Preview: Miami football faces Lindenwood at Yager for final non-conference matchup of 2025

The Miami University RedHawks football team (0-3) stays at home this weekend when it greets the Lindenwood University Lions (2-2) at Yager Stadium on Sept. 27 at 3:30 p.m. for Miami’s homecoming weekend.

The matchup marks the RedHawks’ second-straight home game. Miami hosted the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Rebels on Sept. 20 for its home-opener.

Head coach Chuck Martin and the RedHawks are hoping to rebound from last week’s loss and earn their first win of the 2025 season. Despite holding a 14-point lead at two points during the game, the RedHawks fell in the final minute of the fourth quarter thanks to a UNLV field goal.

During the game, starting quarterback Dequan Finn and starting center __ were both injured among other players. At a press conference this week, Martin said the backup players at those positions have enough experience to fill those roles.

“Obviously you don’t want to lose your starting center and starting quarterback,” Martin said. “[But] it won’t be like week one. You’ll miss your best players at those positions, but we’ll have guys that have played in games that should be able to go and play good football.”

With its third loss, Miami finds itself in a similar position to last year, when the team started 0-3 before securing its first win against the University of Massachusetts Minutemen. The RedHawks went 7-1 in the 2024 regular season and earned a trip to Detroit for the Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship.

Backup quarterback Henry Hesson took Finn’s position after his injury in the second quarter. Hesson threw for 134 yards and one touchdown. Before his injury, Finn had 131 passing yards and two touchdowns.

Miami’s offense, especially its running game, had its best performance yet against the Rebels. Kenny Tracy netted 104 rushing yards and caught six passes for 84 yards and two touchdowns.

All three of the RedHawks’ offensive touchdowns were in the air. Redshirt junior receiver Kam Perry led the team with 122 yards, and redshirt sophomore receiver Keith Reynolds caught his first touchdown of the season when he returned a kickoff for 100 yards in the third quarter. It was the second 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in program history and the first since 2018.

The defense kept the Rebels at bay in the third quarter, with Miami up 38-24 going into the final 15 minutes. However, the game unraveled in the fourth quarter. The Rebels brought the game back within one score and later evened it up after a quick four-and-out for the RedHawks.

Miami had an opportunity to run the clock down and score in the final minute. A big play from Tracy put the RedHawks in opposing territory, but a fumble at the end of his run sent the ball in the opposite direction.

The Rebels wasted two minutes off the clock and took their first lead of the day with a field goal. Miami’s offense took the field with 30 seconds left in need of a game-tying kick.

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Redshirt senior kicker Dom Dzioban was sent out for a last-second attempt, but a fumbled snap prevented his foot from meeting the ball. Miami dropped to 0-3 despite holding the lead for nearly the entire game.

“That’s what makes this loss so hard,” Martin said. “The things that you have to do to win games, we did them all against UNLV, but the things that you have to do to not lose games, we unfortunately did not.”

The RedHawks are looking for their first win this weekend against Lindenwood, who won a narrow 30-27 game against the Stony Brook University Seawolves last weekend.

The Lions cruised to a 27-3 lead in the first half, with the defense forcing four punts and a fumble and holding Stony Brook to a field goal. The Seawolves began to climb back in the second half, but the deficit proved too difficult to overcome, and Lindenwood rose to 2-2.

Last weekend’s matchup was the Lions’ best performance on offense. Redshirt senior quarterback Nate Glantz threw for 249 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for another touchdown. Lindenwood’s run-game was its best of the season so far, totaling 216 yards.

An efficient defense allowed the Lions to maintain control of the game. Three sacks, two coming from redshirt senior defensive end Tajay Passmore, kept the Stony Brook offense shaken.

Lindenwood rose to .500 with two-straight wins after dropping its first two games of the season. The team leads the Ohio Valley Conference-Big South Football Association of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).

This weekend will be the first meeting between the RedHawks and the Lions. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

@kethanbabu_04

babukc2@miamioh.edu