Ohio State Buckeyes opponent breakdowns: Miami (Ohio)

Opponents: Florida Atlantic | Cincinnati | Indiana |

The college football season is still weeks away but anticipation is starting to build as the calendar turns from June to July and we are closing in on less than two months from the first kickoffs of the season.

Much has been made of Ohio State’s schedule this season with its lack of a Power Five non-conference opponent on it, but don’t let anyone convince you that this schedule does not pose more than its fair share of problems for a team that will be breaking in not only a new quarterback but essentially a new head coach as Ryan Day takes over for Urban Meyer as the Buckeyes look to defend their back-to-back Big Ten championships.

The lack of a P5 non-conference opponent may overshadow the fact that Ohio State has about as difficult of a crossover schedule as a Big Ten East team can have with games against Nebraska, Wisconsin and Northwestern and the schedule maker did this team no favors with a final two of Penn State and Michigan to wrap up the regular season in November.

Ohio State will step back into non-conference play for its final game of the regular season as it welcomes in-state Miami (Ohio) to Ohio Stadium. This will be the sixth time these two programs have met and as you could expect, the Buckeyes are a perfect 5-0 in previous meetings.

The two teams played last in 2012 when the Buckeyes ran away with a 56-10 win during Urban Meyer’s first season at the helm of the Buckeyes.

How dominant has Ohio State been in this series? The RedHawks are averaging just eight points a game in the previous five meetings while Ohio State has averaged 40 points per game. Much of that can be attributed to an 80-0 rout in the first meeting between these two teams in 1904, and while the scores have been much closer since that first game, the Buckeyes should go into this one as an overwhelming favorite.

Last Year: 6-6, 6-2 Mid-American East

The RedHawks won six league games and were bowl eligible last season but did not get selected for a postseason game. Miami did not have the most aggressive of non-conference schedules and were likely punished for not coming up with a single win against an out-of-league foe, dropping games to Marshall, Cincinnati, Minnesota and Army. In their defense, Army went on to win 11 games last season and Miami fell in double overtime after not being able to convert on a two-point try in an attempt to win the game after Army had scored and kicked the extra point.

Miami ended up tied with Ohio University and a game behind Buffalo in the MAC East race. The RedHawks did beat the Bobcats in November but came up short against Buffalo on the road in a 51-42 slugfest.

Both of Miami’s league losses were close losses and it went to show that things were turning around under head coach Chuck Martin in terms of being able to compete for MAC titles. The RedHawks certainly will be battle tested by the time they get to their league schedule in 2019 with non-league games against Iowa, Cincinnati and Ohio State, all on the road. There is a lay-up against Tennessee Tech mixed in there but it his highly likely that this team will be 1-3 by the time league play starts.