The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

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Akron Zips 2015-2016 Media Guide

Table of Contents
- Meet the Team [Depth Chart]
- Schedule
- Look at our rivalries
- Look at the MAC



What to watch for in the MAC

The Mid-American Conference is without it's reigning champions and winners of the past few conference titles with the exclusion of a single year in the Northern Illinois Huskies. The Huskies football program has absolutely dominated this conference the past few years and they've moved onto greener pastures. Following them was Massachusetts who sought a better geographical fit in the American Conference.

The Massachusetts loss doesn't hurt nearly as bad as the Northern Illinois loss. The gain of Indiana is a consolation prize to add a solid contender at the top of the conference by eliminating a B1G bottom feeder so that they could add the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. This gives some excitement for the upcoming season as there is a new program and the conference fluctuated somewhat.

MAC Contenders have a few marquee matchups this season outside of the conference, it does appear that Bowling Green and Indiana are poised to collide in Detroit for the conference championship. Without a match up during the season, that would be the only way the two teams meet this season.

Looking at Bowling Green's schedule, they take on #25 Georgia Tech and #4 Wisconsin, both in enemy territory. Those two games are big for the Bowling Green Falcons who appear to boast one of the better offenses in all of the NCAA and would love to prove that feat by taking on elite talent. Even one upset would put a lot of eyes on the MAC and set this conference up towards success.

Indiana took the lighter approach by scheduling unranked major conference squads, taking on Boston College at home early in the season and traveling to Missouri towards the end of the season for their marquee matchups. Indiana is a more 'all-around' squad than Bowling Green, but Bowling Green features significantly higher offensive upside.

In terms of players to watch for, look no further than Travis Greene. Greene is the star halfback for the Bowling Green State Falcons and this kid is among the best in all of college football. His ground attack will be a part of their squad that the Falcons will live and die by, and don't be surprised to see them rely on him heavily this season. He is a NFL Talent and will be expected to perform as one.

Joining him is quarterback, Matt Johnson. Johnson who sat last year for unexplained reasons, returns this year to lead the Falcons offense and he is a late round NFL talent as well. Johnson and Greene form one of the more dangerous combinations in the NCAA and his plethora of receivers will only further help this Bowling Green offense, their biggest question marks lie solely on the defense.

On Ball State, their star player is Jordan Williams, Williams is a fast receiver with good hands and ability to go up and come down the ball. He has a pretty good quarterback tossing him the ball as well and since he is far and away the best wide out on the Cardinals, expect a lot of passes to go his way this season.

Halfback Tevin Coleman comes on looking to contest Travis Greene as the best halfback in the MAC, Coleman benefits from running behind tackles, Pat Eckert and Jason Spriggs, both are your prototypical tackles that possess B1G level talent. Coleman might have the advantage over Greene for that reason, his offensive line is significantly better. Unlike Bowling Green however, the passing game for the Hoosiers isn't close to par with their ground attack and could spell some defeats for them.

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NCAA Season Preview

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@ #7

W2W4: Expect a blowout for the Ohio State Buckeyes in this contest, the Zips bring a sparky young squad to Columbus and while their coach talks a good game, the team isn't quite ready to back him up just yet. Ezekiel Elliot is the stud in the backfield, expect him to carve out this defense early and often as the Buckeyes look to set the tone against an opponent they felt disrespected them last season.

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Braxton Miller nearly perfect in return to gridiron

The field was loud, the crowd ecstatic, the game was electric. The Akron Zips were set to face off against the Ohio State Buckeyes in a game that has more hype for the reported disdain between the programs after last season's fiasco. The atmosphere was almost that of a small rivalry game for the Buckeyes who packed the stadium to see their squad for the first time of the 2015 season, and for those that came, they were treated.

The Buckeyes defense was on point, Phil Steele had this defensive unit as the best in the B1G and made a strong argument for them to being the best in the country. They did absolutely nothing to be an anti-thesis to that statement by holding the Akron Zips to 10 points, all of which were scored in the first half. They also held the Akron Zips to under fifty yards rushing in this one, on top of the four turnovers and making Kyle Pohl see his completion percentage plummet to the wrong side of 50%.

On the other side, Braxton Miller was electric in his return. He made questionable plays in the first half but his team was still out front due to an opportunistic defense, it was truly in the second half when the team oddly opted to pass more as they held the lead in order to watch their lead grow. Braxton proved to be dominant, throwing only three incompletions the entire game.

