Ohio (5-3 overall, 3-1 Mid-American Conference) picked up its first road win of the year last week over Eastern Michigan. This first road win was also the last Saturday game of the year before mid-week MACtion begins.
To kick off the mid-week play, the Bobcats will be facing off against rival Miami (OH) Tuesday under the lights at Peden Stadium.
Before Ohio gets ready for this year’s installment of the Battle of the Bricks, head coach Brian Smith sat down with reporters for his weekly press conference. Here is what we learned.
Taking Advantage of the Mini-Bye
Over half of the MAC schools sit idle in week nine, but they do not have the refreshing week off other schools may have the luxury of because MACtion starts Tuesday. The schedule is set up to give Ohio and other MAC teams a couple of extra days before regularly playing on weeknights. Ohio took advantage, allowing players to rest up for a couple of days and recover before jumping into practice this week.
“The nice thing is you get a couple extra days,” said Smith. “I think our guys got some much-needed little bits of time away, heal their bodies, mentally, get away a little bit, which is good. I think our guys will be refreshed, and we're going to try to be really smart with how we're practicing them and taking advantage of these couple of days to be solid in our game plans and our execution but also be really fresh for the game.”
Looking ahead to the Battle of the Bricks
The rivalry between Ohio and Miami turned 100 last year, and it even got an installment in the MAC title game, a game Ohio won in a blowout fashion, winning 38-3. As both teams have been near the top of the MAC for the last few seasons, the rivalry has been very important, and this year is no different.
Miami is the only undefeated team in MAC play, while Ohio is right behind at 3-1. With Ohio’s only loss on Frank Solich Field being at the hands of Miami, Smith made sure to let the team know what the rivalry meant.
“The first thing I did in addressing the team after the Eastern Michigan game was to educate them on it,” Smith said on the rivalry. “Going into now the last four seasons, that's the only loss on our record, against that school out west. So yeah, it has definitely been addressed.”
Preparing for veteran quarterback Dequan Finn
Experience is one of the biggest tools for a team that hopes to compete. After six-year quarterback Brett Gabbert graduated at the end of last season, Miami looked to a player with conference roots in graduate student Dequan Finn. Finn, a veteran who spent time at both Toledo and Baylor, started his 2025 season strong.
Finn has helped a Miami team that started 0-3 rattle off five consecutive wins, during which he has thrown for 1,257 yards and run for 384 more, while also recording 11 total touchdowns, proving his dual-threat ability.
“We're spending time on that in practice because of his ability to scramble and extend with his feet, because that is challenging,” Smith said. “Aside from his ability to extend plays with his feet, he was also the MAC Player of the Year (two) years ago. He's a kid who has a lot of experience playing football, experience within the conference. He's very talented. That does present a good challenge for us defensively.”
Finn has thrown just under half of his passing yards to wide receiver Kam Perry. These two have shown a similar dynamic duo connection Ohio has in graduate student Parker Navarro and junior wide receiver Chase Hendricks.
“I would say playing against two really good players that have good chemistry is going to be challenging, whether it’s easy in practice or not,” Smith said.
Special Teams Execution
The place Ohio cannot get right on the team has been the special team’s unit, and the issues were once again on display against Eastern Michigan. The punting unit has improved, with punter Magnus Haines launching a 68-yard punt against the Eagles, but there was another missed kick and poor coverage on special teams.
Special teams is an area Miami is always elite in, often contending with the country's best in special teams. With a matchup that looks so bad on paper, Smith is making sure his team does their best to even out the disadvantages.
“That's something we're looking at as an edge that we have got to try to even out more than we have in the past,” Smith said on special teams. “We're just continuing to work on how we can improve those. We've made adjustments throughout the past couple of weeks, and I think there was a lot of improvement within, especially this last week and in how our guys played."
Message to the Fans
“I think our stadium is a great home-field advantage, especially when it's full,” Smith said. "I hope they appreciate the manner in which our kids approach these games and how hard they play, and that they're very fun to be around and watch. It's going to be a great atmosphere for them and then having that energy is huge for our players as well."
