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Zips hope to prove preseason skeptics wrong

Football team faces University of Wisconsin on Saturday

By Tom Gaffney
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published on Thursday, Aug 28, 2008

Few believe in the University of Akron football team except the group that matters the most.

That, of course, would be the players and coaches who enter a new season Saturday at the University of Wisconsin amid plenty of doom and gloom by preseason prognosticators.

 

The MAC Media Association predicted UA would finish last in the East Division of the Mid-American Conference. Sports Illustrated has the Zips finishing with a 1-11 record. Phil Steele's College Football Preview, one of the most comprehensive magazines on the market, has UA ranked 111th out of the 120 Division I programs in the country.

The advice in such situations is not to take it personally, but the Zips do.

''We are all insulted by that,'' junior quarterback Chris Jacquemain said. ''We are all kind of disappointed because we know what we have coming back and how hard we worked in the offseason.

''We kind of have a chip on our shoulder. We want to prove everyone wrong. We know what we want to do.''

The skepticism over the Zips stems from the fact that only five starters return on defense and one of them — Andre Jones — has been moved from free safety to wide receiver. There are also some doubts about the offense, which does return eight starters. The concern is the lack of playmakers at the skill positions.

''We have numbers, just not great experience in some places,'' said coach J.D. Brookhart, whose team will
be playing its last season in the Rubber Bowl. ''There are some questions we have to have answered.

''What I want to see is 11 guys flying to the ball on defense, executing on offense and carrying over the (practice) techniques to the field.''

The strength of the offense appears to be the line, which returns tackles Chris Kemme and Corey Woods and guards Mike Ward and Zack Anderson. Tight end Merce Poindexter also is back after catching 13 passes last season.

''We've got four guys back that have played. Experience counts a lot,'' Brookhart said. ''We feel good about that . . . and our depth on the offensive line.''

Jacquemain returns at quarterback after an inconsistent sophomore season. Brookhart said that Jacquemain has improved immensely and that he has earned the right to start again.

At receiver and running back, there is depth, but the concern is that the starters have not separated themselves enough to warrant extra attention from defenses.

Jones, Jeremy Bruce and Alphonso Owen will get the most action at receiver at the beginning of the season but could be pushed later by California junior college recruits Dashan Miller and Deryn Bowser.

At tailback, Dennis Kennedy is atop the depth chart but will share time and carries with Alex Allen and Andrew Johnson.

''We will play all three guys. Kennedy has a lot of experience. He has been a good back,'' Brookhart said. ''They all have their strengths. We will use them all.''

On defense, the front six are a definite strength. Linemen Almondo Sewell and Eric Lively are back, and Iowa transfer Ryan Bain has gained a starting spot. However, there are questions because Lively (elbow) is out for about three weeks, and Bain has been slowed by a foot injury.

 

At linebacker, Kevin Grant and Doug Williams return after making 74 tackles (third on team) and 64 tackles (sixth), respectively, in 2007. Grant is on the preseason watch list for the Butkus Award given to the nation's best linebacker.

The secondary has been wiped out, meaning there will be five new starters, including leading rusher Bryan Williams (Buchtel), who has been moved to strong safety.

''Defensively, we have a little bit of depth on the line. Our linebackers, I feel good about that. We have two kids who have played a lot and some others we are excited about,'' Brookhart said. ''The secondary, there are some question marks because we have nobody returning, but I feel good about them.''

Special teams are expected to remain a Zips strength. Bryan Williams (31.9 yard average on kickoff returns) and Jones (14.5 on punt returns and 32.8 on kickoff returns) are back after being among the nation's best in 2007.

Also back is kicker Igor Iveljic (15-of-18 on field goals) and punter John Stec (37.5 average).

Tom Gaffney can be reached at tgaffney@thebeaconjournal.com.

 

Few believe in the University of Akron football team except the group that matters the most.

Get the full article here.


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