The Miami University RedHawks football team (7-5, 6-2 in conference play) closed out the regular season with a 45-24 win at Yager Stadium over the Ball State University Cardinals (4-8, 3-5 in conference play). Today’s win sends Miami to the Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship on Dec. 6 for the third year in a row.
In his first career start, redshirt freshman quarterback Thomas Gotkowski threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns, including three in the first half. He tied for the most touchdowns in a first career start under head coach Chuck Martin.
“We just took care of business,” Gotkowski said. “We knew we had to go out there and have a hot start and take care of what we need to take care of. Once again, we just had to play by the rules of our offense … Everything was very smooth and bread and butter in the first half.”
The RedHawks scored on six of their 12 offensive drives. After both teams traded punts to start the first quarter, Gotkowski threw his first of two touchdowns to redshirt freshman receiver Braylon Isom on a 23-yard pass.
Ball State evened the score in no time thanks to a 56-yard rush from redshirt senior quarterback Kiael Kelly followed by a face mask penalty to put the Cardinals on the 5-yard line. Freshman running back Jalen Bonds later punched in for the touchdown to bring the score to 7-7.
Gotkowski moved the sticks 44 yards on Miami’s next drive after finding Keith Reynolds down the field. Isom scored his second touchdown of the day with a 10-yard pass four plays later, and Miami ran away with the game from there.
“The biggest plan for us was just to execute our offense: do what we’re taught and do what we’re coached,” Gotkowski said. “Another thing was giving our receivers a chance on the ball, getting guys in space and creating plays for them. Being able to have wide receivers that can go up and make plays on the ball gives me a lot of confidence in them [and] enables us to be more fluent and calm in the pocket.”
The RedHawks held Ball State to a 43-yard field goal from the foot of redshirt senior kicker DC Pippin. Redshirt senior running back Jordan Brunson rushed for his third touchdown of the season to expand Miami’s lead to three scores at the end of the first quarter.
After forcing the Cardinals to punt, Miami added another touchdown with Gotkowski’s longest pass of the day. He reached redshirt junior receiver Kam Perry 55 yards down the field in the endzone for Perry’s sixth of the season.
Both teams traded possessions until the end of the half until redshirt senior kicker Dom Dzioban hit a 33-yard field goal to put Miami up 31-10 after two quarters of play.
Redshirt freshman running back D’Shawntae Jones punched in for his seventh touchdown of the season to widen Miami’s lead once again halfway through the third quarter. Neither team scored again until the fourth quarter.
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Ball State added two more touchdowns in the final 15 minutes, but the RedHawks maintained their advantage, including one more touchdown off a forced fumble from sophomore defensive lineman Jayden Fuller recovered by redshirt freshman defensive back Jermaine Agee. Redshirt senior quarterback Henry Hesson took the final snaps for Miami and kneeled the game out with the RedHawks up 45-24 to send them to Detroit.
In the postgame press conference, Martin talked about the importance of Gotkowski, as well as other players on the team, stepping up this year unexpectedly.
“If you told me Thomas Gotkowski would [start] in August, I’d say, ‘OK, that’d be interesting,’” Martin said. “If you told me Jordan Brunson and D’Shawntae Jones were going to be our 1-2 punch – which they’ve been awesome – I would’ve told you, ‘I don’t really see that happening, but interesting.’ Just the amount of guys that have stepped up has been amazing … It was nice to have a little bit of an easier victory.”
Miami will face the Western Michigan University Broncos at Ford Field on Dec. 9 looking for its third championship title under Martin.
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