Five things to know about Miami (Ohio)

For the third straight week, an underdog will come into Evanston to take on Northwestern.

The Wildcats lost the first two games, to Duke and Southern Illinois, but will try to turn their fortunes around against Miami (Ohio) before Big Ten play begins in earnest next week with a trip to No. 14 Penn State.

Here are five things to know about the RedHawks, who hail from the often overlooked Mid-American conference but have been a thorn in Northwestern's side, winning six of nine games all-time.

There's a lot of history between the two schools: Despite the fact that Northwestern and Miami have played only nine times, there are quite a few interesting connections between them.

Three Northwestern head coaches coached at Miami just before leaving to take a job with the Wildcats. (They don't call Miami the Cradle of Coaches for nothing.) In fact, Ara Parseghian, John Pont and Randy Walker all played and coached at Miami before getting the top job at NU. A faint thread continues today: James Patton, a former RedHawk player who was the offensive line coach under Walker at Northwestern, now coaches the OL for Miami.

Miami leads the all-time series 6-3, and there are a couple noteworthy games among them:

- In 1995, Walker and Miami came into then-Dyche Stadium and stunned the eventual Big Ten champion Wildcats 30-28. The RedHawks scored 23 unanswered fourth-quarter points to hand Northwestern what turned out to be its only loss of the regular season.

- In the 2006 season opener, rookie head coach Pat Fitzgerald, who had just gotten the job two months earlier after the tragic death of Walker, got his first career victory against Miami, 21-3.

Miami head coach Chuck Martin is 0-7 against Big Ten teams in his career. What was the RedHawks' last win over a Big Ten program? You probably guessed it. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Miami ripped the Wildcats 44-14 back in 2003.

Fitzgerald is 2-0 against Miami, with wins in 2006 and 2009.

Miami gave Kentucky and Cincinnati a hard time for a while: Miami comes into this game with a 1-2 record, with only a win over Robert Morris of the FCS in the W column (something that Northwestern can't say after last week's bitter loss to SIU). But the RedHawks have given two heavily favored opponents a tussle before bowing.

In the season opener at now No. 8 Kentucky, the RedHawks trailed just 13-10 at the half. But Kentucky got a 100-yard kickoff return to open the third quarter, and then Miami fumbled the ball right back to the Wildcats two plays later. That allowed Kentucky to blow open a tight game on its way to a 37-13 win.

Similarly, Miami trailed heavily favored Cincinnati by just one score, 24-17, until the midway point of the third quarter. The Bearcats wound up scoring the last two touchdowns to win 38-17, despite the fact they lost the turnover battle to Miami 3-1.

Martin posted a losing record in his first four seasons but the RedHawks haven't finished on the wrong side of .500 since 2017.

The RedHawks are starting a backup quarterback: Not only did Miami lose to Kentucky, but what compounded the misery was that the RedHawks lost starting quarterback Brett Gabbert, too.

Gabbert, who is No. 7 on the all-time Miami passing list, suffered what the program has called an "upper body injury" in the fourth quarter against the Wildcats. Martin said that his No. 1 signal caller will be out for "a while."

Aveon Smith, a redshirt freshman who had one career pass attempt coming into the season, was thrust into the starting role after Gabbert went down. His numbers have been decent: he's completed 53.2% of his passes for 284 yards, with five touchdowns and two interceptions. However, he was just 9 of 21 for 116 yards against Cincinnati, with two TDs and one INT.

With Smith at the controls, the RedHawks are struggling offensively. They average 293 total yards and 20.3 points per game to rank 117th and 111th in the nation, respectively.

You can expect Northwestern to load the box to stop the run and make Smith beat them through the air. The RedHawks ran for 216 yards against Robert Morris but could manage just 67 yards on 36 carries -- less than two yards per rush -- against Cincinnati last week. The RedHawks kept the score close against Cincy but were outgained 478 to 183.

Miami's defense is stout up front: The RedHawks have a salty defense that has been tough to run against. They are currently ranked 12th in the nation against the run, allowing just 75.7 rushing yards per game.

Miami held Kentucky and Robert Morris to less than two yards per rush and just 90 combined yards through the first two weeks. Cincinnati ran for 137 against them, but they needed 36 rushes to get there.

Northwestern's ground game will face a challenge against Miami, so the Wildcats may have to take to the air to beat them. That could be good news for the Wildcats, who rank 15th in the nation in passing yards with an average of 320.7 per game.

However, quarterback Ryan Hilinski, who ranks seventh in the nation in passing, took a step back against Southern Illinois last week, throwing two interceptions, fumbling once and making some ill-advised throws. He's going to have to be sharper for the Wildcats to get a win.

And so will his offensive line: Miami has nine sacks on the year, including three from DE Caiden Woullard.

There are some familiar faces on the Miami roster: In addition to Patton, there will be several RedHawks on the sideline whose names may ring a bell with Wildcat fans.

Wide receiver Mac Hippenhammer spent two years at Penn State before transferring to Miami after the 2019 season. Hippenhammer leads the RedHawks with 15 catches, 199 yards and three touchdowns.

Safety Michael Dowell was a three-year letterwinner at Michigan State before transferring to Miami as a graduate this season. His twin older brothers, Andrew and David Dowell, committed to Northwestern briefly in the 2018 class before decommitting and eventually winding up at MSU.

In all, six of Miami's 13 transfers on the roster this season are from Big Ten schools. The others are TE Matt Bjorson, WR Myles Marshall and DE Ty Wise from Indiana, and DE Brian Ugwu from Rutgers.