By Mark Schmetzer
Enquirer contributor

Looking Ahead

The RedHawks haven't been to a bowl game since 1986, but this season they'll have two chances for a berth. The Mid-American Conference champion or runner-up is set for the Motor City Bowl Dec. 26 in Detroit. The MAC representative will face the Big Ten's No. 7 team. The MAC also owns a spot in the GMAC Bowl against the No. 2 selection from Conference USA. That game will be played Dec. 18 in Mobile, Ala.

Miami coach Terry Hoeppner spent a week in July at the United States Marine base in Quantico, Va., learning how the Corps develops its leaders.

How Hoeppner passes on what he learned to his assistant coaches and players could play a role in how the RedHawks fare this season.

"It was a tremendous experience to get to observe that," Hoeppner said. "It enlightened me on some things and reconfirmed some other things I already felt about having good principles. A lot of things we've been doing, I maybe found a better way."

The RedHawks would be happy to find any way to snap a streak of 16 seasons without a Mid-American Conference championship or a trip to a bowl game. They've watched as Marshall has assumed preeminence in the conference and become its standard-bearer in the eyes of the rest of the nation.

Hoeppner's task: reversing Marshall's momentum and getting the RedHawks back on track.

Offense

Miami has a 3,000-yard passer and a 1,000-yard rusher returning for the first time in history.

Junior quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who threw for 3,238 yards last season, already owns Miami's career completion record with 512 in 809 attempts, and he needs just 182 yards to break Mike Bath's career yardage record.

Roethlisberger's passing is balanced by the running of senior and former walk-on Luke Clemens, who didn't start until the fourth game last season but still ended up rushing for 1,009 yards.

Roethlisberger lost three of his favorite targets among the receivers, but junior Michael Larkin (St. Xavier) returns after leading the RedHawks with eight touchdown receptions. Matt Brandt's 33 catches last season were the most by a Miami tight end in more than a decade.

Senior Ben Herrell, who started 10 games at right tackle last season, is being moved to left tackle, where he'll team up with senior guard Frank Smith, a 12-game starter, to protect Roethlisberger's back.

Defense

Central Florida poured salt in an already gaping wound by passing for 374 yards, a 2002 single-game high for Miami opponents, in last season's finale. Improving the MAC's worst pass defense is crucial.

Hoeppner hopes that improving the defensive backfield's speed and simplifying coverages will make a difference. Sophomore Darrell Hunter (Middletown), the fastest player in the history of the program, has been installed at one cornerback.

Junior Matt Pusateri, who led the RedHawks in tackles last season, returns at strong safety, and senior Terrell Jones returns as a four-year starter at at middle linebacker. Sophomores Derek Rehage, John Busing and Terna Nande will help make up for the loss of outside linebacker Matt Robillard, Miami's only first-team All-MAC defender.

Junior Will Rueff, who moved into the starting lineup at left tackle midway through last season, is moving to right tackle to replace Ryan Terry, who started all 12 games.

Special teams

Rarely is a special teams unit as deep, experienced and strong as Miami's this season.

Jared Parseghian will take a school- and MAC-record string of 17 consecutive field goals into the 2003 season. Parseghian also has connected on 21 consecutive PAT and has missed just four of 76 tries in his career.

Back for his third year as the starting punter is junior Mike Wafzig, who averaged 41.7 yards a punt and dropped seven inside the 20-yard line last season. Six of his punts sailed 50 or more yards, including a career-long 56-yard effort against Central Florida in the season finale.

Wafzig is backed up by Roethlisberger, who was named MAC East Division Special Teams Player of the Week after burying three punts inside the 20 during Miami's 27-20 win at Toledo.

Senior Scott Sagehorn returns to handle long-snapping duties after being medically redshirted last season following knee surgery. Sagehorn has three years of experience as Miami's long snapper.

Coaching

The only new face on the RedHawks staff belongs to Pat Narduzzi, the former Northern Illinois linebackers coach who replaces Jon Wauford as defensive coordinator.

Narduzzi is a Youngstown native and the son of Bill Narduzzi, who played at Miami in the late 1950s.

Pat Narduzzi spent three years as a RedHawk graduate assistant and assistant coach in the early 1990s before moving on to Rhode Island and NIU. He helped the Huskies defense lead the MAC in stopping the run last season.

"He has a history here," said Hoeppner, who's entering his fifth season as Miami's coach. "We knew him. We've stayed in touch. Knowing his family, he was a good fit, a natural fit."

Every other Miami coach has at least two years' experience on the staff.

Intangibles

In last season's penultimate game, Miami fell behind a Marshall team that was missing its quarterback, Byron Leftwich - a first-round pick in the NFL draft. The RedHawks wiped out leads of 14 points in the second quarter and 12 in the third to take a five-point lead into the final minute - and still lost.

When it comes to Marshall, Miami might be developing a serious inferiority complex. The Thundering Herd own a five-game winning streak in the series, and that's a big hump Miami must overcome.

If Miami is forced to outscore opponents to win, it seems well-armed for the job, with Roethlisberger and Clemens leading the offense and Parseghian providing consistency in the kicking game. Even slight improvement in the pass defense would ease the pressure on the offense.

Perhaps a motivating statistic: Miami was in line to win the 2002 MAC East Division championship before losing its last two games.

Make-or-break games

The nationally televised (ESPN2) opener at Iowa on Aug. 30 might be nice for recruiting, but the home night game against Marshall on Nov. 12 - which also will be televised by ESPN2 - and the season finale at Central Florida on Nov. 28 will be crucial for Miami's MAC championship hopes.