CW Network\u00a0<\/a>| Live Stats)
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\n<\/p>\n\nThe Miami University football team will square off with Fresno State in the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 27. Opening kick is slated for 4:30 p.m. and be carried live on the CW Network.<\/p>\n
About Miami
\n\u2022 Miami football ranks first all-time in the Mid-American Conference in wins (740), conference wins (329), MAC Championships (17) and bowl wins (9). \u00a0Historically, Miami’s 740 career wins are third all-time among Group-of-Five programs, behind just Navy (756) and Army (745).
\n\u2022 Miami was 4-14 in Coach Martin’s first 18 Mid-American Conference games. Since then, the RedHawks are 55-22 in their last 77 games versus schools from the MAC, the best in the conference during that span. Miami is 22-5 over their last 27 MAC games, which includes three-straight trips to the MAC Title Game.
\n\u2022 The RedHawks have competed in five straight bowl games and are bowl-eligible for the ninth time in the past 10 seasons. This will be Miami’s second-straight trip to the Arizona Bowl after downing Colorado State 43-17 a season ago. Miami is 9-7 all-time in bowl games.
\n\u2022 Since Oct. 15, 2016, Miami has lost back-to-back conference games just three times in that span (2017, 2022, 2025). Miami is 17-4 following a conference loss, dating back to midway through the 2016 campaign.
\n\u2022 After opening the season 0-3, the RedHawks rallied to finish the regular season 7-5 and have now finished every regular season since 2018 at .500 or better.
\n\u2022 Over the past three seasons, Miami football has competed in 42 games (36 regular season, three MAC Title games and three bowl games).
\n\u2022 Miami had seven players earn All-MAC accolades in 2025. Eli Blakey, Dom Dzioban and Kam Perry earned first-team All-MAC accolades, while Drew Corban Hondru and Silas Walters were named to the second team. Eric Smith and Jackson Kuwatch were named third-team all-conference.<\/p>\n
About Chuck Martin
\n\u2022 Chuck Martin was named Miami head coach on Dec. 3, 2013.
\n\u2022 He was named a 2023 Finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award after an 11-3 season.
\n\u2022 Not only was he 74-7 in six years at Grand Valley State (2004-09), he has coached in seven national championship games in the past 22 seasons. \u00a0
\n\u2022 Martin has an all-time head coaching record of 145-80.
\n\u2022 He is 72-73 all-time at Miami (57-35 in MAC play) and has won more games at Miami than any other coach. The previous high was held by Randy Walker (60 wins).
\n\u2022 Martin is the longest tenured active coach in the MAC.
\n\u2022 He has twice been named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) National Coach of the Year and has been a coordinator on both sides of the ball.
\n\u2022 Martin was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Grand Valley State University on Oct. 23, 2015.<\/p>\n
About Fresno State
\nThe Bulldogs are bowl-eligible for the fifth season in a row and are led by first-year head Matt Entz. The Bulldogs come to Tucson with a regular season record of 8-4 (5-3 MWC), hanging their hat on a masterful defense. Fresno State held its opponents to 293.5 yards per game, its fewest in a season since at least 1992.<\/p>\n
Series History With Bulldogs
\nThis is the first meeting between the two schools.<\/p>\n
Bowl History
\nThe RedHawks are 9-7 all-time in bowl games.
\n1948 Sun Bowl (Won 13-12 vs. Texas Tech)
\n1950 Salad Bowl (Won 34-21 vs. Arizona State)
\n1962 Tangerine Bowl (Lost, 49-21 vs. Houston)
\n1973 Tangerine Bowl (Won, 16-7 vs. Florida)
\n1974 Tangerine Bowl (Won, 21-10 vs. Georgia)
\n1975 Tangerine Bowl (Won, 20-7 vs. South Carolina)
\n1986 California Bowl (Lost, 37-7 vs. San Jose State)
\n2003 GMAC Bowl (Won, 49-28 vs. Louisville)
\n2004 Independence Bowl (Lost, 17-13 vs. Iowa State)
\n2010 GoDaddy Bowl (Won, 35-21 vs. Middle Tennessee State) \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0
\n2016 St. Petersburg Bowl (Lost, 17-16 vs. Mississippi State)
\n2020 LendingTree Bowl (Lost, 27-17 vs. Louisiana)
\n2021 Frisco Football Classic (Won, 27-14 vs. North Texas)
\n2022 HomeTown Lenders Bahamas Bowl (Lost, 24-20 vs. UAB)
\n2023 Avocados from Mexico Cure Bowl (Lost, 13-9 vs. App State)
\n2024 Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl (Won, 43-17 vs. Colorado State)<\/p>\n
Part Deux
\nFor the second-straight year the RedHawks will play in the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl. Last season they crushed Colorado State 43-17 in front of 40,076 in attendance. No offensive starters from last year’s game are expected to start on Dec. 27. Defensively, Kaleb Martin and Oscar McWood started against CSU a year ago.<\/p>\n
Miami Football’s Season in A Nut-Shell
\n\u2022 The RedHawks opened the season with three-straight losses, including a heart-breaking 41-38 loss to UNLV.
\n\u2022 Miami rebounded with five-straight wins and were 4-0 in conference play heading to the month of November.
