by Miami came out victorious winning 23-14, let’s look at some key points on both sides that dictated how the game went.
Toledo Rockets
Defensively, the Rockets let Miami establish a ground game. Miami ran for 197 total yards on them which opened up the game and let Miami control the game pace. Toledo wanted to jump out to an early big lead in this game, knowing Miami’s offense couldn’t keep up. But the Rockets struggled to contain the run and force more than 2 turnovers.
The offense was slow to start the game which played right into the hands of Miami. Careless penalties on both sides of the ball and the inability to get a rhythm on offense had Miami leading at half 10-8. The offense started picking it up towards the end of the 2nd quarter to get them their first points of the game off a Finn touchdown pass. Throughout the game, the offense had careless turnovers which gave Miami a good field position to put up some points.
Miamis RedHawks
Perfect gameplan, and perfect execution. The key to the game today was to keep it close. Keeping it simple on offense and putting Toledo in bad field position led to Miami lifting the 2023 MAC Championship. Miami took an unconventional approach to start the game as they won the toss and wanted the ball first. That first drive led to a field goal and as Chuck Martin said in the press conference later on about how crucial it was to get the first 2/3 possessions and lead.
The RedHawks were able to contain Dequan Finn’s spectacular running ability on the ground and were able to come up big on special teams. Putting Toledo in bad field position and putting a lot of faith in their defense was the difference-maker today. Both the defense and special teams forced turnovers today which was crucial to keeping this game close. Miami was disciplined in the 2nd half, only giving up 2 penalties. Getting good field position with an established run game was the simple that they were looking for throughout this game.
Momentum felt like it was Miami’s side the whole time, they played a complete game today on all 3 sides of the ball that Head Coach Chuck Martin can be proud of. The icing on the cake was a late-quarter drive up 2 points with a 50-yard run by quarterback Aveon Smith, which was capped off by a touchdown run shortly after by running back Rashad Amos.
It’s heartbreaking for such a talented Toledo team, and a true team win for the Miami RedHawks.
