Football
It’s going to be cold today, but we probably won’t see the kind of snow storm that could slow Dan LeFevour.
Prediction: The Zips will mount a large first half lead on Chris Jacquemain’s typical quick start. The Chippewas will return fire in the second half. Whoever has the ball last will win.
Akron 33, Central Michigan 38
Football
The theme — The Chippewas give up 38.5 per game. Consider, though, that when you score a lot yourself (and primarily through the pass), you won’t take much time off the clock and the other team will get more possessions. CMU is actually decent at run defense. The pass defense, though, is pretty porous. Opposing quarterbacks have completed 67 percent of their passes, which is worst in the MAC by a large margin. They are almost averaging a 300 yard passing game from the opponent.
Key players — Strongside linebacker Red Keith is 15th in the nation in tackles. He often drops into coverage in their 4-3 scheme. Right defensive end Frank Zombo leads the team with 5.5 sacks.
How Akron can score — I would say “pass,” but it’s going to be cold and even in ideal conditions, Akron couldn’t pass on a lethal injection with a rusty needle. In his final career start, Chris Jacquemain will have to play like he did against Western Michigan for Akron to have a chance.
CMU coach Butch Jones said his team will probably face setbacks at Akron, who is a dangerous foe with nothing to lose.
J.D. Brookhart thinks the game will be a shootout. I would temper that prediction a tad, considering the defense will be fired up to give John Mackey and the seniors a good effort and the weather will be lousy.
The Chippewas are 2.5-point favorites with the over-under between 62 and 63.5.
In case you forgot, the game starts at 11 a.m. and will be on ESPNU.
Zippy leads by about 200 votes over Hairy Dog at 9 p.m. Thursday. Vote here.
Football
The theme — Dan LeFevour is the Chips offense. He’s the MAC’s No. 3 passer and No. 8 runner. He has 20 passing touchdowns and 13 rushing scores. That’s Tim Tebow territory. LeFevour is the Zips’ worst nightmare — an amazing passer with great field vision and instincts when to leave the pocket.
How Akron can stop them — Cold, sloppy weather would help. And it looks like the Zips will get it. If the conditions are bad, Akron needs to stack the box and focus on the run. If LeFevour can pass, hope for fumbles and that the Zips’ offense can keep up. Also, maybe CMU coach Butch Jones will pull his starters considering the team has little to play for. They’re already in the MAC Championship. But he probably won’t.
Men’s soccer
If Caleb Porter knew Zips history, his bags would be packed for Moscow or some other cartoonishly unfair place for a first-round road game.
For once, however, the Zips didn’t get screwed. In fact, they won’t even play in the first round.
After the bye, either South Florida or Colgate will come to Lee Jackson Field. Then the course gets more difficult with a road game against No. 3 Connecticut. No. 2 Wake Forest, who beat Akron earlier in the season, also is on the Zips’ side of the bracket.
The Zips will play their first game Wednesday the 28th. Round three will be the following weekend.
Football
J.D. Brookhart analyzed what went wrong this season. The most amusing passage is, “Are we missing some things? Yes, two NFL receivers who didn’t find it important to go to school.”
He also said it hurts your chances for success when you have to suspend two quarterbacks.
Brookhart suggested Jabari Arthur doesn’t necessarily have the speed, hands or flexibility to be a great receiver, but has become one through his will power.
Zippy trails Hairy Dog from Georgia by more than 200 votes as of 4 p.m. Monday. She beat Goldy Gopher last week. Vote here.
Akron reeled in a recruit whom the Michigan schools really wanted. Norman Shuford is a small, speedy and strong running back from Farmington Hills, Mich. He is the Zips’ first commitment at running back. Rivals.com actually has a video of him burning his future teammate and fellow Zips recruit Nate Schuler.
The Zips also got a soft verbal commitment from Kevin Funches, a two-star cornerback from Coffeyville Community College in Kansas, which is the same junior college as another Zips cornerback: Miguel Graham.
Men’s soccer
Anthony Ampaipitakwong put an exclamation point on his freshman season by sending his team to the NCAA Tournament.
Akron won the MAC Championship over Buffalo 1-0 thanks to his goal in the 101st minute. The Zips outshot the Bulls 18-4 and landed four players on the all-tournament team.
We will find out tomorrow where the Zips fit in the tournament bracket. They should be hoping for a first-round bye.
