The weeknight part of the Mid-American Conference schedule starts in grand style on Tuesday, as rivals and perennial title contenders battle for supremacy when the Ohio Bocbats (5-3, 3-1 MAC) host the Miami RedHawks (5-3, 4-0 MAC).
Last year, the teams faced off twice in the same season for the first time, owing to a rule change where the teams with the top two conference records advanced to the title game— eliminating division title requirements in the process.
In the first 2024 matchup, Miami soundly
defeated the Bobcats at home 30-20. The ‘Cats resoundingly returned the favor in the MAC title game, with a performance for the ages to rout the RedHawks 38-3.
Turning the page, we look at where each team stands heading into the 102nd Battle of the Bricks.
Game notes
- Time and date: Tuesday, November 4, 2025, 7 p.m. Eastern time
- Location: Frank Solich Field (“The Frank”) at Peden Stadium in Athens, Ohio
- TV network options: ESPN2 (a valid subscription is required).
- Radio options: Marty Bannister (play-by-play) and Rob Cornelius (color analyst) will provide the Ohio call for WXTQ-FM 105.5 and Varsity Network, while Steve Baker (play-by-play) and Terry Bridge (color analyst) will provide the Miami call for WMOH-AM 1450 (Hamilton, OH) and WONE-AM 980 (Dayton, OH)
- Gambling considerations: FanDuel, Ohio is 2.5 point favorites with an over/under of 50.5
- All-Time Series: Miami leads the all-time series between the two programs, with a 43-56-2 record. They split the series in 2024, with Ohio holding the “winning streak” at current.
- Special Event: “Night Mode:” Ohio fans encouraged to wear black
- Fact: Ohio is 21-1 all-time at home on Frank Solich Field, with the only loss a 30-16 setback on October 28, 2023— to Miami.
About the Ohio Bobcats
Last week, Ohio picked up an important road win over a tough Eastern Michigan squad 28-21, spearheaded by a second half comeback where the ‘Cats dominated the Eagles 21-7.
Ohio’s offense has moved the ball seemingly at-will in the last two contests against Northern Illinois and EMU, rolling up an eye-popping combined 1,025 yards in the process.
Overall, looking at the numbers in MAC play this year, Ohio’s offense ranks at or near the top in key categories, such as first in total yards and rushing yards per game with 455 and 226 yards respectively. The ‘Cats are also second in MAC play in scoring offense with a shade over 31 points per game.
Dual-threat quarterback Parker Navarro is the key to the operation as he showed last week, accounting for 378 combined yards including a career best 315 yards passing.
Navarro is surrounded by an all-conference caliber player at every skill position. In the passing game, wideout Chase Hendricks leads the MAC in receptions and yards with 57 and 805 respectively.
Should Miami scheme to try to limit Hendricks, Ohio has several other options including Rodney Harris II, who had over 100 yards receiving last week. Tight end Mason Williams is also always a threat, with 19 catches for 208 yards and two scores so far this year.
Hard-charging running back Sieh Bangura continues to pour it on, rushing for 100 yards or more in three of four MAC games while rolling to 720 yards and 5.2 yards per rush on the season with nine rushing touchdowns.
Rounding out the offensive skill position notables, running back Duncan Brune has been a key rotational player, racking up 381 yards and six rushing scores.
Defensively, Ohio had a strong effort last week. After allowing back-to-back touchdowns on the first two drives, the Bobcats buckled down by holding EMU to zero points on its next seven drives.
Overall in MAC play, the ‘Cats have done a solid job in allowing just over 20 points per game on average, including some scores late that did not impact the outcome of the games against Northern Illinois and EMU.
Both teams are banged up at this point of the season. For Ohio, its mainly defensively with linebacker Michael Molnar and safety Adonis Williams Jr. both exiting with injuries without returning last week. Officially, their status for this week will be announced on the MAC student-athlete availability Report published before gametime.
Linebacker Cam Hollobaugh was on last week’s Availability Report as ‘Out’ too. A silver lining for the ‘Cats is starting linebacker Jack Fries returned last week after missing several games with injuries. The emergence of freshman linebacker Charlie Christopher during the last five games has helped shore up the crew, with the underclassmen adding 10 tackles last week.
