Akron preview

[MarkL]

I'll do another preview for Akron. I've enjoyed putting these reviews together, and nobody has yet said these previews suck or I should quit. So if you don't want me to preview Kent State, speak up!

Our next opponent is Akron. The Zips are 4-4 (2-2) and 3-1 at home. Akron will be welcoming a home cupcake on Tuesday, November 4.

Offense
- The offense is balanced but has been a little heavy on the pass the past few games.
- I have not heard which QB is starting. If I were Bowden, I would start Kyle Pohl, but we have to be aware of what Tommy Woodson brings to the table. Pohl is a junior, hitting 56% of his passes for a 7 / 3 ratio. He is capable of moving the offense very efficiently, as we all remember how we guided the offense to two straight easy-looking TDs to open the game last year against us.
- Woodson is a redshirt freshman who has started the last two. (Pohl was injured and Woodson started in his place against Ohio. Pohl was cleared to play against Ball State but Woodson got the start anyway.) Woodson is not necessarily a scrambler, but he is more escapable and mobile than Pohl. He has a very strong arm but is not as efficient of a passer as Pohl and currently has a 5 / 6 ratio (4 picks against Ball State alone). Woodson looked fine against Ohio. Fine, not excellent. Akron did not lose to Ohio because Woodson threw the game away; Akron lost to Ohio because Akron did not run the ball well and got out-played.
--- I have not heard why Woodson got the start against BSU. It is possible that Bowden liked what he saw out of Woodson against Ohio and wanted to give him another start over Pohl. Woodson led the team to a halftime lead but four second half interceptions naturally led to a collapse where BSU outscored Akron 22-0 in the second half to get the win. I would expect Pohl to play against us, but the fact that Bowden started Woodson over a healthy Pohl could indicate otherwise. To the best of my knowledge, Bowden has not announced a starting QB, so I would prepare for both but expect Pohl.
- Akron's primary runners are Conor Hundley and Jawon Chisolm. Hundley has 407 yards and 3 TDs for a 5.9 average, and Chisohlm has 253 yards and 3 TDs for a 4.7 average. Hundley is a powerful runner, but as I said above, the offense has been leaning on the pass recently. Akron did not run the ball well vs Ohio (84 on 25 attempts) and were not much better against BSU (125 on 34 attempts). I have to say I am a bit surprised that Akron is not running better.
- Akron's receivers are a diverse group. They have big guys (Zach D'Orazio, 6-2 217 and Mykel Traylor-Bennett, 6-3 205) and smaller, quick guys (Fransohn Bickley, 5-6 147 and Imani Davis, 5-9 176). They spread the ball around a lot as there are 7 receivers with 10+ receptions, but the receptions leader has only 41. The leading receiver is D'Orazio with 41 for 455 and a TD. The number 2 guy is L.T. Smith III with 30 for 341 and 2 TDs. You also have to watch out for their big-play threat, Traylor-Bennett, who is averaging 15 a reception for 256 and 4 TDs.
- On the whole, I would say Akron's offense can be efficient. They are not an explosive type of offense, but they get the job done. Pohl has only thrown 3 interceptions and the team has only lost 6 fumbles, which means Woodson's interceptions (again, he's a freshman who has only started two games so don't pile on him) have accounted for 6 of 15 turnovers, or 40%. When Pohl plays, Akron does not turn the ball over very often. In fact, in Woodson's 2 starts, Akron turned the ball over 8 times. In Pohl's 6 starts, Akron turned the ball over 7 times (4 of which were against Marshall). Akron is efficient, not necessarily explosive.