Men’s basketball
Akron missed 8 of last 9 foul shots in a valiant attempt to blow a second-straight game in Alaska.
A Nick Dials running floater with 3.9 seconds remaining foiled the cunning plan as the Zips beat Tennessee State 74-72.
“I had a big 7-footer running out at me, so I had no choice but to drive,” Dials said.
Jeremiah Wood led the Zips again with 17 points and eight rebounds. The assist-to-turnover ratio was more palatable, as well, at 17-13. Akron will leave Alaska with third place in the BP Top of the World Classic.
“We’re definitely going to have to do some things differently,” Keith Dambrot said. “Anyone who thinks our team right now is as good as last year’s team is mistaken.
“I think we’re going to get better, but people will have to be patient.”
The Zips will have a week to heal before a string of home games begins Saturday versus Binghamton.
Men’s basketball
The competition will stiffen a tad for the Zips tonight as they take on Portland State, the consensus No. 3 team in the Big Sky Conference.
The Vikings won the conference in 2005. Since then, they have been up and down. The Zips are 6.5-point favorites to win the game and play for the tournament championship.
After last night’s game, Keith Dambrot blamed the close score on the lack of a true point guard. (It surprises me how heavily he was relying on Ronnie Steward.)
Point guard Jeremiah Dominguez — The junior is only 5-foot-6 but has great speed and ball handling. He will definitely be a matchup problem for any of the Zips’ guards except Cedrick Middleton. Dominguez leads the team with 13 points per game.
Shooting guard Dupree Lucas – He plays tight defense and is capable of scoring more than 30 points on a given night. Lucas hasn’t done much this season yet.
Small forward Deonte Huff – Reading about Huff, he sounds like the player Dambrot wishes Jimmy Conyers could be. He’s an athletic shooter, slasher and rebounder.
Center Scott Morrison — At 6-11, it will be a challenge to keep him off the boards. He isn’t the most polished offensive player, but he makes his name defensively. This will be Akron’s third game (including Walsh) where they are undersized at center.
Prediction: From the looks of it, Akron can’t play much worse than last night. They must run a more sound offense, and that probably means more minutes for Steve McNees. Portland State basically plays three guards. The Zips should match that. Rebounding and foul shooting must improve, too. I think they will.
Akron 71, Portland State 62
Men’s soccer
Akron beat Northern Illinois 2-1 in double overtime to advance to the MAC Championship. The Zips will play Buffalo for the conference crown Sunday at 2 p.m. in front of the home crowd.
Akron got its goals from Steve Zakuani and Michael Nanchoff. The Zips consistently had difficulty clearing the ball from NIU scoring position. The Huskies were the only MAC team whom Akron did not beat. The teams tied 0-0 earlier in the year.
Men’s basketball
Akron made it a lot closer than necessary against South Carolina Upstate last night.
The Zips eventually won 64-60, but the Spartans exposed some problems the team will need to overcome.
USCU outrebounded Akron 43-29. Akron made only 15 of 30 free throws. The team had only seven assists, compared to 13 turnovers.
Despite contributing to the latter two categories with nine missed free throws and five turnovers, Jeremiah Wood led the team with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Some sloppiness is excusable in the season’s first game. Look around the nation. However, the Zips will need to gather themselves before tonight’s matchup against Portland State. It starts at midnight EST.
I will break down the Vikings later today. I have to find something to do because there’s no college football worth watching.
Men’s basketball
To be honest, I have never heard of them.
I have a perfectly good excuse. They have been in Division I for only a week.
They leaped into the Atlantic Sun conference, which has some nice wins to its credit so far (Belmont over Cincinnati, Gardner-Webb over Kentucky, Mercer over USC).
Before making the jump, USCU won two of the past three Peach Belt Conference championships. Consequently, they went to the Division II tournament.
The first thing that pops out about their roster is 7-foot-2 Nick Schneiders. He played 14 months on Germany’s playgrounds before USCU recruited him. (Kinda sounds like “The Air Up There,” doesn’t it?) Schneiders is still raw, but he can rebound.
Head coach Eddie Payne formerly held that job at East Carolina and Oregon State. He is known for a high-tempo game with three guards in the starting lineup. His son Luke Payne is one of those guards. He is a smart distributor and good shooter. Another good guard is Jeremy Byrd, whose quickness leads to a lot of steals.
Bobby Davis, a junior college transfer, leads the team with points after putting up 13 in a loss to Utah.
