played in four of the Golden Flashes' seven games this year due to injury.
Instead, quarterback Julian Edelman has headed up the rushing attack. Edelman's 623 rushing yards this season puts him third overall in the MAC.
"You know, with the running game, Edelman is their leading rusher with over 600 yards," Miami head coach Shane Montgomery said. "He does it all kinds of ways. They call runs for him. He's amazing when he scrambles. We could be as fundamentally sound as we want to be, but we still need to get him on the ground."
Edelman's legs aren't his only tools though. Listed at six feet tall and just shy of 200 pounds, the senior from Redwood City, Calif. may be undersized but he has a dangerous arm. Pair Edelman's rushing yards with his 1,022 yards through the air and you have the fifth-ranked offensive-player in the conference.
"The thing they usually do in the passing game is they like to go deep a lot," Montgomery noted.
However KSU's quarterback isn't the only one to make headlines this year. After six games with Dan Raudabaugh under center, a stretch in which the RedHawks won just one time, red-shirt-freshman Clay Belton was finally given a chance to start last week against Bowling Green State University.
The strong-armed QB had just one touchdown in his debut as a starter, but looked poised to be Miami's leading man for a while. While he may be young and inexperienced at the collegiate level, the cool-headed Belton realizes that despite its 1-6 record, Kent State is no pushover.
"There's no doubt that they're going to come out just as hard as we're going to come out," Belton said. "It's definitely going to be a tough game. It comes down to execution though. For us as an offense we need to score more. As a defense we need to play better, we just need to execute more."
Despite the many offensive implications, Miami's defense knows it plays just as important of a role.
"It takes the entire team," senior linebacker Joey Hudson said. "It doesn't matter how well we play some games. We need the offense and the offense needs us."
Don't be surprised if you see some players getting nostalgic before and after the game. This is the final Saturday home game for the RedHawks' senior class-the first class to play all four years under Montgomery.
"I feel like I just got here," Hudson said. "The Akron game from last year is my favorite game. The defense got a shut out and got the only touchdown. That was really something I'll never forget."