"I'd argue that this performance constitutes him some consideration for the Heisman. He embodied the trophy in his performance today, he single handedly dismantled our defense." Spoke Tyler Kozlov who had high praise for the Buckeyes quarterback, little else Kozlov said was positive.

It likely had to do with the Buckeyes running up the score in the fourth quarter by passing when the game was already well out of reach to get an extra set of scores that irked the coach, but this year he stayed quiet. His team got beat badly, and there wasn't much to say. The Ohio State Buckeyes proved for the second consecutive year that they are the better team. Not to anyone's surprise of course.

This one didn't always seem to be the rout that the Buckeyes expected it to be, the Ohio State offense struggled early against an oddly stout Akron defense that likely tired itself out in the first half which opened up the second half for them to be systematically dismantled. The Zips actually were a turnover away from a tied game going into the half.

The teams first possessions were punts, with the Buckeyes getting on the board after a pair of Braxton Miller scrambles took them down the field at a blistering rate, with Miller tucking it and running the nine yards for the score to open up the game at 7-3. The Zips managed to drive the ball downfield largely due to a long completion from Kyle Pohl to Jeff Parker of 44 yards. They wouldn't be able to do much in the redzone as the ground game struggled all day.

Early in the second after a quick three and out, the Zips were back on offense and Kyle Pohl was bull rushed by three Buckeyes, defensive end Joey Bosa scooped up the loose ball on the sack and brought it back eight yards for the touchdown. The next Ohio State drive would stall in the Zips red zone and Ohio State would settle with the field goal making it a 3-16 game due to a missed field goal.


The offense for the Zips clicked on the next drive as Kyle Pohl hooked up with freshman tight end Erik Greene on a pair of receptions that quickly led them upfield, on a third down, Kyle Pohl rolled out to the right side and found Zach D'Orazio open in the flat, throwing the ball off his back foot, the senior reeled it in and turned up field, charging into a sea of red and forcing his way into the end zone, a 10-16 game that would slip into the half looking like this one would be close.

Yet, the Buckeyes would run away with it in the second half.

Ohio State would force two Kyle Pohl interceptions, sack him twice and force him to go just 5-20 in the half as they closed out the game comfortably behind a tremendous showing from the defense and Braxton Miller. Braxton would throw all three of his touchdown passes in the last half, including two long passes of 32 and 62 yards to Dontre Wilson that split this game wide open.

In the end, the Zips proved they were what everyone expected them to be, a middle of the road at best mid major, while the Buckeyes showed that for yet another year under Urban Meyer, this team means business and they won't yield until they hoist another crystal football.

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Week 1 Recap

Football is finally back and what a first week it was. Routs, upsets, and close games got us right back into the swing of things for the College football season. Naturally everyone loves upsets and their was quite a big one this week. UCLA who was coming off a loss in the national championship game makes their losing streak two by getting run out of Virginia by the Cavaliers in a 27-47 score that quickly ends the hangover from last year. The Bruins can't take stock in last years team anymore, it's time for them to get their act together and if they hope to return, they will need to do so by running the table the rest of the way. This loss hurt them bad, and it was shown by their huge drop in the polls that saw them fall fourteen spots.

In an opening week, SEC opener, the Georgia Bulldogs stole one from Ole Miss with Todd Gurley leading the way from the backfield. Ole Miss is going to reel a little from this one as this early season set back knocks them down the polls and already has them down a peg in conference play just a week into the season. It's a tough loss for them early on but their season is definitely still not quite one to be calling lost just yet.

Florida opened up the swamp for the 2015 season by bringing the Idaho Vandals to town and they impressed some by shutting down the Mountain West squad, allowing just a field goal early in the fourth quarter. "Can't get ahead of ourselves, but when our defense plays like this, we are at our best." Spoke head coach Will Muschamp.

The upset alert was on in Nebraska as the Cornhuskers stopped a Florida Atlantic two point conversion after they tossed an interception that was brought back for the score. The Huskers were able to run down the clock and escape with a 21-19 victory over the unranked Owls. This one would've been even more disastrous than the Bruins loss to Virginia. Oddly enough, eking out a victory against Florida Atlantic jumped the Huskers two spots.

