The Miami University football team (3-3, 2-0 Mid-American Conference (MAC)) will close its three game road trip with a crucial MAC East matchup against the Bowling Green State University Falcons (BG) (3-3, 1-1 MAC). The RedHawks have not lost at Bowling Green since 1997.

“It always fun to get the MAC race going,” junior defensive lineman Wes Williams said. “We didn’t play our best in the non-conference and it is good to kind of get that out of our system. I’m glad we played bad in the non-conference instead of in conference.”

The RedHawks have defeated the University Akron and the University of Massachusetts in the MAC, while BG lost to the University of Toledo and defeated Akron last weekend.

“Bowling Green has always been one of the top programs in the MAC,” Head Coach Don Treadwell said. “They’re playing very well, coming off an impressive win against Akron. It’s another tough road game for us. This is a very good Bowling Green team. This will be a good test for our program.”

The Falcons have one of the better defenses in the MAC, ranking first in both scoring defense (20.3 points per game) and total defense (343 yards per game). They limited the same Akron team that dropped 49 points on the ’Hawks to only 10.

Sophomore wide receiver Dawan Scott is having a huge year for the RedHawks and is proving to be a dangerous threat every time he touches the ball. Scott is averaging almost 15 yards per touch. By comparison, the University of Oregon’s De’Anthony Thomas has only 10.6 yards per touch.

Bowling Green pulled out a 37-23 victory in Oxford last year.

“It’s a little sour, because they beat us last year,” Williams said. “But we are approaching it just like every other game and one game at a time.”

As good as the defense has been for BG, the offense has struggled. The Falcons are 10th in the MAC in both scoring and total offense. They have mustered up only 20.3 points a game and just under 388 yards per game.

Saturday’s game could be a good chance for the Red and White to get its defense, which is 116th in the nation in total defense and 110th in scoring defense, back on track.