Fall Previews 18 of 63: Akron

Akron Zips: 

Head Coach: Terry Bowden
2014 Record: (5-7, 3-5 MAC)
Basic Offense: Multiple
Basic Defense: 4-3

The Zips are coming off of a 5-7 season that could have easily been 7-5 or even 6-6 if a few breaks went the other way. Akron played Penn State tough and upset Pitt but saw the season fall apart last fall in a four game losing streak.

Kyle Pohl

The Zips return quarterback Kyle Pohl (208-383/2,189/9TD) and second leading rusher Conor Hundley (104/540/4TD) but expect Colorado State transfer Donnell Alexander to make a statement this fall. Franshon Bickley (30/268/0TD) is the team's leading returning receiver with senior Andrew Pratt (27/324/0TD) also ready to step into the a starting role. Senior Dylan Brunbaugh leads the offensive line with 24 career starts and four total returning starters with 10+ career starts.

The Zips, with a very solid defense in 2014, return middle linebacker and last year's leading tackler Jatavis Brown (99 tkl, 14.5 tfl, 4 sacks). The biggest issue for Akron is that eight of the top ten tacklers from last season were seniors and are no longer with the program. Defensive end Se'Von Pittman (36 tkl, 6.5 tfl, 1 sack) should be the defensive line leader while the secondary is full of underclassmen with senior Kris Givens (45 tkl, 0.5 tfl, 2 INT) expected to find his way to a starting job at cornerback as the only senior starter in the secondary.

Jatavis Brown

The Zips return an experienced kicker in senior Robert Stein. The kicker was 13-16 on field goal attempts with a long of 46 while going  27-27 on PAT attempts. Senior punter Zach Paul punted 66 times with a 42.5 yards per punt average, a long of 65 yards, and 24 punts landing inside the 20.

Akron has a tough non-conference schedule with trips to face Big 12 power Oklahoma and Sun Belt foe Louisiana. The Zips get Pitt at home for an interesting game after an Akron win in 2014 with a guaranteed win over Savannah State in the mix. A 2-2 non-conference start would be great with a win over Louisiana or Pitt along with the Savannah State win. Conference games versus Eastern Michigan, Miami, Massachusetts, and Kent State are must very important games this fall. In order to be bowl eligible, the Zips will have to defeat Ohio, Central Michigan or Buffalo. Prediction: 5-7

OFFENSE (Spread)
QB 16 Kyle Pohl (Sr., 6-3, 217).....9 Tra’Von Chapman (So., 6-1, 210)
RB 34 Conor Hundley (Sr., 5-10, 213).....27 Donnell Alexander (Sr., 5-11, 219)
TE 35 Newman Williams (R-Fr., 6-2, 240).....87 Tyler Fitzpatrick (R-Jr., 6-5, 215)
X- WR 80 Andrew Pratt (Sr., 6-2, 200).....5 Tyrell Goodman (R-Jr., 6-2, 205)
Z- WR 82 Austin Wolf (So., 6-3, 204).....3 Michael Means, Jr. (R-Jr., 6-2, 200)
H 4 Fransohn Bickley (Jr., 5-6, 147).....40 Anthony Lauro (R-Fr., 5-10, 195)
Y- WR 12 Imani Davis (Sr., 5-9, 176).....11 K’Von Wilson (Fr., 5-11, 182)
LT 56 Isaiah Williams (R-Sr., 6-3, 295).....72 Scott Boyett (Sr., 6-7, 315)
LG 75 Dylan Brumbaugh (Sr., 6-5, 309).....70 Michael Casimos (Jr., 6-2, 302)
C 57 Stephen Ericksen (So., 6-3, 305)
RG 55 Tommy Brown (Sr., 6-4, 310).....66 Kyle Ritz (R-Fr., 6-5, 295)
RT 71 Quaison Osborne (Sr., 6-3, 295).....77 Andrew Bohan (Sr., 6-3, 290)

DEFENSE (4-3)
DE 90 Se’Von Pittman (Jr., 6-3, 268).....10 Richard Dorvilus (Sr., 6-1, 235)
DT 91 Rodney Coe (Sr., 6-3, 305).....95 Darius Copeland (Jr., 6-1, 257)
NT 36 Cody Grice (Sr., 5-11, 284).....50 Brock Boxen (Fr., 6-2, 272)
DE 34 Jamal Marcus (R-Jr., 6-2, 240).....56 Deon-Tae Moore (So., 6-2. 240)
SAM 54 Dylan Evans (Sr., 6-2, 211).....53 Travonte Junius (R-Fr. 6-3, 205)
MIKE 59 John Rachal (Jr., 5-11, 225).....35 Newman Williams (R-Fr., 6-2, 240)
WILL 1 Jatavis Brown (Sr., 5-11, 217).....13 Darryl Monroe (Sr., 6-1, 235)
CB 2 Larry Hope (Jr., 6-0, 192).....20 Kyron Brown (R-Fr., 6-1, 170)
FS 41 Zach Guiser (So., 6-0, 195).....29 Bryce Cheek (Sr., 6-0, 191)
ROV 14 Jerome Lane (So., 6-3, 212).....4 Chris Bivins (Jr., 5-11, 185)
CB 6 DeAndre Scott (Jr., 5-11, 180).....27 John Senter (Sr., 5-7, 163)

SPECIAL TEAMS
K 48 Robert Stein (Sr., 5-8, 169).....37 Tom O’Leary (So., 5-11, 175)
P 38 Zach Paul (Sr., 6-3, 216)