Mississippi State opened up conference play in the SEC with a 31-28 victory over the Gamebirds. Steve Spurrier's squad was in position late to steal the victory but an interception would save the game as they would kill the clock to the roar of their home crowd. The Gamebirds fall from the polls with the loss.

Some big signings in the recruiting races as the Tide land Austin Chapman from Aldine, Texas. The Athlete will join the Tide roster which continues to churn in tremendous recruiting classes year in and out. The first name on what promises to be a list of many.

Benjamin Davidson stuns all as he decides to leave his region and head to the Cornhuskers, in a move that many cannot explain, the athlete will join the ranks of the B1G as a Husker. This recruiting class features two 5* tight ends, Alexander Frazer stays home to become a Gator.

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Ahmad Watts was everywhere, recording 8 tackles, 1 sack, 1 interception

Bring on the new blood: Freshman shine in shutout

The Akron Zips shut out the Connecticut Huskies.

Take a moment to allow that to soak in.

The defense which ranked #90 last year, has shutout an opponent in just the second game of the year. Even despite allowing the opposing quarterback to complete 65% of his passes, even despite allowing runs of 38 and 42 yards on separate drives. This defense shut down the Connecticut Huskies offense, this defense which got dismantled last week, was the strong point this week.

"I hit them hard in practice. I let them know that we cannot win games with our defense allowing everything. Giving up more than thirty points isn't acceptable if we're going to be a winning program and the guys really responded. I'm really happy with how the freshman stepped up and how the new starters jumped into their roles all across the board." Spoke an elated Tyler Kozlov.

Now, the Connecticut Huskies aren't a team to get excited for beating. They were projected to a second to last place finish in the American North Division with a projected record of 3-9, they are out of the gates at 0-2. Their offense is only better than Massachusetts in the entire conference and their defense figures to be average at best.

Even so, picking up victory number one in game two has to be a positive experience for Tyler Kozlov and the young Zips, after all it took them six tries a year ago, and they are a third of the way to matching their win total from last season. Small steps forward everyday is what Tyler Kozlov preaches and it's evident that he stands by it with this victory.


The Zips offense was boosted by the resurgence of the ground game after rushing for a negative aggregate across the board, Connor Hundley broke out for his first century mark rushing point, despite being held out of the endzone. His hard nosed running definitely played a part to keep the Zips on the field and allow their defense to rest. Hundley broke out gains of 14 and 11 on the first drive alone which set the pace early. The Zips would end up punting on that first drive but after the teams traded possessions, they jumped down field.

With the halfback taking a breather, freshman, Tra Ingram stepped in and took the ball between guard and tackle from the goal line to put the Zips up at the end of the quarter and give them an early lead in front of their home crowd. It got loud and that's what the Zips defense needed.

The teams defenses took their turns taking shots at the offenses, and occasionally the offenses made a move downfield, yet the drives would always stall and it would lead to just another punt. As the game wore on, it would be the Zips who would out grind the Huskies with hard nosed football to churn out their 78 yard drive that ended with Kyle Pohl scrambling for the two yard touchdown when the pass play broke down. The senior dove for the pylon and got the score sending the crowd into a frenzy.



The defense for the Zips had the focus, picked up it's first shut out since 2009, when the Zips shut out Morgan State in a 41-0 victory. Morgan State however was a FCS team, Connecticut is leagues away better than that Morgan State squad had been. Which makes this accomplishment even more better.

The defense was opportunistic, played unselfishly and shared responsibility, making plays all across the field all day. The key players were Jerome Lane and Ahmad Watts. Lane had nine tackles, including two in the backfield as he swarmed all over the field breaking up plays with a pair of deflections to his credit as well. Jointly, Ahmad Watts had an excellent interception when he was left in zone coverage, while also sacking Connecticut quarterback, Tim Boyle while adding nine tackles of his own as well.

The Zips won the day with this one, taking a 1-1 record to their game against now ranked Marshall in what Tyler Kozlov deemed in the preseason "a statement game". A win for the Zips would definitely turn some heads and put them in tremendous position for a bowl birth, if the defense plays this good and the offense can catch fire.. who knows?

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Week 2

The upsets keep piling in and this week is no exception. Ole Miss and Louisville all fall this week in upsets, while Clemson is routed.

