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Akron Gamer:
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By Beacon Journal staff
POSTED: 06:42 p.m. EDT, Oct 31, 2009
A foregone conclusion for many fans became a reality Saturday afternoon for the University of Akron football team.
The painful truth for UA faithful is that the Zips will not have a winning record in 2009.
Northern Illinois (5-3, 3-1), scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter, saw to that by beating the Zips 27-10 in a Mid-American Conference crossover game in DeKalb, Ill.
The Zips (1-7, 0-4) now have lost six games in a row and have only four games remaining, starting next Saturday at home against neighboring rival Kent State.
UA led 10-6 entering the final quarter, but the Huskies capitalized on three short punts and short drives to pull away over the last 13 minutes.
''The defense is playing hard and getting worn down at the end,'' UA coach J.D. Brookhart said. ''The first half was a difficult half. We underperformed. The second half obviously got better, but it didn't translate into points, so it's frustrating.''
The Huskies came in leading the MAC in rushing, averaging 196.4 yards per game. They added to that by running for 275 yards in 54 attempts, a 5.1 average. Junior running back Chad Spann ran for 125 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries, and sophomore quarterback DeMarcus Grady ran for 109 yards on 20 attempts.
''I give credit to Northern,'' Brookhart said. ''It's difficult to defend what they're doing with their run game.''
Meanwhile, the Zips could rush for only 34 yards. UA also hurt itself by going 0-for-10 on third-down conversions.
UA trailed 6-0 at halftime, but scored 10 points in the third period to take the lead.
The first points came via a 34-yard field goal by Branko Rogovic at the 10:47 mark.
On the next UA series, senior tailback Alex Allen took a pitch from freshman quarterback Patrick Nicely, ran right, stopped and threw a strike to a wide-open Andre Jones. The touchdown play to the senior receiver with 5:25 left in the third period covered 80 yards.
It was the longest touchdown pass of the season for the Zips.
In the fourth quarter, the Huskies took charge when punts of 23 yards and 18 yards by UA's Zack Campbell gave them short fields of 47 yards and 53 yards. Spann ended both marches with touchdown runs, scoring from 28 yards with 13:35 left and 2 yards with 7:59 remaining.
The second one was especially frustrating because Zips penalties on two consecutive plays deep in their territory prolonged the drive. Instead of having to settle for a field goal at the time to make it 16-10, the Huskies got the second Spann touchdown to move the score to 20-10.
Another frustration came when the Zips, down by that 20-10 score, drove from their 39 to the NIU 13, only to lose the ball when Nicely was sacked and fumbled.
Another short punt and short drive allowed NIU to tack on a meaningless touchdown with 46 seconds left. Sophomore Nathan Palmer scored it with a 7-yard run around right end.
Nicely completed 11-of-27 passes for 124 yards. Jones caught six passes for a career-high 154 yards. Freshman Broderick Alexander started at tailback because of injuries, losing his redshirt in the process, and rushed for a team-high 48 yards on 19 attempts.
A foregone conclusion for many fans became a reality Saturday afternoon for the University of Akron football team.
The painful truth for UA faithful is that the Zips will not have a winning record in 2009.
Northern Illinois (5-3, 3-1), scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter, saw to that by beating the Zips 27-10 in a Mid-American Conference crossover game in DeKalb, Ill.
The Zips (1-7, 0-4) now have lost six games in a row and have only four games remaining, starting next Saturday at home against neighboring rival Kent State.
UA led 10-6 entering the final quarter, but the Huskies capitalized on three short punts and short drives to pull away over the last 13 minutes.
''The defense is playing hard and getting worn down at the end,'' UA coach J.D. Brookhart said. ''The first half was a difficult half. We underperformed. The second half obviously got better, but it didn't translate into points, so it's frustrating.''
The Huskies came in leading the MAC in rushing, averaging 196.4 yards per game. They added to that by running for 275 yards in 54 attempts, a 5.1 average. Junior running back Chad Spann ran for 125 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries, and sophomore quarterback DeMarcus Grady ran for 109 yards on 20 attempts.
''I give credit to Northern,'' Brookhart said. ''It's difficult to defend what they're doing with their run game.''
Meanwhile, the Zips could rush for only 34 yards. UA also hurt itself by going 0-for-10 on third-down conversions.
UA trailed 6-0 at halftime, but scored 10 points in the third period to take the lead.
The first points came via a 34-yard field goal by Branko Rogovic at the 10:47 mark.
On the next UA series, senior tailback Alex Allen took a pitch from freshman quarterback Patrick Nicely, ran right, stopped and threw a strike to a wide-open Andre Jones. The touchdown play to the senior receiver with 5:25 left in the third period covered 80 yards.
It was the longest touchdown pass of the season for the Zips.
In the fourth quarter, the Huskies took charge when punts of 23 yards and 18 yards by UA's Zack Campbell gave them short fields of 47 yards and 53 yards. Spann ended both marches with touchdown runs, scoring from 28 yards with 13:35 left and 2 yards with 7:59 remaining.
The second one was especially frustrating because Zips penalties on two consecutive plays deep in their territory prolonged the drive. Instead of having to settle for a field goal at the time to make it 16-10, the Huskies got the second Spann touchdown to move the score to 20-10.
Another frustration came when the Zips, down by that 20-10 score, drove from their 39 to the NIU 13, only to lose the ball when Nicely was sacked and fumbled.
Another short punt and short drive allowed NIU to tack on a meaningless touchdown with 46 seconds left. Sophomore Nathan Palmer scored it with a 7-yard run around right end.
Nicely completed 11-of-27 passes for 124 yards. Jones caught six passes for a career-high 154 yards. Freshman Broderick Alexander started at tailback because of injuries, losing his redshirt in the process, and rushed for a team-high 48 yards on 19 attempts.
Comments
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akron, oh
Posted 07:02 PM, 10/31/2009
guess the new staduim didn't help.
Munroe Falls, Oh
Posted 08:58 PM, 10/31/2009
Wow. New stadium, high tuition, high parking fees, over paid university president, trustee problems, over priced land values, still losing! Sounds like Summit County.
Tallmadge, OH
Posted 09:52 PM, 10/31/2009
Hey Guys (Male & Female), I need your help!
Please go to Cascades
of Brimfield and answer the poll for me at the
bottom of the page as to which TV News station has the hottest
women from (Anchor to Weather).
Mike Trivisono of WTAM thinks that would be channel 19 WOIO and I do agree
with that!
Thanks Group! :)
Beachwood, OH
Posted 10:17 AM, 11/01/2009
Zips win one game this year to a school I have never heard of. Time to get a new head coach!! It's time for a change. This is the worst I have seen in over a decade!! You spent millions on a stadium, why not spend money and get a great coach!! Doesn't make any sense!!
Kandi, SL
Posted 06:53 PM, 11/01/2009
Someone at OH.com:
Please ban the scam of C of B from your board -- not that anyone is paying attention to this board...