Defense
- In the first few games, Akron's defense was good except against Marshall, and they were excellent against Pitt where the team played the field position game to near perfection. The defense is a veteran defense; all ten of the top tacklers are either juniors or seniors.
- I said in the Ohio preview that Ohio is a sound defense because the top three tacklers were linebackers, which indicates defensive discipline. Akron is the same. The top three tacklers are the starting three linebackers, junior Jatavis Brown with 43 (and 9.5 TFL and 4 sacks), senior C.J. Mizell with 26, and senior Justin March with 18. It seems to me that plays just don't get into the secondary very often, and when you have linebacker with 43 tackles in 8 games, you know you've got a great linebacking corps.
- Akron has done a decent job getting to the QB. In 8 games, the D has 21 sacks. Also of note is the team has 49 TFL.
- In the secondary, senior Bre' Ford at safety has 2 picks, which is a tie for team lead with junior Kris Givens at corner. In 8 games, Akron has picked off 9 passes. The team has also forced 13 fumbles and recovered 8. They are average a hair over forcing 2 turnovers per game.
- The only common opponent we have with Akron is Ohio. Akron did a decent job defending the Ohio passing game, allowing only 17 completions on 37 attempts, but those 17 completions went for almost 200. But for some context, 49 of those yards were on a TD to a rather open receiver. Ohio was committed to the running play as they ran the ball 39 times for 159, but Akron never really let the running game loose. OU's running back only rushed for 74 on 23 (long of 17) and the QB had the longest run for the Bobcats on a scramble of 25 yards. Akron didn't lose to Ohio because of the defense.
- Against BSU, Akron allowed the QB to go 18 of 36 for 225, so the D stopped 50% of passes but allowed some big completions as they allowed an average of 12.6 per completion. Akron allowed BSU's back to run for 121 on 24 carries. If you take away his long burst of 37, Akron held him to less than 4 a carry. BSU won largely because Woodson threw 4 picks and allowed BSU to dominate the second half.
- I would say this is a good defense. They are on a similar level of defense as Ohio. They are fundamentally sound and are good at getting into the backfield.

Special Teams
- Robert Stein, a junior, is the place kicker. If the name sounds familiar, it is because Robert's older brother is Stephen Stein, our former kicker. I have to say Akron probably got the better of the two Steins, as Robert Stein is currently a perfect 7 for 7 on FGs with a long of 46. And just for good measure, Stein is also perfect on XP.
- Zach Paul, also a junior, is the punter. He is averaging nearly 45 a punt, so that is a healthy number. A huge reason why Akron beat Pitt was Akron dominated the field position game. Paul pinned Pitt (try saying that 5 times fast!) deep a few times.
- L.T. Smith III, a senior receiver I mentioned above, is the leading kickoff returner. He is averaging 26 a return, though he only has 8 returns. The punt return game isn't exactly scary, as Imani Davis, a junior receiver I also mentioned above, is averaging under 5 per punt return.

Overall
- Akron started off fast. They had a blowout loss to Marshall, but they had a nice 21-10 win over Pitt to counter the Marshall loss. Akron started conference play against two bad teams (EMU and that team down south) and won both, though they won the latter by only 10. Then two things happened: Pohl got hurt, and they played better teams.
- With Pohl out and Woodson starting and with playing better competition, Akron is on a 2 game losing streak. They certainly could have won both, as the OU game was close and the Ball State game was lost mostly on turnovers.
- Akron's offense is efficient when Pohl is in. I am going to go out on a limb here and say Pohl will get the start. Our defense has improved significantly since the UMass game, and I believe improvement will continue. I also believe our D will put a lot of pressure on Pohl and force him into either throwing the ball away or making mistakes.
- It may have been difficult to predict this after last year, but Akron's D is good. They are disciplined and they do not allow many plays to get into the secondary. They also are good at getting into the backfield. Our offensive success against Akron will depend upon the play of Knapke. I believe we will be able to run on them if the passing game provides enough of a threat to Akron's linebackers.
- I think WMU is an all-around better team than Akron. We beat OU, OU beat Akron. We beat OU, we lost to WMU though we were in it late and had a key QB injury, and OU got hammered by WMU. I bring up this OU / WMU / Akron comparison to give an idea of where we stand based off our last two opponents.
- I know I said it before but I will say it again - our success depends upon the play of James Knapke.
- Also ... part of me has an instinct here ... that this is the game where we see BGSU look like we have been hoping for us to look. We've got a nice break to heal, learn, and re-evaluate. I just have an instinct our offense will finally come together and be up-tempo, explosive, and exciting for most of the game, and our defense will attack and force mistakes. We've got a good team that we have to beat, so it would be a perfect time for us to look that good.
- I'll call for a tight BG win, which means first place in the MAC east, the inside track to the MAC title game, and bowl eligibility.