In addition to Christopher, two players to watch this week include defensive end Anas Luqman, who has made some clutch plays this year, along with a rising impact player at nickel in Jalen Thomeson.
In a potentially close game, the Bobcats have a boost in the field position battle as Magnus Haines leads all punters during MAC play, averaging 47.7 yards per effort.
However, field goals are a work-in-progress as Ohio has connected on only half of their field goals (4-of-8) between two different placekickers.
About the Miami RedHawks
Like the ‘Cats, Miami showed its championship mettle last week in winning critical parts of the second half in a tough game. Down 17-9 to start the fourth, the RedHawks dominated the final stanza 17-0 in a comeback victory over a very good Western Michigan Broncos squad by a final tally of 26-17.
Overall on the season, Miami worked out the kinks in the first three games of a difficult non-conference slate and has hit the ground running in MAC play. The RedHawks are undefeated and, to this point, may be the most complete team in all phases of the operation.
Offensively during MAC play, Miami is among the most effective, ranking third in points per game with about 28 per contest. Notably, the RedHawks have done a great job so far in ball security, ranking 23rd in the FBS in turnovers allowed.
Also like Ohio, Miami has a dual-threat quarterback and a clear number one receiver.
The straw that stirs the drink for the ReadHawks offense is QB Dequan Finn
Finn has thrown for 1,257 yards so far this year, completing 57% of his passes with a touchdown to interception ratio of 7:5. Where the RedHawk quarterback can also really hurt opponents is on critical scrambles for first downs or busted plays and in the red zone, as seen by his 381 yards rushing and four rushing scores.
The Miami signal caller also offers plenty of experience, appearing in seven seasons for Miami, the Toledo Rockets, and Baylor Bears while guiding the Rockets to a MAC title win over Ohio in 2022, 17-7.
Finn has an explosive playmaker at his disposal in the passing game in wideout Kam Perry who, in six of seven games this year, has caught at least one pass of 41 yards or more. This connection was instrumental last week in corralling the Broncos.
When not going deep to Perry, Miami has a couple regular targets in wideouts Keith Reynolds and Cole Weaver, who have combined for 47 catches for 610 yards.
The running game has done well offsetting a big loss with an injury to key back Kenny Tracy, who was averaging 5.6 yards per tote.
Senior running back Jordan Brunson has taken advantage of his opportunity, rushing for 395 yards while averaging 4.5 yards per carry. Alongside Brunson, Miami features D’Shawntae Jones who, at 250 pounds, can make an impact in short yardage and goal line situations where he has four rushing scores this year.
Miami’s defense showed what they were capable of last time out, holding a quality Western Michigan offense to just three points on six second half possessions.
On the whole, the defense is sound against both the pass and the run and is allowing just 17 points a game in MAC play.
Making it all happen, the RedHawks feature excellent players throughout the roster including safety Eli Blakey, who leads the squad with 64 tackles. Linebacker Adam Trick is third in the league with 6.5 sacks, while fellow ‘backer Corbin Hondru has been a well-rounded defender with 61 stops and three interceptions.
One key player missing from last week’s action owing to injury was nickel Silas Walters where he was listed as questionable on the last Availability Report.
Moving on to special teams, Miami has a critical weapon in kicker Dom Dzioban, who has hit 12-of-14 field goal attempts, including 7-of-7 from 40-49 yards.
Final Thoughts
Both squads head into this game in control of their MAC title aspirations. A loss here, while not fatal, significantly reduces the margin of error with just three games remaining after this one and the tiebreaker going to the winner.
If the game is close, a potential key to the contest is how the redzone matchup plays out between Ohio’s offense and Miami’s defense. The Bobcats may not move the ball between the 20-yard lines as often as they did against EMU and NIU, but they should move it and need to cash in on the red zone opportunities they have in for six, especially with a field goal unit in developmental progress.
Miami has more scoring options offensively on Ohio’s side of the field, with a field goal unit that is reliable within 50.
