RedHawks center Kelby Borders probably doesn’t know it, but he and fellow offensive lineman Gavin Rohrs channel their inner Bo before every Miami game, knocking helmeted heads together while listening to music.
“You have to have a mean mindset,” the 6-foot-6, 315-pound Borders, a junior, said earlier this week. “You go from sitting in the locker room with your music in your ears, and 30 minutes later, you’re hitting somebody as hard as you can. You’ve got to get into mental capacity to do that.”
Borders and his teammates might need some head-knocking to get pumped up for their Mid-American Conference game on Saturday at Western Michigan. The visiting RedHawks are hoping to improve their overall record to 6-1 and, for the first time since 2010, 3-0 in the conference.
Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at 30,200-seat Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Miami is one of four MAC teams that are 2-0 in the conference going into play Saturday. Western Michigan is 2-4 overall and 1-1 in the MAC.
The RedHawks are scheduled to face MAC West Division-leading Toledo at home on Oct, 21 at 4 p.m.
Miami is 2-0 in conference play for the first time since 2012 and has won five straight games overall, its longest win streak since winning six in a row to close out the 2016 regular season.
Western Michigan is coming off a 41-28 non-conference loss Mississippi State of the Southeastern Conference. Jalen Buckley, a 5-11, 210-pound redshirt-freshman, leads the MAC with an average of 111.4 rushing yards per game, playing a key role in an offense that ranks second in the conference with an average of 389.9 yards of total offense per game.
The Broncos are compromised by a defense that allows an average of 36.7 points per game, the worst in the 12-team MAC.
Western Michigan is on an eight-game winning streak in the series, including last October’s 16-10 win at Yager Stadium in Oxford.
Borders is anticipating a similar type of game this year.
“They have a lot of movement, like Bowling Green,” he said. “They beat us last year. I’m sure we’ll see a lot of the same stuff.”
Miami coach Chuck Martin warned that Miami fans shouldn’t be fooled by Western Michigan’s record.
“They were leading at Mississippi State, 24-14, with six minutes left in the third quarter,” the 10th-year RedHawks coach pointed out. “They’re pretty damn good. They got to us last year. I think this will be another low-scoring game. They’ve got a new coach who’s an offensive guy, but they’re always salty on defense. They’re running the ball really good. They do a lot of (run-pass options.) They’ve had a decent amount of success on offense. They’re a really good MAC team.”
Martin was hoping that junior wide receiver Gage Lavardain, the transfer from Southeast Louisiana, would be back after missing two games with an injury.
“We think we’ll get him back,” Martin said. “We’ll see. We’ve got a lot of good football players, but he’s head-and-shoulders the best football player we’ve got.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Miami at Western Michigan, 3:30 p.m., ESPN+, 980, 1450
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