Those four guys could probably play for some MAC teams. With nine freshmen on the roster, however, depth will be a problem. If the Spartans love to run so much, they’ll need a lot more.
Akron needs to push the ball, get a big lead and cruise.
Prediction: Akron 78, USCU 49
The line is Akron minus 25 with an over-under of 110.
Men’s soccer
Akron will play Northern Illinois in the MAC Tournament semifinal tonight.
If you remember, the Huskies knocked the Zips out of the tournament last year.
Coach Caleb Porter said the team is very confident heading into the weekend.
Football
This game is a microcosm of the season.
There were highlights, but one of the nation’s worst quarterback situations sucked away hope of winning.
Akron’s defense did not allow Miami to score in the Zips’ 7-0 loss. John Mackey picked off two passes. Davanzo Tate broke up four passes. The defensive front dominated.
Shift your focus to the wimpy offense. Chris Jacquemain went 12-of-33 and threw two interceptions against the MAC’s best scoring defense. Carlton Jackson came to the rescue and promptly fumbled for a RedHawks touchdown. Alex Allen’s career game wasn’t nearly enough to overcome such incompetence.
Quarterback – I’d be surprised if it gets any worse than this. After next Friday, neither of these guys will throw another ball for the blue and gold. Hopefully. Grade: F
Running back — Allen was outstanding. He really looked like an elite back last night. He and Bryan Williams are the best tandem in the league at this point. Add Andrew Johnson to that mix next season. (Chills just went through my body.) Grade: B
Wide receiver — It’s hard to blame the receivers when no one gets them the ball. Jabari Arthur had a solid game, and could have tied it if not for a terrible throw on fourth down at the end. Grade: C+
Tight end — Zero catches. Zero passers. Moot point. Grade: Incomplete
Offensive line – The announcers were whining about bad protection, but the RedHawks stellar front seven only tallied two sacks. They started to open holes in the middle, too, which has been my only minor complaint this season. Grade: B+
Kicker – No scoring. No place kicks. Moot point. Grade: Incomplete
Punter – John Stec had an average of 38.6 yards per punt. His rush for a first down was huge. I could see that play developing since training camp with the rugby kick. Grade: B+
Defensive line — They really plugged holes up front and allowed the linebackers to make plays. I was impressed. It’s too bad Nate Robinson has only one game left at Akron. He is an unsung hero because, like all nose tackles, you won’t see his effectiveness in a stat line. Grade: B+
Linebackers – I haven’t seen Kevin Grant play with such a purpose. He hurried the quarterback once and made two tackles for loss. Maybe next year he will be the guy we expected after 2005. Grade: A
Secondary – John Mackey, I hope you TiVo’ed this game. I hope you show it to every employer to whom you ever apply. It shows your guts, talent and work ethic. Two interceptions and leading the team in tackles with nine??? Wow. Tate played a stellar game, too. Grade: A+
Coaching – Let this be a lesson to all of you fans who complain about Akron recruiting too many quarterbacks. It’s very easy to get stuck without one. Take a look at Kent State — a team with a ton of talent, but no passers. As many of you have pointed out, Jackson needs to move to receiver. Jacquemain needs to move his *** to the bench to make way for Matt Rodgers in 2008. As for J.D. Brookhart and his staff, they made some smart calls. And the team appeared to be giving a great effort. However, there is no excuse for never entering scoring position when you’re running game is performing OK. I don’t want to blame Joe Moorhead completely, because his offense requires an above average passer. Unfortunately, the Zips don’t have any semblance of one. Grade: C+
Akron Beacon Journal — All five interceptions occurred in the north endzone, into the teeth of the wind.
p.s. Sorry I was so late in getting this up. I’ve been pretty busy.
Volleyball
Mack Rhoades decided not to renew coach Mike Swietzer’s contract.
He is out as coach, effective immediately. Swietzer has a career record of 281-252, but the team went 10-20 this year.
Men’s basketball
Here’s a reminder that Akron will tip off against South Carolina Upstate tomorrow at 10 p.m.
I commend the radio guys Steve French and Joe Dunn for braving the nine-hour flight to cover it for us.
I will break down the USCU Spartans sometime tomorrow.
My column about why the early season games are very important.
Adam Ferrise wrote his column about Cedrick Middleton and how he coped with Penno’s Prayer.
Vincent Dorsey previewed the season. It’s a good read.
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