It’s been a tough time lately for Akron, and by lately that means for nearly the past two decades.
Since 2006, Akron has had 16 losing seasons, one .500 campaign, and one winning year, going 8-5 in 2015. Akron has had six consecutive losing seasons, including going 2-10 in each of the past three years.
This is a big season for head coach Joe Moorhead, now entering his third year. Moorhead was successful in his two other head coaching jobs. He went 38-13 at Fordham and later was 14-12 in two seasons at Mississippi State in 2018 and 2019. There were also strong stints as an offensive coordinator at Penn State (before being hired at Mississippi State) and Oregon for two seasons before taking the Akron job.
Moorhead’s forte is an innovative offense, but last year the Zips ranked 127th in the FBS in scoring, averaging just 16.25 points per game. The Zips were tied for 78th in scoring defense, allowing 28 points per contest.
This season, with some reinforcements especially from the transfer portal, the Zips are looking to improve, but the road to .500 still seems highly difficult.
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Akron Football’s MAC Title Odds
Akron’s odds to win the MAC are +6000, via BetMGM.
Akron Football’s Betting Odds and Over/Under Win Total
Akron’s win total Over/Under is 3.5, with Under 3.5 at -125 and Over 3.5 at +105.
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Akron Football’s 2024 Schedule
8/31 at Ohio State
9/7 at Rutgers
9/14 vs Colgate
9/21 at South Carolina
9/28 at Ohio
10/5 vs Bowling Green
10/12 at Western Michigan
10/26 vs Eastern Michigan
11/2 vs Buffalo
11/13 at Northern Illinois
11/19 at Kent State
11/26 vs Toledo
Bold indicates MAC contests
Key Akron Football Returners
2023 All-MAC First Team
DL CJ Nunnally IV
Third Team
LB Bryan McCoy
New Quarterback Brings Optimism For Akron Football
Last year, Akron quarterbacks threw 10 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions. The biggest hope for improvement rests with the addition of well-traveled redshirt junior quarterback Ben Finley.
Last year in his first season at Cal, the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Finley appeared in six games, making two starts. He completed 54 of 94 passes (57.1%) with three touchdowns and four interceptions.
Previously, he attended NC State. During his final year there in 2022, he appeared in three games and made two starts in the last two contests of the season. He completed 65 of 123 passes for 741 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions.
Another key transfer to jumpstart the offense is redshirt junior running back Jordon Simmons, who played four seasons at Michigan State but saw more action in his first two years. Last year, he had 15 yards on seven carries in four games.
A healthy season from redshirt junior receiver Alex Adams will be a boost to the offense. In 2022, he was a first-team all-MAC choice with 63 receptions for 850 yards and nine touchdowns. Last year during an injury-plagued season, he was limited to 22 receptions for 188 yards and two scores in seven games.
Center Tyhler Williams, who played all 12 games last year, will lead the offensive line.
The defensive leader is defensive end CJ Nunnally IV, who had a team-high seven sacks en route to earning first-team all-MAC honors. The team’s strength on defense is at linebacker, where the three leading tacklers return. Antavious Fish paced the team with 95 tackles, followed by Bryan McCoy (94) and Darrian Lewis (75).
2024 Akron Season Prediction
I predict Akron won’t challenge for the MAC East Division and will win three games.
The non-conference schedule is simply brutal.
This year, three of Akron’s four non-conference games are at Power Four schools – Ohio State, Rutgers, and South Carolina. The other is at home against FCS Colgate. The Zips could go 1-3 in their non-conference games.
That would mean having to win two MAC games to finish with three victories.
Akron will play three of the four teams with the highest odds to win the MAC. Those teams are Bowling Green, Toledo, and Northern Illinois. If Akron loses all three, then the Zips would have to split with Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Buffalo, and Ohio to get to three wins.
Maybe the offensive additions will propel the Zips to higher levels, but at this point, improving on last year’s win total by a game appears to be a realistic outlook.
