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OXFORD — It's back to square one for the Miami University football team, for Daniel Raudabaugh, for Clay Belton. The starting quarterback position appears to be wide open again.

Miami head coach Shane Montgomery said he isn't sure who will start for the RedHawks when they travel to Northern Illinois to face the Huskies on Saturday, Oct. 11.

"I really don't know what's going to happen," Montgomery said. "I'm going to give them both extensive (practice) time with the ones.

"There's a chance you could see both of them Saturday," he added.

Raudabaugh, a junior from Coppell, Texas, had his least successful passing game of the season in Miami's 28-10 loss to Temple last weekend. He was 8-for-18 for 65 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. And at halftime Miami had no points.

"Daniel did not play well in the first half," Montgomery said.

The Miami coach replaced Raudabaugh with Belton, the red-shirt freshman from Clayton Northmont High School, in the third quarter.

Belton competed 14-of-22 passes for 147 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. He guided the RedHawks on both of their scoring drives the first two times he took the field in the third quarter.

That doesn't necessarily mean that Belton will be this week's starter.

Montgomery noted that Belton "still has things he needs to improve on" and said "we still trust (Raudabaugh) and feel he's more than capable of running the offense."

Still, the Miami offense was more successful last week with Belton behind center.

"I like the way he ran our overall offense," Montgomery said of Belton. "It was good for him to get into a normal situation."

The biggest thing Belton needs to work on, Montgomery said, "is realizing that he has to get rid of the ball. That comes with experience. In a game situation you have to get your feet wet (with the speed of the game)."

Montgomery apparently plans to be patient with Belton.

"It always takes a lot of time first to learn the offense," he said, "and then get used to the game speed."

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.