2008 Miami (OH) Redhawks Football Betting Preview

[Shame About Ray]

NCAA College Football Wagering – Miami (OH) Redhawks

After only two sports betting wins in 2006, nobody envisioned seeing Miami of Ohio in the MAC title game last year. But on the strength of a stingy defense, the Redhawks held their opponents down all the way to the top of their division.



But the Redhawks were only 6-7 on the year, which indicates to football betting faithful that their division is clearly the weaker one in the MAC.

The defense is still strong but for Miami to be a real player, they need their offense add some balance to the team.

Offense

The Redhawks have some serious issues at quarterback. Junior Daniel Raudabaugh threw 12 interceptions in 10 games last year and basically proved that he isn’t good enough to start yet. He’s now forced to battle it out with freshman Clay Belton.

The backfield isn’t a clear-cut situation either. They lost their top three rushers from last year, which doesn’t leave them with much. Their wide receiving corps can boast better returns, bringing back the top five wideouts, but there isn’t a real playmaker around.

With two quarterbacks who looked raw in spring practices and no explosive threats at wide receiver, the Redhawks don’t have a very good offense.

The lone bright spot on offense is running back Thomas Merriweather, who has some good potential.

Defense

While the Redhawks’ offense lack, the defense stocked with playmakers at every level.

On the defensive line, there are three starters returning including Jon Coniglio, the leader of the group. Coniglio had 6.5 sacks last year.

The linebacker corps is as good as it gets in the MAC and the top three tacklers return. The MAC Defensive Player of the Year, Clayton Mullins is a real stud in the middle. He had 143 tackles last season and is among the best linebackers in the nation.

The secondary also returns three starters including senior safety Robbie Wilson, the leader of the group.

Miami had the top scoring defense, top passing defense, top rushing defense and top total defense. With nine returning starters, you can expect this unit to be as good, if not better this year.

Outlook

Miami is completely unbalanced, which will once again be their demise. A very good defense will be able to keep them in games but since their offense is pitiful, they won’t be able to win many of them.

If the Redhawks were in the West division with Central Michigan and Ball State, they probably wouldn’t get a sniff of first-place but the East division is much more open.

Even so, don’t expect the Redhawks to finish with a winning record this year.

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