Starting out in Louisville, the Cardinals offense couldn't get going and managed to score only 10 points on the Florida International Golden Panthers. Louisville who came in as an outside shot to fight for the ACC throne, couldn't best FIU. Their two turnovers would spell the difference and outweigh the 173 rushing yards they managed to pile up through a strong ground and point. Ultimately, when it came down to it, Florida International got a bounce to go the right way and thanks to a late turnover, Shane Coleman was able to punch it in five plays later inside of the two minute mark to seal the game for the Panthers.

Turning our attention to Ole Miss who cannot seem to get themselves out of this column, the Ole Miss Rebels tumble once again, this time to Mid Major Power Boise State who shoots up the rankings to #20 after knocking the Rebels from #12 to #18 by claiming a 13-7 victory over the Rebels. Ole Miss was behind from the gate as the Boise State opening drive resulted in 7. It'd take the Rebels all of the second quarter to knot the score at 7-7 to send it into the half. Boise's offense wouldn't do much against a tough Rebel defense, yet they would do enough as the Broncos notched out two field goals of 32 and 44 to pull away with the victory over the SEC squad and once NCG hopeful.

Clemson is lucky to still be rated after the beating the Bulldogs put on them. The Clemson Tigers were never in this one and once Todd Gurley wore down their defense, it left them without anything. Their offense was middling at best and an exhausted defense couldn't bring down a heisman favorite as Todd Gurley pounded in a trio of touchdown runs and made a very big case for his heisman candidacy as the Bulldogs roll over the Tigers.

In the MAC, Bowling Green State very nearly pulled off the upset against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, carrying a 24-7 lead into halftime, the Falcons defense just couldn't keep it up against the triple option and conceded in the second half as the Jackets move up in the polls by two spots with their 28-24 victory over Bowling Green State.

Recruiting News is light this week as the heavy hitting of week 1 died down and coaches jumped into the grind of weekly recruiting efforts. Amongst the four highlighted recruits this week, no surprises stand out as the power conference schools vie for their elite talent.

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Just curious to those that are following, how do you feel about the GIFS? Are they fine where they are in line with the text or are they too distracting?

Thanks!

[TheOtherPotterGuy]

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I like the GIF idea it's really cool. I think maybe they could be a little bit bigger but that's just me.

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I like the GIF idea it's really cool. I think maybe they could be a little bit bigger but that's just me.

Like this size?

[RaiderAid89]

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Yeah I like seeing the gifs too. It's a really cool idea to show little highlights.

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Kyle Pohl celebrates throwing game winning touchdown

Pohl rebounds as Zips blow past Marshall

"When you see your back up on the sideline warming up, it gives you motivation. It let's you know what you already knew, what your performing at isn't acceptable and it's time to step up. There's no second chances and getting sat today could mean the rest of your career watching from the sideline. I've been criticized a lot over the past two years, but I want my legacy to be of a winning quarterback, not what mistakes I've made." Spoke Kyle Pohl to the media after Akron's first victory against a ranked squad
under Tyler Kozlov.

This one definitely appeared to be a blowout in the making after all with three to go in the first half, the Thundering Herd held a commanding 20-0 lead over the Akron Zips, Kyle Pohl didn't complete a pass in the first quarter and the Zips offense had just 22 yards heading into their final possession of the quarter. Pohl had four interceptions in the first half, one brought back the distance for a touchdown and almost assuredly spelt the end of his day, that was his third interception.

There was shouting on the sidelines, as Tyler Kozlov took to his embattled quarterback, and after a fourth interception midway through the second, his back up started warming up on the sidelines. Once he got to the sidelines, he recounted that Tyler Kozlov told him.

"I want a touchdown on this drive, anything less and you're out."

Strong words from the head coach but it made it clear, do or die. His backup is more accomplished than last season's back up fiasco and could usurp him for the remainder of the year with a strong performance and Kyle Pohl knew that. On the following drive, he went a perfect 4-4 hooking up with Jeff Parker for a long touchdown.


The quarterback took off downfield hugging his wideout in the endzone as they celebrated the score. Kyle knew he likely saved his career with that touchdown. The issue shifted to the defense where Gunnar Holcombe was absolutely shredding the defense through the air and on the ground through the first half, while he had been stepped a few times, he was looking strong and coming from behind, the oppositions offense having momentum was never a good thing.

