God bless you for starting that chant. It happened before my freshman year of 1967 but was legendary and often repeated when we played OU when I was in school. Also, I don’t know what was being said last night but both our student section and band were yelling at or taunting NIU players during the second half and many of their bench players were standing back to the field looking into the stands or yelling back. If any students involved would care to post what happened it would be highly entertaining.
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That is the way l remember it. Speaking of Bernie, I did my student teaching at a Piqua Junior High School and he was one of my students.
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I missed that game because I was coaching high school basketball and we had a scrimmage that day.
Thanks for all the responses on the atmosphere and attendance at Miami games in the pre late 80s. It has been really fun for me
But I am also looking from historical perspective on the quality of Miami teams. I know we were ranked in 1955 and the early 70s and we had those great bowl wins. But I guess what was the opinion of Miami/MAC football. Was it still considered the worst or one of the worst conferences. Did you feel like Miami had less talent than the big guys but played better. We won a lot of power 5 games in the 1960s and 1970s. Was the gap between Ohio State and Miami as big then as it is now? How would the media approach it?
My personal perspective is that there were always huge advantages for the big schools vs Miami and the MAC, but that those parameters changed throughout the years.
Back in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s the talent gap was of course there, but also in those days rules were relaxed in terms of how many scholarships could be offered. The big name schools not only got the cream of the crop in talent, they stockpiled their rosters with kids who could have seen considerable playing time at MAC schools, but would not likely even see the field (much) at the power schools that offered them. In this way they were able to deny other schools of even getting these kids to come play for them. Those rules were slightly tightened over the years which helped the MAC programs.
So, the talent gap was there but much as is true now, schools like Miami were still able to grab some diamonds in the rough kind of guys that developed into stars. Some of this was also due to Miami’s academic reputation. So, we got guys like Ara, Pont, Jenks, and Kellerman in the 50’s and 60’s, and then Carpenter, Smith, and Babich later. So, we had some teams with a pretty good starting team…the problem was lack of depth.
TV was different back then with the NCAA controlling and doling out regional games to conferences like the MAC So, that money gap did not exist like it does today w the P5 TV contracts paying incredible amounts. Then add in the NIL and portal transfers.at will, and of course the lessers of College football are arguably in worse shape than ever in their ability to compete.
You still see upsets all the time, even today, which makes college football more exciting and interesting to me. With the considerable advantages of the P5, it is kinda hard to believe that occasionally the lines of NIU will beat ND. But it does happen.
Lastly, those great Miami teams of the 70’s were actually pretty dominating on defense, even against the big time programs they played (and beat) like Florida and Georgia. We also beat more ranked teams until recent times.
But now with the proliferation of bowl games, the bar has been set much lower for what many would consider a successful season. Also, sadly regional rivalries (like UC) seem to matter less and less as the P5 schools scramble to dominate the landscape. It’s really a shame.
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Thank you. It was fun. I was at the game with my usual group of guys and girls. Once we started, the entire student section joined in. I lived in what was then the athletic wing of Hepburn. When my room mates who were players came back that night, they asked what the hell we were chanting that pissed off the kitties so much.
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@Cincykid3 Just a small quibble. Bob Babich was in my class, ‘69, so he was on campus 65-69.
I admit I was going on memory and didn’t look up the specific years of the players named.
Speaking of Bob Babich, that reminds me to speculate what are Miami’s top 5 NFL players of all time.
After Big Ben at #1, you can consider Bob Babich, Sherm Smith, Rob Carpenter, Jacob Bell and Ernie Kellerman. I know I am missing a couple of candidates…help me out!
Brandon Brooks had a really good NFL career
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Considering what he did in the CFL, I think Milt Stegall would’ve had a really nice NFL career and deserves a mention.
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Superbowl winner. Regularly listed as the best guard in the NFL. Retired and received his MBA from Wharton. He might be #2 on the list behind Ben, and he’s been a great representative for Miami athletics the whole time.
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Milt Stegall was a name I’ve never heard of in all my Miami years. Sheltered life I guess. So I Googled him and here’s first thing that came up.
Impressive—
MIAMI HALL OF FAME
CANADIAN FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME
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I was there as well and it was crowded. Whether it was a sellout or not it was the most exciting sports moment I experienced live.
The only game I was at exceeded the Kent game was Game 6 of the 1986 World Series at Shea. Now that game WAS sold out.
Yeah it really was a thrilling finish, made more so as it looked like we would lose when Larry Poole of Kent went in for the go ahead TD with about a minute left. (Poole went on to play 3 years in the NFL).
Our kicker Dave Draught (sp??) had a strong leg but was very inconsistent and so the 39 yard kick was hardly a gimme. But he nailed it and the place went nuts!
Larry Poole at Kent is correct and Dave Draught for Miami. Believe Kent was QB’d by future Miami QB Mike Kokal’s dad, Greg who was an excellent QB at Kent. I met the dad at a NFF dinner in Cleveland in the mid 2000’s and he told me how his son was originally committed to follow him at Kent and then Miami offered late. Jr wasn’t sure but dad told him there was no way he was letting him go to Kent when he could get a Miami degree. The family was very happy with their decision. Cool story.
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As the resident CFL fan on the board, having lived 35 years 75 minutes just south of Vancouver, I have mentioned Milt in my CFL posts. He has been a fixture on TSN’s CFL in-studio broadcast team for years.
And by the way, Manny Rugumba just finished his third season up there with my BC Lions.
My two favorite memories of Milt. Escorting him to a kickoff return TD in the 1990 game vs Toledo (Saban was the coach). And seeing him in the TSN studio wearing a bright red sport coat, delivering the commentary
Milt was blind as a bat when we played in Oxford and wouldn’t wear rec specs. He said he wouldn’t be able to see the ball until it was about 10-15 feet away. 
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The touchdown beagle!