Be happy if ...
- The team looks healthy and refreshed
- Knapke looks excellent
- The tempo is good and the offense is explosive and exciting
- The defense forces quick stops

Worry if ...
- Akron's offense is efficient and gets long TD drives
- Akron's linebackers take away our run game
- Knapke looks injured, sore, stiff, or just off

[jpfalcon09]

Pohl is likely going to start which worries me a little bit. He had an effective game against BG last year before some adjustments were made and he ultimately got shut out in the second half.

[kdog27]

I personally hate Akron more than any MAC school. Kill zippy.

[Flipper]

Kill zippy with fire....

[Falconfreak90]

I personally hate Akron more than any MAC school. Kill zippy.

After tsun and Miami, I dislike Akron the most. Nice write up Mark...I will have a cupcake in my coat pocket to give to to Mr Alexander after the game. I cut out that article from the paper and mailed it to Coach Babers. He replied with a nice letter.

I think Akron abandons the run game very early all the time...we need to jump on them like Ohio and then pin our ears back and go after Pohl.

PUNCH ZIPPY IN THE MOUTH!

[BGSU33]

Pohl will start for Akron:

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college ... ng_qb.html" target="_blank

[Class of 61]

And Akron is offering THREE full semester tuition prizes to entce students to come to the game.....just hope we've been able to retain the Def. Sharpness and reGAIN the offensive sharpness, both of which seemed to becoming more prominent in last few weeks.

[Falconfreak90]

Akron is giving away black long sleeve shirts to the first 5,000 fans as well. With an average home attendance of 9,775 for four games, We might win a couple. Tuesday night, voting day...I can see about 6k there. BG usually travels well to Akron and Kent St so hope we have a good following. Play hard for 60 min on a business trip. We have the title and the Roos want it. We shall not surrender....

GO FALCONS

[jpfalcon09]

Akron is giving away black long sleeve shirts to the first 5,000 fans as well. With an average home attendance of 9,775 for four games, We might win a couple. Tuesday night, voting day...I can see about 6k there. BG usually travels well to Akron and Kent St so hope we have a good following. Play hard for 60 min on a business trip. We have the title and the Roos want it. We shall not surrender....

GO FALCONS

Weather is looking iffy too, chance of showers Tuesday evening, not looking cold at least. I'm coming with 3 other folks so hoping to run into some of you before and during the game.

[BGSU33]

Akron is a 5.5-point favorite

[jpfalcon09]

Akron is a 5.5-point favorite

Vegas is really buying into BG's time off then. Akron's last couple games certainly wouldn't push them to being almost a touchdown favorite.

[BGSU33]

Akron is a 5.5-point favorite

Vegas is really buying into BG's time off then. Akron's last couple games certainly wouldn't push them to being almost a touchdown favorite.

I'm sure having played the last two games on the road with a backup QB and now coming home and getting their starting QB back has something to do with it. Our last game against WMU didn't help either.

[jpfalcon09]

Akron is a 5.5-point favorite

Vegas is really buying into BG's time off then. Akron's last couple games certainly wouldn't push them to being almost a touchdown favorite.

I'm sure having played the last two games on the road with a backup QB and now coming home and getting their starting QB back has something to do with it. Our last game against WMU didn't help either.

Even without Johnson, BG still has more talent than Akron. Hopefully the offense shows up and dominates the game. I assume everyone is healthy again including Dieter which should really help Knapke.

[thewebboy]

The more Akron is favored the better, I say.

[Falcon137]

The more Akron is favored the better, I say.

Akron has moved to -6 or -7 depending on the book. That's a big line, especially for an Akron team ranked 12 spots lower in the Sagrin.