On the Thundering Herd's final drive of the half, Holcombe's first pass deflected off his wide receivers hands, his second? Went for 36 yards. There was over a minute left and the Herd had the ball just past midfield. From there, freshman Ahmad Watts stepped up getting a pair of sacks that pushed the Herd behind midfield with a third and twenty-three the Herd opted to run out the clock and send the game into the third quarter with the lead.

The home crowd was getting more invested in the game and the home team didn't disappoint as the Zips offense moved downfield at a blistering pace on their first drive after the break and ended with Kyle Pohl keeping a read option and forcing his way into the endzone, the quarterback jumping up quickly and celebrating the score loudly. It appeared the quarterback had caught fire.

On the opposite end, Gunnar Holcombe was starting to struggle, two consecutive punts on drives he led in the third quarter led to the whistle bringing the game into the final frame and the Zips were threatening to tie a game they didn't even seem competitive in not all too long ago.

Hoping to improve his teams odds at winning, when his receivers were unable to get open on a third and 6, the quarterback took off, taking a tough hit from Jerome Lane and laid on the field in pain. The training staff helped him off the field but it was revealed that he would miss the rest of the game with an injury to his ankle and on came back up Cole Garvin.

Garvin was hoping to be the force that would push his team over the top but he'd be the opposite. The Akron Zip defense would force an interception on him on the Herd's following drive which put the Zips in good position to tie the game. They would do just that, in the red zone, Kyle Pohl found freshman tight end Jordan Matthews on a slant and threw a beautiful rocket into his hands, the ball was caught and immediately the crowd went into a roar.

The Akron Zips had the #24 Marshall Thundering Herd on the ropes. The Thundering Herd hoped to battle back, with Garvin going 4-9 for 38 yards on his next drive, it wouldn't be enough though as two consecutive incompletions saw the ball nestled just past midfield but with a tied score, they opted to punt and put the Zips into bad field position.


On first down deep in their own territory, Kyle Pohl dropped back and lobbed a pass up to Zach D'Orazio who came down with the reception for a 33 yard gain, followed by a 22 yard completion to Jeff Parker which suddenly put the Zips on the edge of Tom O'Leary's field goal range with two and a half remaining.

Opting to the ground and pound, two runs by Connor Hundley netted just four yards and the offense which sat on the edge of their sophomore kicker's range had a question to make, run the ball and hope he has the length to knock it in, or try a pass to pick up the first down. They opted for a screen.

Tra Ingram caught the screen and turned upfield, making two Herd miss and charging up field, the crowd growing louder as the yardage between him and end zone shrunk. A safety managed to crash over and knock the freshman out of bounds at the eleven, a 24 yard gain and another first down for the Zips.

Akron opted to run the ball twice more, grinding out nine yards on two rushes from Connor Hundley and the big set came out for third and one from the two. The play action pass worked brilliantly, and Kyle Pohl rolled out finding Austin Wolf on the flat, the pass was caught for what would be the game winning score, 27-20 as the crowd roared. Kyle Pohl threw his arms up in celebration, having saved himself and his team.

The Herd tried their best to rally back and managed to move the ball thirty yards, yet got caught up on a third and ten, and when Cole Garvin lobbed up a pass, it would be intercepted by Bryce Cheek with a little over a minute to go. The Zips brought in their victory formation and the rest was history. The Akron Zips pick up their first win against a ranked opponent under head coach Tyler Kozlov.

The crowd was in a roar (well as much as 8000 fans could be in a roar), as the teams slowly separated and the coaches finished congratulating eachother in the post game. A quality victory for the Zips who finally appear to have a confident team in Akron. This win is well received by the fan base but yet another challenge looms on the horizon as the Zips draw the undefeated Western Michigan Broncos for their first MAC contest of the year.

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Week 3 Recap

Welcome back to another weekly wrap up of NCAA Action!

A few high profile games in the mix as the Auburn Tigers continue their path back towards another BCS National Championship Game, Ole Miss has college football fans crying bias, and the Cornhuskers skirt disaster to stave off their opponents!

The Auburn Tigers climb to #4 in the latest polls after knocking off the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The Bulldogs came in as favorites but couldn't hold off the Auburn ground game, Jeremy Johnson had two touchdowns, one in the air and the other on the ground as "War Eagle" wins the day in this SEC matchup. Auburn gets an early jump on their SEC conference schedule starting undefeated.

