





We are approaching week 8 of the college football season and the Akron Zips are sitting at second place in the MAC East at 4-2 (2-0). You can say that Akron is only 2-0 because they have played poor competition. Though it has been poor competition, the Zips owned both teams. As of right now, Akron probably isn't the best team in the MAC. However, they have the easiest shot at making it to Ford Field for the MAC Championship game. Akron clearly has the easiest remaining schedule left out of the rest of the conference and that is crucial. They don't have to play any of the top four teams in the west. This list includes Western Michigan, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois and Toledo. Instead of playing those teams, the Zips schedule looks like this:

at Ohio

at Ball State

Bowling Green

at Buffalo

Massachusetts

at Kent State.

The combined conference record of the teams remaining on the schedule is 6-11. If you take Bowling Green off of the list, it is 3-11. Combine mediocre opponents and the best defense in the MAC and you have a recipe for an East championship.

I can back up my claims here. Offensively, the Zips have come out a bit slower than expected to start the year. Through the first six games, Kyle Pohl has looked good, but not great. Even in his career game against Eastern Michigan he was benched for a couple of series for Tommy Woodson. Terry Bowden did the same thing the week before and it worked somewhat well. Against EMU it really showed in the second half when Pohl and the Zips offense struck for twenty-one points. Pohl went down with a head injury against Miami this past Saturday after looking just okay for the time he was in. We can't blame all of the passing game problems on Pohl, though. The wide receivers are dropping passes like it's hot! The receiving corps has nice experience too. L.T. Smith has played well, but doesn't get enough targets to be elite. Zach D'Orazio emerged as a top target in 2013, but has come out with bricks for hands in 2014. Mykel Traylor-Bennett has caught the most touchdowns but seems like he drops anything that won't result a touchdown. Fransohn Bickley, though small for a high schooler, has held his own well so far in his career. Drops are becoming somewhat of a concern with him now unfortunately. The running game started out slower than molasses in Antarctica, but has seriously heated up since the game at Pittsburgh on September 27. Conor Hundley, injured and inactive the week prior, exploded for 148 yards on 19 carries with a long of 42 yards. Senior Jawon Chisholm who has also struggled with injury this year, rushed for 102 yards on 17 carries against Miami on Saturday. This dynamic offense is essential when you want to win in the MAC. You need to run it well; you need to throw it well. The Zips are more than capable of doing both.

The defense has been dynamite in five of the six games this year. They have only allowed about 12 PPG in their last three games. In that stretch they've held the nation's leading rusher over fifty yards under his average, held an ACC team to ten points on the road, and rushed for three touchdowns (Cody Grice). The concern coming into the season was whether the inexperienced secondary would hold up, and to this point, it has.

The Akron Zips control their own destiny this year. They have been blessed with an easy conference schedule. If they want the East badly enough, they'll take it.