College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Akron Zips season with what you need to know.
CFN in 60 Podcast: 2020 Akron Zips
60-second Akron Zips preview
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Akron Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 0-12 overall, 0-8 in MAC
Head Coach: Tom Arth, 2nd year, 0-12
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 130
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 129
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 125
NOTE: Obviously, no one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: Akron Zips Offense 3 Things To Know
– The offense just didn’t work in any way. The Zips were last in the nation in scoring, last in the nation in total offense, and last in the nation in third down conversions. They were able to score 20 points or more just three times, they never scored more than 30, and they were held to seven points or fewer seven times. The attack will continue to try moving with more of a tempo, but it has to find one thing that works. Fortunately …
CFN in 60 Video: Akron Zips Preview
– Experience isn’t a problem. QB Kato Nelson is back along with seven other starters. The team went young, suffered through a whole slew of major growing pains, and now the O has to start moving despite losing three starters. It starts with the ground game that was dead last in the country, averaging just 48 yards per game. Both offensive tackles are gone, and losing guard Brandon Council to Auburn is a killer. There’s not a lot of size, but there’s enough experience to work around.
– The skill parts need more time to work, but they also have to connect. Junior Brandon Lee led the team with just 179 rushing yards for an attack that ran for a grand total of two scores. There”s depth at running back, though, and the ten top pass catchers are back. Now it’s up to Nelson to run it all in his fourth year with the team. He’s mobile enough to get by, but he has to be more accurate and consistent.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Akron Zips Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: Akron Zips Defense 3 Things To Know
– It’s not like the defense was a killer, but it didn’t get any help whatsoever from the offensive side. The front seven was pounded on too easily, but the secondary wasn’t bad considering there was absolutely no pass rush whatsoever. Some reworking has to be done with five of the top eight tacklers are gone, but Job One is to find more disruptive forces in the backfield.
– The three man front has a little bit of bulk. There are enough 300-pounders to work around the rotation, but this only works if the outside linebackers can start making more big plays. Senior DeMarkus Glover and junior Bubba Arsianian are way undersized, but they can both move. Finding a hitter of an inside linebacker to replace All-MAC star John Lako – the 220-pound Glover will work inside – is a must.
– There’s no replacing Alvin Davis in the secondary – he was one of the team’s few difference-makers. The depth is hit with four transfers taking off, but overall this group is promising. It went way young last year, with sophomore CB Randy Cochran a keeper on one side. Even without Davis, this should be one of the team’s top units.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top Akron Zips Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top Akron Zips Players
Best Akron Zips Offensive Player
QB Kato Nelson, Sr.
The 6-1, 215-pounder wasn’t able to crank out the top production over the last few years, but he’s starting to amass some all-time numbers for the school.
He’s an experienced all-around player who has to be the settling force who makes everyone around him better. Just keep the chains moving – the veteran has to start there after completing 54% of his passes for just 1,825 yards and 11 scores with six picks.
2. WR Nate Stewart, Sr.
3. WR Andre Williams, Jr.
4. C Bryce Petersen, Sr.
5. RB Teon Dollard, Jr.
Best Akron Zips Defensive Player
CB Randy Cochran, Soph.
One of the team’s better recruits last year, the 6-0, 175-pounder was able to get on the field right away, and he held his own. He was challenged time and again, and he did his part with 41 tackles and five broken up passes. Physical enough for his size to get by, he’ll be more of a ball-hawker this year to go along with Jalen Hooks on the other side.
2. LB Bubba Arsianian, Jr.
3. CB Jalen Hooks, Jr.
4. DE Dylan Meeks, Sr.
5. DT Eric Bentley, Soph.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Akron Zips Offense
The offensive line play has to be much, much stronger. There’s a veteran quarterback in Kato Nelson to work around, there are a ton of running back options, and the receiving corps should be decent. None of it matters unless the offensive line is far stronger, and that’s the team’s biggest area of rebuilding. Three starters are gone from a line that didn’t generate a lick of production for the ground game, and it didn’t give anyone any time to work.
Biggest Key To The Akron Zips Defense
Stop someone on third downs. The offense was the bigger problem overall – it was last in the nation on third down covering just 26% of the time – but the defense was a disaster, too, allowing teams to convert 53% of their chances. Overall, there’s enough experience and enough athleticism back to be okay as long as the offense can do something to not have so many empty drives, but the D has to get off the field, too.
Key Akron Zips Player To A Successful Season
RB Cole Gest or Teon Dollard
The offensive line needs several parts to step up, and finding playmakers everywhere is a must, but just getting anything out of the running backs is a must. The nation’s worst running game gets Gest – a transfer from Indiana who never got going thanks to a knee injury – and Dollard is a JUCO transfer with the upside to take over right away.
Key Game To The Akron Zips Season
Youngstown State, Sept. 5
Akron just needs a win. There weren’t any games against FCS teams in the 0-12 campaign of last year, and head coach Tom Arth is still looking for something positive. It’s not like everything hinges on beating the Penguins, but with 17 straight losses as a program – and losing 20 of the last 22 games – winning the opener before dealing with a winnable game at New Mexico State is a must.
– Akron Zips Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Akron Zips Fun Stats
– 3rd Down Conversions: Opponents 53% – Akron 26%
– 2nd Quarter Scoring: Opponents 158 – Akron 23
– Sacks: Opponents 57 for 314 yards – Akron 10 for 61 yards
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Akron Zips Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: Akron Zips Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
Tom Arth is a young, promising head coach who knows how to get an offense going.
Now he has to get his Akron offense going.
This was the worst team in college football in just about every way, but this happens sometimes in the MAC. Central Michigan couldn’t do anything right in a 1-11 2018 season, and then the experience came together around new head coach Jim McElwain in 2019 and the program went to the MAC Championship.
That’s not going to happen to Akron, but it should be a better all-around team as long as the lines improve – and that’s the issue.
The offensive line could’ve started to turn around, but three departures and no spring ball to work with should set back the program’s development. Even so, there’s just enough coming back overall to …
Set The Akron Zips Regular Season Win Total At … 3
There’s going to be an upset in the MAC somewhere along the way, at the very least there has to be a split between Youngstown State and at New Mexico State, and there’s an opportunity this year for all the parts the coaching staff put together throughout a brutal 2019 to start to work a little bit.
Don’t expect miracles, and there will be a few brutal beatdowns – like at Clemson in mid-September – but it won’t be a season of total misery like last year.
