Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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36 SEPT. 21, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: MIAMI (OHIO) During that defensive battle, Salopek made 10 tackles and defended a pass. He's one of the top tacklers in the coun- try, totaling 112 in 2021, 124 in 2022 and an astounding 144 in 2023. It's been a long journey for Salopek, a sixth-year player who wanted to quit football in fifth grade because, ironi- cally, he "didn't like all the hitting." He likes hitting now, making what Martin believed was the play of the game in the MAC Championship against Toledo. Then-Rockets quarterback De- quan Finn — the MAC Offensive Player of the Year — took the ball on a designed run and met Salopek one-on-one with open space around them. Finn faked right and juked left — he "opened up the entire bag," the ESPN commentators said — but Salopek had none of it. He brought Finn down for no gain. "We couldn't have scripted that play any better, right?" Martin said. "Get the Offensive Player of the Year and Defen- sive Player of the Year, put them one- on-one, and see what happens." "I think it was the most athletic thing I've ever done in my life," Salopek said. With his 10-tackle performance against Northwestern, Salopek now has 19 games in his career with double-digit stops. His running mate, Wise, wasn't far behind him with 122 tackles in 2023 — along with 8 sacks, 5 passes defended and an interception. Up front, Ugwu led the RedHawks with 12 tackles for loss. He also totaled 8 sacks and 2 forced fumbles, including one of each in the MAC Championship Game against Toledo. As a Group of Five team, you never know who you'll bring back after a suc- cessful season. As Martin explained, the poachers are out. But Miami returned the vast majority of its defensive core — just like Northern Illinois. "I'm thrilled," Salopek said before the RedHawks' matchup with the Wild- cats, according to The Report in But- ler County, Ohio. "I know our team is thrilled. Our coaching staff is thrilled. We're just excited to go up to Northwest- ern to be able to show what we can do." After losing in Evanston, Ill., and go- ing through a rivalry game against now- Big 12 Cincinnati, Notre Dame is Mi- Three Things to Know About Miami (Ohio) 1. Offense Will Go As Far As O-Line Can Take It As Notre Dame well knows, a pair of strong bookends at offensive tackle can take an offense far. That's what Miami (Ohio) has in Will Jados on the left side and Reid Holskey on the right, who both made second-team All-Mid-American Conference last season. The RedHawks also brought back left guard John Young and right guard Kolby Borders, who played center last season. That's four returning offensive linemen from a group that rushed for 158.1 yards per game and 4.4 yards per carry, while also finishing in the top half of the MAC in sacks allowed. In Week 1, though, Jados and Borders allowed 5 pressures each. Holskey played well, but strike at the offensive line and Miami's offense will fall. That group will need to guide the RedHawks' offense this season, with quarterback Brett Gabbert returning from injury. 2. Elite Defense Is More Than Just Salopek Linebacker Ty Wise and defensive end Brian Ugwu make a strong core with 2023 MAC Defensive POY Matt Salopek, but cornerback Raion Strader is also back after making the FWAA Freshman All-American team last season. Safety Eli Blakey compiled 13 defensive stops (tackles that constitute a failure for the offense) from the back end, compared to only 2 missed tackles, and he's back as well. The rest of the secondary is a bit of a construction project, but head coach Chuck Martin's track record and the key pieces that returned indicate that the RedHawks will be able to figure it out. 3. RedHawks Must Rebuild At The Skill Positions Then-Miami (Ohio) running back Rashad Amos rushed for 1,075 yards last season, averaging 5.1 yards per carry. Then-RedHawks wide receiver Gage Larvadain caught 42 passes for 679 yards and 6 scores. They were the top ball carrier and pass catcher on the team by a wide margin. Now, they play for Ole Miss and South Carolina, respectively. Such is life in college football, particularly the Group of Five, although transfer attrition was much easier on the RedHawks than others. All Martin can do is replenish and reload. At wide receiver, Gabbert heavily favored Cade McDonald against Northwestern. He caught 8 passes for 105 yards, which would account for more than a quarter of his 2023 production (28 receptions for 355 yards). Arizona State transfer Andre Johnson — who appears to be unrelated to that wide receiver named Andre Johnson — was underwhelming against Northwestern, hauling in only 1 pass for 11 yards. Still, Miami is high on him going forward. "Johnson is so mature," Martin said, per The Miami Student. "Whether it's treatment, weight training or meetings, just whatever he does — there are certain people who are professionals and have good habits, and he is one of them." And at running back, the RedHawks went with a timeshare between Jordan Brunson, Keyon Mozee and Dylan Downing (a Purdue transfer). It will take a lot from both groups to replace what they lost. — Jack Soble Miami (Ohio) right tackle Reid Holskey was a second-team All-Mid-American Conference pick last season. PHOTO COURTESY MIAMI (OHIO) ATHLETICS