Ed Stults knows what’s coming.

Stults, the offensive line coach for Miami University’s football team, has been preparing for Ohio State’s defense for a while. He said its D-line is very strong, keyed by senior end John Simon (6-2, 263) and senior nose tackle Garrett Goebel (6-4, 290).

“They’re Ohio State. They’re great players,” Stults said. “Those guys are two of the best players we’ll play against this year by far. Guys that will have a future playing on Sunday.”

Junior tackle Johnathan Hankins (6-3, 322) and sophomore end Michael Bennett (6-3, 285) will also start up front for the Buckeyes today when the teams square off at Ohio Stadium.

The RedHawks’ O-line will be heavily challenged. The task wasn’t helped by the fact that senior center JoJo Williams went down with a leg injury earlier this week.

Stults is still expecting an all-out effort by his troops.

“Shoot, we’ve got a great opportunity,” he said. “We’ve got to keep telling our players we’ve got a chance to shock the football world. That’s what we’re going to try to do.

“If our players can’t get excited about this, I don’t know what the heck you get excited about in life. This is fun. We’re not just going to show up to be respectable. We’re going to win the game.”

Improving players: Miami head coach Don Treadwell was asked this week about players who have shown marked improvement.

On defense, he pointed to cornerback Chrishawn Dupuy. Offensively, it was the tight-end duo of Dustin White and Steve Marck.

“You need someone that can secure the edge in the run game, yet still be able to run down the field in the passing game,” Treadwell said of the tight ends. “Those two young men have really done a good job in that regard.”

A kicker to pick: Treadwell still wasn’t ready to name a starting place-kicker. It’s either junior Mason Krysinski or freshman Kaleb Patterson.

“That one is kind of a day-to-day operation,” Treadwell said. “I think right now both of them are mentally prepared to be the kicker. We’ll watch pregame warmups and see how we feel.”

Opening up: Miami has an overall record of 79-37-6 in season openers, but has lost six of its last seven.