The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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3 akron • sept. 14 Zips Looking To Break Streak Of 1-11 Seasons T By Ryan Tice he Akron Zips have finished 1-11 in each of the last three years. The first pair of onewin campaigns came under Rob Ianello, who lasted two seasons before he gave way to Terry Bowden, the former head coach at Auburn (1993-98) who debuted with one victory last fall. Akron's last victory over a fellow Football Bowl Subdivision program came on Nov. 26, 2010 — a 22-14 win over Buffalo. Although the Zips must break in a new starting quarterback, redshirt sophomore Kyle Pohl should have plenty of help if he wins the starting job, as expected. Pohl completed 28 of 42 attempts for 213 yards with two scores and a pick in a 35-23 loss to Toledo in the season finale. Leading receiver Marquelo Suel must be replaced after he paced the squad with 76 catches for 820 yards and five scores, but each of the other 10 receivers that tallied at least 99 yards through the air return. The wide receiving corps has a little bit of everything physically with 6-0, 205-pound junior L.T. Smith (48 receptions for 509 yards and three touchdowns), 5-8, 182-pound senior Dee Frieson (48 grabs for 400 yards and four scores) and 6-5, 202-pound senior Jerrod Dillard (29 catches for 401 yards and nine TD), and the trio has combined for 50 career starts. Redshirt junior running back Jawon Chisholm, who notched a team-best 1,045 allpurpose yards in 2011, is also back. Last year, he improved his yards per carry average to 5.3 per tote and scored seven times while increasing his all-purpose total to 1,284 yards despite missing some time with an injury. He'll Date Aug. 29 Sept. 7 Sept. 14 Sept. 21 Sept. 28 Oct. 5 Oct. 12 Oct. 19 Oct. 26 Nov. 2 Nov. 16 Nov. 29 2013 Schedule Opponent at UCF James Madison at Michigan UL Lafayette at Bowling Green Ohio at Northern Illinois at Miami (Ohio) Ball State Kent State at UMass Toledo 2012 Result L, 56-14 — — — L, 24-10 L, 34-28 L, 37-7 L, 56-49 — L, 35-24 L, 22-14 L, 35-23 be working behind an offensive the middle of the defense. front that returns three starters Senior defensive end Albert from a year ago. Presley enters his last year of All those signs point to the eligibility after transferring to Zips staying productive on the Akron, but he showed flashes offensive side of the ball, after last season before an injury they led the Mid-American Conended his campaign. In just ference and ranked 16th nationseven appearances, he notched ally with an average of 312.8 eight tackles for loss, two sacks passing yards per game. and a forced fumble. Redshirt Akron's specialists should sophomore defensive lineman also be solid after promisCody Grice will also help in ing freshman campaigns from the middle after a debut that inkicker Robert Stein, who went 9 cluded 12 starts, 47 tackles and Last season, redshirt juof 12 on field goals in his debut, nior running back Jawon 7.5 tackles for loss. and punter Zach Paul, who aver- Chisholm amassed 1,045 Junior safety Johnny Robaged 40.9 yards per attempt. inson and senior cornerbacks all-purpose yards. photo courtesy akron Malachi Freeman and Anthony Defense is where the biggest strides need to be made. The Zips didn't Holmes combined for 165 tackles (5.5 for loss) rank better than seventh in the MAC in any of and 10 passes broken up last season, and the the major defensive categories and allowed veterans will lead the way for the back line. 450.0 total yards of offense per game. Their Akron did lose four games by eight points or minus-14 turnover margin was one of the naless last year, and an improved defense could tion's worst (110th). turn some of those narrow losses into wins. Only one starting linebacker is back in JusHowever, Akron's 11 FBS opponents this fall tin March, and he is the team's top returning combined for a winning percentage of .625 tackler after he tallied 62 a year ago. He is (90-54 record) last year, the eighth-highest also the only returning defender who notched mark in the country and the highest of any one of the squad's paltry five interceptions last school that does not play in an automatic-qualseason. Junior college transfer Jon Shelby, a ifying conference. former Kansas signee who enrolled in January Notes 2013, is also expected to make a big impact in Quick Facts All-Time Series: First meeting Head Coach: Terry Bowden, 1-11 at Akron (2nd year) and 141-73-2 (20th year) Off./Def. Systems: Spread/4-3 2012 in Review: 1-11, 0-8 MAC (7th East) Final 2012 Ranking: Unranked Returning Starters: 16 (7 offense, 7 defense, 2 specialists) Last Bowl Appearance: 2005 (Motor City, vs. Memphis, L 38-31) MAC Championships: 1 (2005) Returning Leaders Passing: Kyle Pohl (366 yards, 5 TD) Rushing: Jawon Chisholm (953 yards, 5 TD) Receiving: L.T. Smith (509 yards, 3 TD) Tackles: Justin March (62) Sacks: Nico Caponi, Albert Presley and Jamel Turner (2.0) Interceptions: Justin March (1) the wolverine Staff Prediction Why Michigan Could Win: In the pecking order of Mid-American Conference teams, there are a few at the top that muster a fight and then there are those at the bottom that stand no chance. Akron is a basement dweller, last posting a winning record in 2005 and going 1-11 in each of its past three seasons. Why Michigan Could Lose: It can't. Sorry, the Zips will not channel their inner Toledo — the Rockets beat U-M 13-10 in 2008 — and even if the Zips played their best, Michigan isn't the same struggling team that went 3-9 during Rich Rodriguez's first year. The Maize and Blue will overwhelm this foe whether coming off the high of beating Notre Dame or the low of losing. 178 ■ The Wolverine 2013 Football Preview Prediction: A year ago, Michigan handled Massachusetts 63-13, and while the Minutemen were transitioning to Division I football, they are already ahead of Akron in becoming a competitive program. What does that mean? Expect U-M, if it so chooses, to put up a season-high points on the Zips and post a defensive shutout. Michigan 56, Akron 0. Akron has suffered seven straight losing seasons … Both Sporting News and Athlon projected the Zips to finish 2013 sixth in the MAC East Division … Athlon ranked each team by position group in the MAC, and the only place where Akron ranked higher than ninth was in the backfield, where it checked in at No. 8 … Akron's 3-33 record over the last three years is the worst in the country (the next worst is Kansas at 6-30). ❏ Players To Watch OFFENSE: L.T. Smith, R-Jr., WR — The 6-0, 205-pounder started four times as a redshirt freshman safety and then was moved to wide receiver last spring, where he immediately made an impact … He ranked second on the team with 509 receiving yards and hauled in three touchdowns, and he was tied for second with 48 catches … He leads a group that features 15 returning players out of a possible 18 that recorded catches last season. DEFENSE: Albert Presley, Sr., DL — The former transfer from Dean College enrolled at Akron in January 2012 and immediately became a game changer on the field … The 6-2, 235-pounder debuted with a team-best eight tackles for loss, and he also collected two sacks, forced a fumble and notched 27 stops on the year despite missing five games with a fractured fibula.