Spring Break
RedHawks triumph on gridiron
Adam Hainsfurther
Issue date: 10/21/08 Section: Sports
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Red-shirt freshman quarterback Clay Belton made the first start of his college career and led Miami to its first victory of the season over a DI-A opponent.
"Every week I prepare as if I am the starter, just in case something were to happen," Belton said. "I was definitely excited. I tried not to be too overwhelmed or too overexcited so that I'd feel pretty calm on Saturday."
The cool headed Belton showed why he was such a highly touted recruit for the RedHawks. The 6'5" man from Clayton, Ohio completed 11 of his 23 passing attempts for 129 yards and a touchdown.
Belton showed Miami fans a glimpse of his capabilities Oct. 4 against Temple University, entering the game in the second half to throw for 147 yards.
Despite the effort, Montgomery chose to sit the former All-Ohio quarterback in favor of Dan Raudabaugh, who has started under center all season long until Saturday.
"Coming in, I was pretty relaxed," Belton said. "A lot of the guys that had been playing and starting all week kind of took me under their wing. It made things a lot easier on Saturday."
Montgomery used Belton sparingly until Saturday, but he made it very clear that Belton will be the man under center from here on out.
"We wanted to give him a chance," Montgomery said. "We knew all week he was going to start. He did a good job. There's still things he's going to need to improve on. We probably asked him to do a little bit more in the first half than in the second half. I thought he was really efficient, and he'll continue to get better."
With Belton in as the starter at quarterback, one big question still looms. What to do with Raudabaugh? Raudabaugh is in his third year as an active player, and his fourth year with the team. He knows the playbook just as well as anyone else on the team and could be a good coach for the young Belton.
"He and Clay have a good relationship," Montgomery said. "Daniel helped him a lot on Saturday. He helped him a lot in the second half of the Temple game. It really doesn't matter who's in there, he's still one play away from getting in there. When you have a guy like Daniel on the bench, a guy that's played a lot, it makes you feel good because you know he can go in there and get the job done."
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