Ohio shrugs off slow start, beats Akron 28-20 in weeknight kickoff

Still looking for their first FBS win of the season, the Akron Zips (1-8, 0-5 MAC) battled admirably on both sides of the ball– but the Ohio Bobcats (7-1, 5-0 MAC) took advantage of Akron's miscues and built enough of a gap to spearhead a 28-20 victory on Tuesday night.

The hosting Zips got off to a spirited start, with the defense limiting the Bobcats to their first third-down conversion with 11 minutes left in the second quarter and 19 yards allowed through the first four drives of the first half.

Akron also found some wiggle room on offense early thanks in part to the return of starting quarterback Cibastian Broughton. Broughton's return to the lineup the home squad a spark, operating the run-pass option game to good effect. The Zips dinked and dunked the 'Cats defense to perfection, racking up 19 plays on the first two possessions while kicker Aidan Stire converted 1-of-2 field goal attempts to give the home team a 3-0 lead. Key to the successful field goal drive was Jordan Gant's incredible 31-yard run on third-and-long to pick up the first, breaking at least six tackles to move the chains.

On the third offensive possession, the Zip made a critical mistake when Broughton tossed the ball to the opposite side of the field late, resulting in an interception by Bobcat star safety DJ Walker, who returned the ball 45 yards to claim a 7-3 lead for the visitors.

Stalling out for most of the first half, Ohio's offense did move the ball late in the second quarter into field goal range. With starting kicker Will Hryszko out though, backup Brack Peacock missed a 41-yard attempt.

As the action moved forward, the Bobcats had possession to start the second half, but Akron's defense had other ideas. After moving for a few first downs, Akron's rush caved in Ohio's left side, stripping Ohio QB Nick Poulos of the ball, which was eventually recovered by linebacker Donelius Johnson. The Zips took advantage of starting field position on Ohio's side of the field, but not to perfection.

Moving down inside the Ohio one-yard line, miscues reared their ugly head again, as a false start penalty pushed the Zips back to the five-yard line, giving the Bobcats defense enough room to hold the offense back Akron did salvage a field goal to take the 9-7 lead with 9:32 to go third quarter.

The sixth offensive possession was the charm for Ohio, moving 75-yards in nine plays on the drive for the touchdown to take a 14-9 lead. The key play was a 36-yard pass to a wide open wideout Dom Dorwart to move inside the Zips' five-yard line, where the 'Cats converted for points on a keeper by Poulos.

The lead didn't last long as the Zips shined in ground game, reclaiming the lead 17-14 on a touchdown and two-point conversion after an 11-play, 79 drive was capped by Jordan Gant finding paydirt on a hard, one-yard run for the score.

Ohio struck back just as quick, Poulos and wideout Dom Dorwart connected on a 60-yard catch-and-sprint to regain the lead on the first play of the brand-new drive drive.

Looking to get back into the game, the Zips went driving once again with 9:18 remaining, taking five minutes to march from their own 34-yard line to the Ohio nine-yard line. Down 21-17, Akron opted to go for it on fourth-and-six, needing the conversion for a new set of downs.

Broughton would go back to pass and fail to connect on a short pass down the middle– but it wouldn't have mattered anyways, as the Zips were called for a holding penalty.

Ohio's offense got the ball back on downs, and immediately made Akron pay, as Duncan Brune would scamper 91 yards the opposite direction for a touchdown run to put the Bobcats up 28-17 with 3:57 remaining.

The Zips tried to mount a response down two scores in the blink of an eye, but Aidan Stire's 43-yard field goal with 1:58 remaining would prove to be Akron's final scoring chance.

Notes

I loved the fight in the Zips tonight. Players like running back Jordan Gant, who left it all on the field, was inspiring. Someone send me a Gant jersey. The Zips' runner finished with 112 yards and a score.

QB Cibastian Broughton was very effective in stretches, in a proof-of-concept effort. Head coach Joe Moorhead expertly knows and loves that RPO and Broughton did a lot of good things to make that work tonight in his return from injury. The Zips are just not playing well enough on the whole to overcome the mistakes they made today with a turnover here and some explosive plays allowed there.

Ohio's defense faced an opponent that looked different than the Zips had in prior weeks, with a ton of RPO and QB movement. The defense as a whole did a lot of bend-don't-break in those circumstances to keep the Zips off the board. JACK defender Tyler Gillison and linebackers Jack Fries and Michael Molnar stood out on the tackles in solid team defense. Molnar was all over the field again with 16 stops and is probably as good as any defender in the MAC right now. Defensive line balled out, with multiple noteworthy plays from players like Nathan Hale, Nehemiah, Dukes, Evan Herrmann, and Derek Reagans.

Though 5-0 in MAC play, the offense has simply not played well enough the past two weeks. Opponents have found a way to shut down the run during that span, without enough consequences on the back end of the defense. Akron gave up over 300 yards rushing to two of four MAC opponents this season. Meanwhile, subtracting Brune's single 91-yard run, Ohio had 70 yards rushing on 25 carries for the rest of the contest. Those are suboptimatl numbers for a team which prides itself on the ground game.

Ohio and Akron both get back to it next Tuesday, as the Bobcats hit the road to battle rival Miami while the Zips host Western Michigan.