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‘This will be another game for him’: Gotkowski stepped up as Miami’s starting quarterback to send RedHawks to MAC championship

Redshirt freshman quarterback Thomas Gotkowski looks to throw against Ball State at Yager Stadium on Nov. 29
Redshirt freshman quarterback Thomas Gotkowski looks to throw against Ball State at Yager Stadium on Nov. 29

The Miami University RedHawk football team is now three starting quarterbacks removed from the start of the 2025 season. 

Dequan Finn led the team until he left on Nov. 12. Backup redshirt senior quarterback Henry Hesson started in three games, but the team pulled him in the penultimate game of the season and put a new face behind center.

Playing your third-string quarterback at the end of the regular season in a must-win game to advance to a championship game is usually not a good sign. But if your third-string quarterback is named Thomas Gotkowski, you can expect him to lead your team through the end of the season. 

After starting in the final two games of the regular season, Gotkowski led Miami to its third-straight Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship appearance. He will start his third career game on Dec. 6 at Ford Field. 

As the younger brother of three sisters, Gotkowski got involved in football early on. He said even in middle school, he dedicated 100% effort to the sport based on his family’s teachings. 

“I got two blue collar parents, and we work for everything we want,” Gotkowski said. “When you commit to something, you give it your all … We Gotkowskis, we just work hard at whatever we do. If we’re committed to something, we give it 100% because that is what we’re committed to and that’s what we owe our energy towards.”

Through two seasons as a starter for the Ben Davis High School Giants, Gotkowski threw for 5,046 yards, 57 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. During his senior year, he scored 33 touchdowns and helped the Giants win the 2023 Indiana High School Athletic Association Class 6A state championship. 

Before ever winning the state title on Nov. 25, however, Gotkowski confirmed his college destination and committed to Miami on April 14. He said he made this decision before even finishing his junior year because the RedHawks were the first team to show significant interest in his recruitment. 

“I wanted to go to a school that wanted me and jumped on me at first,” Gotkowski said. “You might get bigger offers … but Miami was the first school to reach out to me, and I think that was the biggest moment. They wanted me to come here, and it wasn’t just, ‘Hey, we think you’re good, you’ll be a good fit here.’ They really pushed and showed me the culture here at Miami, and I was all bought in with Coach Martin.”

In his first season as a redshirt freshman, Gotkowski watched from the bench as Brett Gabbert led the RedHawks to a seven-game winning streak and second-straight Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship appearance. Going into the 2025 season, he was named the third-string quarterback behind Dequan Finn and Henry Hesson. 

Despite his spot on the depth chart, Gotkowski said he knew he would take snaps at some point during the year. 

“I always expected to see the field at some point,” Gotkowski said. “My mentality going into the season was, ‘Let’s prepare at a high level in case that opportunity comes sooner than you think.’ It may come today, may come tomorrow, but let’s be in a position where I’m able to execute at a high level and know the game plan whenever that moment comes.”

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Gotkowski took three rushes during the final minutes against Lindenwood University, the fourth game of the season, but his first true test as a collegiate quarterback would come later in a must-win situation against the University of Buffalo Bulls. 

The RedHawks had lost their last two games against the Ohio University Bobcats and the University of Toledo Rockets. Finn left the team before the Toledo game, and although Hesson started against Buffalo, he would be pulled after Miami’s first two drives resulted in four-and-out punts. 

Head coach Chuck Martin put Miami’s fate and postseason aspirations in the hands of the redshirt freshman who no one expected to see the field just a few weeks prior. However, despite barely seeing the gridiron all season, Gotkowski entered the game with the confidence of a seasoned veteran. 

“A ton of guys have a belief in who we are as a team and what direction this thing’s heading because of his confidence,” said quarterbacks coach Gus Ragland. “He wants to be in the arena, and he’s gone out there and played really well … A lot of the things we saw recruiting are starting to show themselves. He’s gotten stronger, he’s been able to learn our offense and make all the throws within our offense.”

The RedHawks punted on his first drive, but that didn’t matter. After the Bulls kicked a field goal and Miami received possession again, Gotkowski came out storming with a 30-yard pass to Kam Perry on first down to push the RedHawks into opposing territory. 

Four plays later, he threw his first career touchdown. He finished the night with 185 passing yards, one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown enroute to a 37-20 Miami win. The RedHawks’ MAC championship hopes were still alive, and redshirt sophomore receiver Cole Weaver said the team knew Gotkowski was going to take them far. 

“If you could have been in that locker room after we beat Buffalo, we knew he was the guy,” Weaver said. “We were really excited. He played a great game, worked his butt off. Going into that game, I think he had all the confidence in the world, and we were completely behind him. He’s really proven to be a leader – stepping up and saying all the right things. We were all behind him.”

His successful debut led Martin to name Gotkowski as the starter going into Miami’s last game of the regular season against the Ball State University Cardinals. With one game of experience in and going into a desperate situation for the team, Gotkowski could have crumbled under the pressure and failed to live up to his numbers from one week prior. 

Instead, he threw for three touchdowns in the first half, tied for most by a first-time starting quarterback in the Martin era. The RedHawks finished the game up 45-24 to send themselves to Detroit. 

“It’s a very special moment for me,” Gotkowski said. “It’s shown what all this under the table work and preparation [has done]. I really wasn’t trying to prove it to anybody else but really just to show myself that I'm still capable of doing what I’m able to do and being able to do that on a high level.”

With two regular season victories under his belt, Gotkowski’s next test will be at Ford Field with the conference title on the line. He goes into the game as the first freshman starting in a MAC championship since Gabbert in 2019. 

Miami required several things to happen for its late-season rally to earn a spot at the title game. Gotkowski stepping in, moving up from a third-string quarterback to the starter on a whim, played an essential role in getting the RedHawks there.  

“It helps that we’ve been in this position before,” Weaver said. “We’ve had a postseason run all three of my years here. It helps that we have a lot of veterans on the team, guys that have been there before that can help uplift [and] keep everybody calm. But Thomas is so level-headed anyways that it honestly won’t matter. This will be like another game for him.”

@kethanbabu_04

babukc2@miamioh.edu

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