In the game that had many NCAA fans calling SEC bias, the Florida Gators shoot up the rankings to #18 after routing the Ole Miss Rebels in a 45-24 beating. While some claim the Gator's spot in the polls is due to SEC bias, the big part of the bias claim relies on the fact that the (0-3) Ole Miss Rebels, still sit at #24 in the polls despite being winless, a quarter of the way through their season. Naturally, early in the year, the polls are more volatile, if the Rebels lose again, don't expect to see them in the polls for a long time. This has been a disastrous start to the season for Ole Miss who started quite high in the polls but finds themselves holding on by just a thread after three consecutive losses. Ole Miss managed just 175 offensive yards, while Florida had over 500. The Gators outgained the Rebels entire offense on the ground (253 ruYards).

Rounding out the marquee action for the week, in a matchup of "Old-School" power houses, the Cornhuskers maintained home field advantage by staving off the Miami Hurricanes in a 20-17 victory that will definitely need to be grown upon for the Cornhuskers to have a shot of usurping Wisconsin in the B1G. Many feel the Huskers are a year or two from being truly competitive, but this team is opportunistic enough that they could surprise some people.

In recruiting news, Sean Langdon has announced that he is heavily leaning towards Northern Illinois this season. The 5* quarterback from Chicago, Illinois cites the success of Jordan Lynch and the teams rise through the rankings as his main factor for seeking to attend the school. While this comes as a shock, what may be even more shocking is defensive tackle Joyce Markov.

The five star defensive tackle from Ohio has stated that while Notre Dame is his top choice, he has shockingly listed the Kent State Golden Flashes as his second choice stating his desire to bring about a powerhouse in his nearby school. Kent State seems to be piling on the recruiting efforts as they should in hopes of luring the star tackle.

The Crimson Tide strike again, this time by signing Daniel Araya, an unsurprising signing as the Tide stay local to bring in the top outside linebacker of this season's class. Araya calls Tarrant, Alabama his home and opted to stay instate to don the Crimson jersey.

Kyle Allen shoots up the heisman ranks after starting the season on a tear, he has the Aggies undefeated thus far into the season and has an impressive 12-1 TD to INT ratio. He isn't quite as electric as Johnny Football was, but he is the first major talent since Johnny Manziel left Texas A&M for Cleveland.

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Connor Hundley rumbles up the middle in game against Western Michigan

Late rally not enough as Broncos undefeated run ends

It definitely appears the atmosphere has changed in Akron. The Zips may not be undefeated and their introduction to the year was anything but one a team on the rise would hope to have, yet one thing has been very clear this season. They are going in the right direction, very quickly.

Last year, it took them six games to win one. This year? Four games in and they've matched their win total from a season ago. What spelled this? Well weaker competition is a clear factor, they played much stronger opponents last season leading up to this point, but there playing with a swagger.


The defense has quietly become a strong point despite everyones expectations. Some expected this defense to regress after a weak 2014 campaign due to turnover. It seemed the opposite has happened, in spite of the losses, the wins keep piling up and this defense continues to evolve. Ahmad Watts is surging the way as the freshman is quickly making a name for himself on campus and on the football field, with relentless work ethic and a punishing style of play, he is looking like a leader for this defense for the next three years, tremendous poise and growth from a freshman.

Speaking of the defense, against the #4 ranked pass attack in the country, the Zips shutout Zach Terrell through three quarters before nearly relenting, but that accomplishment cannot be understated. They've made huge leaps and bounds as a defensive unit, and it could be one of the best in the MAC, even in it's infant stages.

That's the power of Tyler Kozlov's charisma, he has these players believing in themselves, and that in itself is a scary thought.

The Akron Zips dominated the first half of this game, the defense had Zach Terrell reeling, including an interception in the end zone in the second quarter that ended one of the rare drives that actually had sustained itself.

The negative is this offense hasn't remotely lived to potential.

Preseason hype had this offseason pegged as a rebirth of the Zip offense to feature the "MACTION" stigma attached to the conference's high scoring tilts. Yet when this team has been at home has been when they are in a low scoring contest, this offense hasn't been able to produce at a high clip
against quality opponents.



Kyle Pohl completed 50% of his passes, with one touchdown pass and no interceptions [a first in a long time for the embattled quarterback]. He also had just 172 yards. Pohl's numbers have been low this season despite more talent surrounding him and the suggestion from coaching staff that he turned a stone and was primed for his next year.