\n\u2022 Ohio’s touchdown with 2:15 to play gave the Bobcats a 24-20 victory, snapping Miami’s win streak.
\n\u2022 Prior to the Toledo contest, Miami’s starting QB decided to move on. The RedHawks dropped the game versus the Rockets and the following week managed just 26 yards of offense in the first quarter at Buffalo.
\n\u2022 In steps third-string QB Thomas Gotkowski and the rest is history. Miami rolled to a 37-20 win at Buffalo and crushed Ball State 45-24 to advance to Detroit.
\n\u2022 The RedHawks went on to play in their third-straight MAC Championship Game, but dropped a 23-13 decision to Western Michigan.<\/p>\n
It’s Not How you Start…
\nThe 0-3 start for the RedHawks was nothing new. Mostly due to an extremely tough non-conference schedule, Miami has started nine of the past 11 seasons (not including 2020 when Miami only played three games) with a 1-3 record (or worse). Below is a break down of starts and finishes for Miami football over recent years.<\/p>\n
Year \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Start \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Finish
\n2025 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 0-3 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 7-3
\n2024 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1-4 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 8-1
\n2023 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 3-1 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 8-2
\n2022 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 2-2 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 4-5
\n2021 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1-3 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 6-3
\n2019 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1-3 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 7-3
\n2018 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1-3 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 6-3
\n2017 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 2-5 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 3-2
\n2016 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 0-6 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 6-1
\nTotals \u00a0 \u00a0 11-30 \u00a0 \u00a0 55-23<\/p>\n
Touchdown Tommy
\nIn his first career start, Thomas Gotkowski threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Ball State. The previous week, he came off the bench to throw for 185 yards and a score to lead Miami to a victory over Buffalo. Overall, the red-shirt freshman has completed 32-of-64 passes for 503 yards and four touchdowns since taking the reigns back on Nov. 19 in the second quarter versus Buffalo. He has also run the ball 22 times for 99 yards and a score over the past three contests.<\/p>\n
King Cole
\nOver his past six games, Cole Weaver has 31 catches for 444 yards. Weaver set career high for catches (9) and yards (96) in the win over Western Michigan and had five catches for 82 yards at Buffalo. Weaver, who now has 43 grabs for 599 yards this year, entered 2025 with just two career catches for 38 yards.<\/p>\n
Lights, ‘Kam’era, Action
\nKam Perry currently averages 23.0 yards per reception, which ranks second in the country. After posting just 10 catches for 166 yards last season, the junior has recorded four 100-yard games this season. He had 108 yards at Rutgers, 122 versus UNLV, 122 against Lindenwood and 101 yards against WMU in the MAC Title Game. He has 966 yards this year, 34 shy of becoming the ninth player in program history to surpass 1,000 receiving yards in a single season.<\/p>\n
Sack Attack
\nMiami is third in the nation with 40 sacks this season. 15 different players have recorded a sack, while Jackson Kuwatch, James Scott, Bai Jobe, Nasir Washington, Corban Hondru, Malcolm McCain, Brock Rice and Grant Lyons have all posted career-highs in sacks in 2025.<\/p>\n
Disruption is Production
\nThose 40 sacks, along with 50 quarterback hurries, have helped Miami to a MAC leading 14 interceptions (15th in the country). Corban Hondru (out for the year), Silas Walters and Eli Coppess are tops on the team with three picks each.<\/p>\n
From Walk-on to Team Leader
\nSilas Walters came to Miami back in 2021 as a walk-on. Prior to the 2023 season, Walters earned a scholarship, and in 2024 he finished second on the team with 95 tackles and 12 pass breakups. He also represented Miami’s defense at the 2025 MAC Football Media Day in Detroit.<\/p>\n
Dzioban Named Lou Groza Semifinalist
\nFor the second straight year, Dom Dzioban was named a semi-finalist for the Lou Groza Award, given annually to the nation’s top kicker. This season he is 19-of-21 on field goals and 34-of-35 on extra points. He is 10-of-11 on field goal attempts from beyond 40 yards.<\/p>\n
Sean McVay Joins Cradle of Coaches
\nMiami added a 10th bronze statue to its Cradle of Coaches in Sean McVay back in 2023. McVay, the current head coach of the Los Angeles Rams, joined Ara Parseghian, Paul Brown, Weeb Ewbank, John Harbaugh, John Pont, Carm Cozza, Bo Schembechler, Red Blaik, and Paul Dietzel in the south end of Yager Stadium.<\/p>\n
Graduating Champions
\nBefore Miami even took the field in 2025, 12 different RedHawks have already earned their Miami degree: Eli Blakey, Jordan Brunson, Deion Colzie, Dom Dzioban, Henry Hesson, Corban Hondru, Oscar McWood, Brian Shane, Kenny Tracy, Austin Uke, Marcus White and Nasir Washington have all graduated.
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\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Story Links
Bowl Season Football Release:\u00a0tinyurl.com\/5n7fbvuz\u00a0 MAC Football Plays of the Week:\u00a0tinyurl.com\/mwtktucr\u00a0\u00a0 MAC Football Game Recaps…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112915,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-112914","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-fresno","9":"tag-fresno-headlines","10":"tag-fresno-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}