It is September 3rd, 2011 12:05 PM and you are on the field getting ready to either kickoff or receive the kick and you look down at the other end and you see the 2011 Akron Zips special teams. What goes through you mind? If you read any of the previews on the Zips you probably aren’t shaking in your cleats. More than likely, your blood is boiling and your mouth is watering. You see fear and undersized and under-talented competition looking back at you. You think about every word that was written about you and your brethren over the last nine months and you are seething. You remember how people dismissed you as a team and how some of your brothers are sitting or, worse, gone from the team. You look for that familiar father figure that has always been there on the sideline to comfort and support and yell and coach you but he is gone. You have been working out and practicing hard for weeks or months waiting all you want to do is hit someone and hit them as hard as you can. You are trying to live up to your teams motto: SHOCK THE WORLD. This opponent and this game won’t do that, exactly, but it is the stepping stone to the season. A season in which you will shut up the doubters and the haters and, well, you will Shock the World.
The 2010 Akron Zips were 1-11 and ranked over 100th in every possible statistical category in FBS football. Mind you the FBS only has 119 teams. Akron is returning seven defensive starters and six offensive starters. They have a few transfers coming in including a WR named A. J. Price from Penn St. and a QB named Clayton Moore from Ole Miss. They return their QB from last year, Patrick Nicely, but most expect Moore to compete for playing time early. The OL has two new starters in Paul Simkovich and Adam Bice. The running backs should be Jawon Chisolm and Broderick Alexander who is returning from an achilles heel injury. The WRs are tall and athletic and will be led by A. J. Price. Did I mention in 2010 Akron was ranked 119th in total offense out of 119 teams YIKES. They have to improve right?
The defense wasn’t much better if not worse then the offense last year. Akron scored 187 points in 2010 and gave up a whopping 421 points. They do return seven starters but the question is can the added experience make them any better? Akron has no real strengths on defense they do have a couple of JUCO transfers but honestly there isn’t much to discuss about their defense.
What should we expect from OSU? You should expect to see the 1st team out there for about one quarter each half. You should expect to see OSU play as many players as they can. You can expect to see a team determined to prove themselves to the doubters and haters. You can expect New head coach Luke Fickell to play it close to the “vest” so to say. I seriously doubt he will let his team loose on a team so undeserving of a butt whooping. The real question is can Akron do anything to slow down this team in any way and find a way to move the ball on offense?
So now we get to the fun part, the questions for everyone to answer.
Will OSU score over or under 50 points?
How many turnovers will OSU take away and lose?
Who will be the leading rusher and how many yards?
Who will throw the most passing TDs?
How many points will Akron score?
How many times will the announcers of the game mention Tattoo or Scandal?
Finally, How many times will they accidentally call Coach Fickell …. Coach Tressel?
Under 50 points (49, though)
Turnovers: 4/1
Leading rusher: Hyde, 139 yards
Passing TDs: Bauserman
Akron does not score
Since it’s Spielman and Meyer, I say twice and none.
– Over 50, despite an obvious attempt to stop scoring around 35.
– 3 takes, 0 gives
– Hyde, 172 yards
– Bauserman and Miller will each throw 2 TDs
– 0 points
– at least 4
– agree with eK, the crew makes the difference here – won’t happen