Jeff Parker has truly stepped up as well, proving to be a deep threat for the Zips and his touchdown in the back of the endzone was a clear display of why this team targeted him last year in recruiting. The junior college transfer hasn't been posting big yardage, but he has been making clutch catches all year.

His catch shot the Zips up to a 10-0 lead that boosted them into the half with a solid lead over their opponents. One they wouldn't relinquish through the remainder of the game.

Zach Terrell started to heat up in the fourth when the lack of Akron depth became apparent and his receivers started to get more of an edge. Tossing an early touchdown in the fourth frame got his team going in a 13-7 contest, after spending three quarters and some change getting stuffed, they were now a single big play away from a lead.

The big play would come, but not for the Broncos.

After a four and out by the Zips, Zach Terrell opened his next drive with a 18 yard completion, followed by a sack and an incompletion. On third and long, he dropped back and took a punishing blow from John Rachal and the ball would sputter out, skidding along the turf before being scooped up by the Zips and rumbled into the endzone, effectively icing the game.

The Zips would allow Zach Terrell to score on the next drive, as he would complete a deep pass to his wide receiver who would go untouched into the endzone, but it wouldn't be enough as the Zips would ice the clock between the dual running tandem of Connor Hundley and Tra Ingram.

The Zips win improves them to 3-1 and they suddenly find themselves looking really strong in the MAC. They face another strong MAC opponent next week in the Indiana Hoosiers who many have pegged to win the MAC West. The Broncos pick up their first loss, falling to 3-1. Western Michigan is fresh off its 29-28 upset of Virginia Tech and was hoping to ride high into their conference schedule. They will face another MAC East squad in Bowling Green next.

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Week 4 Recap

Week 4 would prove to be a forgettable week for many teams as the Top 25 churned out several squads, and features an odd assortment of teams. The biggest risers being the ACC which saw their squads climb into the polls, including the meteoric climb of the North Carolina Tarheels, while Stanford fans are sitting at the bottom wondering how their undefeated Cardinal are so low.

Starting out in the Big 12, the Oklahoma Sooners climb their way back into the rankings by stealing one from the Baylor Bears. Trevor Knight tossed a pair of touchdowns and ran for a 72 yard touchdown to close out the first period as he earned player of the game honors in the Sooners 14 point victory over the Bears. At halftime this was a 31-10 game, the Sooners allowed a small Baylor rally but a touchdown pass to Dorial Green-Beckham ended that rally just as quickly as it ended, and the Sooners improve to 2-1 on the season and 2-0 in conference play.

In one of the bigger upsets of the young season, the Ohio State Buckeyes tumbled against what many saw as the far inferior Virgina Tech Hokies. Yes the Hokies that a weak prior, lost to Western Michigan by a point, Western Michigan who lost to Akron by five. That Akron team that the Buckeyes thrashed on opening weekend. "It hurts, it's disappointing but you move on. They were the better team on Saturday and we underestimated them. Any given Saturday, and it wasn't ours." Spoke Urban Meyer who was noticably deflated after the loss.

In a clash of top programs, the Oregon Ducks wiped the floor with the Michigan State Spartans. Marcus Mariota threw for four touchdowns and ran for one more and he still isn't a "top five" Heisman candidate. That doesn't seem to matter in Eugene as the Ducks roll to a 3-0 record and once more appear to be an unbeatable squad. They hope that Mariota can stay healthy and lead his team to a title.

In a battle of Tigers, the Auburn Tigers ended the game ten spots lower than they started in the polls. Auburn appeared to be ready to go, with a 14-0 lead within the first six minutes of the game. Sadly for Auburn, their offense would deflate and their defense would surrender 41 unanswered points as the unranked Missouri Tigers essentially ended any debate for the Auburn Tigers to be a realistic candidate for the title game. Jeremy Johnson was intercepted three times and Matt Mauk had five touchdown passes for the victorious Tigers, Missouri earned it's first win of the season, in quite a stunning fashion.

Mississippi State continues to reel as the Georgia Bulldogs continue to climb. The Bulldogs are showing they aren't a one dog show as they managed to stay in this game despite a relatively tame performance from Todd Gurley, Gurley scored a touchdown early in the fourth and finished with 68 yards on the ground and no receptions. The Bulldogs just caved in the fourth, allowing 12 while scoring none as they lose two in a row.