The first-place Miami RedHawks had fun at Friday’s press conference.
Less than 36 hours after beating rival Ohio, 24-21, head coach Chuck Martin gave nothing but positive answers. His players, Jack Sorenson and Doug Costin, took turns as mock reporters from “The Miami Player” and “The Miami Athlete” while the other spoke at the podium.
Martin said he had received more congratulatory messages the day after the Battle of the Bricks victory than the total he got in the previous six years as Miami’s coach.
Sorenson asked Costin what animal the senior defensive lineman thought he played like.
“Tiger,” he answered.
Costin wanted to know what midweek MACtion games meant to the redshirt junior wideout.
“Man, MACtion is my whole life right now,” Sorenson replied.
But the joke-around atmosphere was brief for the RedHawks. They still have work to do.
“Just ’cause you did great last week, that doesn’t mean you’re going to do great this week,” Martin said.
Up one game in the division with three to play, Miami controls its own postseason destiny, but now isn’t the time to get lackadaisical. Sorenson said he and his teammates won’t allow themselves to calculate the number of wins needed to clinch the conference or speculate bowl destinations.
“I think we just don’t do the mental math,” Sorenson said. “None of us are good at math, so we’re not going to try. We just take one game at a time.”
The next game is against the Bowling Green Falcons.
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“They definitely have some NFL flavor to what they do on both sides of the ball,” Martin said after speaking highly of the Falcons’ coaching staff. “Structurally, they throw a ton at you on offense and defense.”
For only the fourth time this season, Miami will play at Yager Stadium. The RedHawks play there the next two weeks before heading to Ball State for the regular-season finale.
“I’ve always loved the road, but that’s just because — I don’t know. I’ve got some issues, probably,” Martin said. “I like beating them with their fans there.”
Sorenson was much more excited about returning home after a few weeks away. But he’s not letting the comfort and winning haze set in. He was redshirting his first year in Oxford last time Miami played postseason football.
“It’s a one-game season,” Sorenson said. “We’re looking at Bowling Green as the biggest game of the year right now.”
The contest against the Falcons will kick off tomorrow at 8 p.m. The game can be watched on ESPNU.
Injury updates
Redshirt senior wide receiver Luke Mayock left Wednesday’s game with a lower-body injury.
“Luke’s not doing too good,” Martin said. “Other than that, we came out of [the game] pretty good.”
Redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Josh Maize missed the entire OU game after getting hurt at Kent State on Oct. 26.
Neither practiced Monday.
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