Post-Wake-Up Call Preview

  What is their body of work?

Akron, considering that it resides in a football hotbed, has long struggled in MAC football.  In the 6 years since Terry Bowden left, they are 8-51.  Two of those eight have been against Bowling Green.  They have a legit coach who has been successful everywhere, which is the same thing they used to say about Terry Bowden.

Phil Steele picked them #10, tied with Kent and UB. This year, they are 1-4.  They beat Colgate, but lost 3 P4 games (Rutgers, South Carolina and OSU) and lost @OU last week.  They led that one at halftime, were one score away in the 4th quarter but lost 31-10.

Having said that, if BG watches the logo again (or whatever), I suspect Akron is very hungry to experience some success and on homecoming, as well.

BG is a 16.5 point favorite.

How experienced are they?

They have 24 juniors and above on the two-deep, which is young.

Who are their national leaders?

Avery Brock is #6 in punting.

What is their turnover ratio? 

They are -3.

Offense

How is their QB play? 

The QB is Ben Finley, who started at NC State, then went to Cal and then came this year to the Zips.  He made 4 starts prior to arriving in Rubbertown.  He is struggling.  His passing efficiency is #9 in the MAC. He completes 58% of his passes and has 7 TDs with 6 INT and only 9.6 per completion.  He has a long run of 16.

What is their scoring and yards per play

They are scoring 14 PPG, which is #130 in the country, out of 133. They average 4 yards per play, which is also #130.

Can they run the ball?

No, they are #132, at 2 yards per carry.  It isn't quite that bad.  Jordon Simmons is their lead back.  He's an MSU transfer at 5.2 per carry.  After him, it's a struggle.

Do they pass the ball?

No, they are really struggling.  They are missing Alex Adams, who was All-MAC a couple years ago and has been injured this year and didn't sound like he was playing based on the Akron presser this week.

How is their run/pass balance?

They run on only 38% of their plays sack-adjusted.  That's low.

Do they convert on 3rd Down, 

No.  They convert 29% which is #120.

Do they score in Red Zone?

Very poor at 3.8 points per trip.

Do they protect the QB?

Oh man.  They have been sacked 15 times, but given the high volume of passes, that's only 5%.

Defense:

Topline: Scoring and yards per play

They are allowing 40 a game, which is #130.  They allow 6.3 yards per play, which is #116.

Do they defend the run effectively?

They are #112 in yards per carry allowed. 

Can they be passed on?

They are not good.  They are #124 in team pass efficiency defense.  They allow 62% completions, 12 TD and 2 INT and 13.4 per catch.

Do they get off the field on 3rd down?

They are not bad, at #109.

Do they defend in the red zone?

Never saw this before.  18 opponent red zone trips...18 opponent TDs.

Do they pressure the QB?

They get sacks of 5.1% of pass attempts, which is decent.

Special Teams:

Punting?

Their punter has good yardage, but they have allowed 145 return yards (128th) and 2 TDs.  Their punter is #8, their ranking on net punting is 29th.

Punt Return?

They average 2 yards a return with no blocks.

Placekicking? 

He's good.  5 of 6,  4 of 5 over 40 and 49 is a long for the year.

Kickoff? 

Opponents start on the 25, which is typical.

Kickoff Return?

They start on the 24, which is typical.

Intangible Miscellany

We heard a lot about a wake up call.  We will find out if BG answered the phone or let it go to voicemail.