The University of Akron football team will need an upset to continue its season into the holiday season.
The Zips have the unenviable task of going into Athens to face Ohio University. The Bobcats have a two-game lead over UA in the Mid-American Conference’s East Division, but find themselves in a dogfight with Miami University, a team with the same 5-6 record overall as the Zips, but is tied with Ohio at 5-2 in the conference. The Zips are 3-4 in the conference.
Ohio beat Miami head-to-head, so the Bobcats own the tie-breaker should the teams finish tied. Miami faces Ball State this week.
That means UA will be facing an Ohio team motivated for a shot at the MAC title.
And the Zips, who have lost three in a row and four of their past five, will go in with a decided disadvantage with a quarterback situation that is tenuous at best and disastrous at worst.
“The only quarterback I can tell you is not playing this week is [freshman] Kato Nelson,” UA coach Terry Bowden said. “This week, we’re not sure again. We’re going to try to get our quarterbacks ready and see where we are.”
Starter Thomas Woodson couldn’t go against Bowling Green last week. Backup Tra’Von Chapman suffered a neck injury in the same game. The Zips were forced to turn to wide receiver Tyrell Goodman, a senior who played quarterback in high school.
“It’s a game that will give this team a chance to be bowl eligible,” Bowden said, “and just regroup and get our team off the skids.”
A win would give UA six wins, the magic number for bowl eligibility.
To do so, they’ll have to beat an Ohio team that continues to be one of the better teams in the division.
“They lost their last game,” Bowden said, “but they’ve been the most consistent team in our division. We’ll have to play our best football in all phases of the game.”
That’s what it took for Central Michigan to beat Ohio. The Chippewas rendered Bobcats quarterback Quinton Maxwell virtually ineffective and forced four turnovers.
Given the situation on offense, the Zips’ job will be difficult. It will be doubly so because the Zips have remained inconsistent throughout the season on defense.
Some of the struggles can be blamed on injuries (24 players have missed extended time), but some of the problematic play comes courtesy of players who have not developed throughout the season.
“It’s going to be so important that we play great defense,” Bowden said. “This team scores a lot of points. If they score a lot of points it throws [the game] into a tough situation.”
The Zips give up more than 230 yards per game on the ground per game. If the Bobcats are able to run the ball — and they average better than 190 yards per game — it could be a long night at Peden Stadium.
But the Zips still have something to play for, too — being bowl eligible for a second consecutive year. It would be a first for the program and milestones tend to be something worth going after.
George M. Thomas can be reached at gmthomas@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Zips blog at www.ohio.com/zips. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GeorgeThomasABJ.