 For those who like offensive, wide open football with plenty of scoring, Yager Stadium in Oxford might be the place to be Wednesday. Of course, a seat in front of the television would be another option as Miami and Western Michigan square off in an ESPN2 (HD) contest.
Western Michigan is fresh off a wild encounter, falling at Toledo , 66-63, Nov. 8. The two teams combined for the most points (129), offensive yards (1,439) and touchdowns (18) in MAC history.
Wednesday’s game might not challenge those numbers, but barring a freak snow storm (which isn’t in the forecast), the two teams should not be around the 9-3 win Miami posted on a very windy day at Kent State earlier this season or the 6-0 Miami win over WMU when the teams first played in 1939. Both schools are charter members of the MAC, which began play in 1947.
Not only will Wednesday’s game feature two of the top quarterbacks in the league, it will also include the MAC’s two top-ranked receivers. In fact, WMU brings the nation’s No. 1- ranked FBS receiver to the matchup.
Jordan White, a 6-0, 215-pound sixth year senior out of Cleveland , now leads the nation in receptions per game (11.00) and receiving yards per game (142.56), He is second in the country with 12 TDs.
White, who Monday was named a semifinalist for the 2011 Biletnikoff Award, gave his numbers a huge boost last week with his record-setting performance against Toledo at the Glass Bowl. His 16 catches for 238 yards raised his season total to 111 receptions for 1,402 yards, both new school single season records. That put his career total, with at least two regular season games remaining, at 3,678 yards -- also a new school standard. With another 353 yards, he would become the MAC career leader.
While White is the league’s (and nation’s) top-ranked receiver (140.2 ypg), Miami can counter with the MAC’s No. 2-ranked receiver (124.9 ypg) in Nick Harwell. The 6-1, 187-pound sophomore out of Missouri City , Texas set RedHawk single-game records for catches (15) and receiving yardage (229) in Miami ’s 24-21 loss last week at Temple .
He also reached the century mark for the seventh time this season, tying a school single season record. Although he has just five touchdowns on the season, Harwell picked up two last week and has three in the last two games.
Both White and Harwell benefit from the talented arm of their respective quarterback.
Carder currently leads all MAC passers with an average of 300.5 yards per game. His 25 passing touchdowns is also tops in the conference. He ranks fifth in pass efficiency, connecting on 263-of-388 passes (67.8 percent), with nine interceptions and the 25 TDs for an efficiency rating of 149.5.
Dysert is third in passing yardage (272.8 ypg). He has completed 218-of-341 attempts (63.9 percent), with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions for a pass efficiency rating of 143.7 (eighth in the MAC).
Dysert had one of his best days several weeks ago when he tied a school record with five TDs (four in the first half) in a RedHawks win over Buffalo. He has a total of 12 touchdown tosses over the last four games, but he also registered five interceptions during that span. Two came in last week’s critical loss at Temple, where the Owls capitalized on three MU turnovers to score 17 points in the 24-21 TU win.
Giving Western Michigan extra chances with the football is a recipe for trouble. Toledo, which came into the game ranked fourth in the country in turnover margin ((1.56) had not given up more than one turnover in any game prior to meeting the Broncos last week. WMU, however, registered six take-aways (three fumble recoveries and three interceptions).
It was fuel for the fire on a night when Carder was clicking. His 548 passing yards was the second most in MAC history, just six yards off the top spot held by Jose Davis (KSU) vs. UCF in 1997. He has exceeded 400 passing yards four times in his career and three times since Oct. 1 when he registered 479 yards at Connecticut.
White, of course, has proved to be Carder’s top target. The two have connected for 44.7 percent of the team’s passing yards, including 41.8 percent of completions and 44 percent of passing touchdowns. But Carder can spread the ball around, too. While White had three of Carder’s seven touchdown passes at Toledo, four other receivers also pulled in a TD pass for the Broncos.
Dysert is also capable of finding alternate receivers, and senior Chris Givens is often a good option in key situations. True freshman Dawon Scott has had some nice games (140 yards at Toledo and 141 against Buffalo), but he hasn’t registered a catch in the last two contests.
Miami’s defense has also been somewhat inconsistent, with the biggest breakdown coming early at Toledo. It rebounded after that and put in a pretty good night at Temple in spite of the costly offensive turnovers. Overall, the RedHawks are third in scoring defense (23 ppg). Western Michigan is seventh with a 29.6 average.
Turnovers, as in any game, could well determine the outcome. But turnovers aside, the game will feature an interesting matchup – Western Michigan’s MAC No. 1 passing offense against the MAC’s top-ranked pass defense.
When they are going the other way, it will be Miami’s No. 2-ranked passing offense pitted against a No. 8-ranked pass defense in WMU.
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