 During his first game week press conference as head football coach of the Akron Zips on Tuesday, Rob Ianello said that he will be given a test by the graduate assistant coaches on his staff. A truly final grade, however, will not come until Saturday night when the 44-year-old Ianello leads the Zips out onto the field at InfoCision Stadium to face the Orange of Syracuse out of the Big East Conference in the 2010 season opener for both schools.
Ianello spent 23 years as an assistant coach and the past four seasons under Charlie Weis at Notre Dame, where he was assistant head coach of the offense, along with duties as wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator.
“It’s finally great to get into a game week situation.” Ianello said. “I am excited to get the season underway. We are looking forward to playing an opponent (and) seeing how we do once the bullets start to fly.”
One of the big questions when the team came into fall camp was the quarterback position. Sophomore Patrick Nicely eventually won the job over junior Matt Rodgers, who is coming off ACL surgery. Nicely, a native of Willoughby, Ohio, completed 54.1 percent of his passes for 1,349 yards and six touchdowns in leading the Zips to wins over Kent State and Eastern Michigan late in the season.
Rodgers did not participate in spring drills, so Nicely had a better hanle on the new offense as fall practice began. Ianello said of his signal callers “We are blessed from the stand point that we have two young men who have started and competed at a high level in their careers. That is a position to be in.”
Other concerns for Ianello coming into the game are the overall depth of his team and the momentum swings during a game.
“How we handle those momentum swings during the course of the game is big for us,” Ianello said. “Last week we went through a bunch of different scenarios - from punting from our one-yard line to a two-point play to win the game.”
Ianello has put his stamp on the Zips on both sides of the ball.
Offensively, UA will use a combination of one-back and two-back offenses. Ianello said that Offensive Coordinator Greg Latina, who also worked at Notre Dame, will be calling the plays from the coaches box rather than on the field. Ianello did say that the only play calling he will make during the game is when the team is in a two-minute offense mode.
Defensively, the scheme under defensive coordinator Curt Mallory will go to a basic 4-3 defense rather than the 3-3-5 deployment Akron ran in recent years to defend against teams that used the spread offense and, also, to put more pressure on the quarterback and free up linebackers like sophomore Brian Wagner and senior Mike Thomas
Wagner, a native of Springfield, Ohio had a phenomenal freshman season with 132 tackles (70 solo) second in the MAC and was named to the second team all-MAC defense.
“He is just a football player.” Mallory said of Wagner. “You have to see him on film because if you see him in the weight room he is just an average guy. But when it comes down to it, he can play football.”
This is the third consecutive season the two teams have met. The previous two were at the Carrier Dome in Central New York. Last year the Orange defeated the Zips 28-14 as Delone Carter rushed for 170 yards on 30 carries and scored three touchdowns.
In 2008, the Zips defeated SU 42-28 for one of only two wins Akron has against BCS opposition.
Syracuse begins it’s second season under head coach Doug Marrone after winning just four games a season ago, with one of those victories coming against the Zips
“The perception is that they should come in here and win the game.” Ianello said. “Perception isn’t always reality.”
The game will be a homecoming for Carter who was “Mr. Ohio” in football when he was at Copley High School, located about 15 minutes from the UA Campus. Carter has rushed for 1,871 yards in his 29 career games for the Orange and ranks 18th on SU’s all-time rushing list.
Offensively the Orange have just two starters returning (Carter and fifth year senior center Ryan Bartholomew). Junior Ryan Nassib will take over at quarterback. He was the backup to Greg Pawlus a season ago, playing in 10 games and completing 52.9 percent of his passes for 422 yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively, the Orange have nine starters back from a season ago. They are led by fifth-year senior Derrell Smith, who paced the team in tackles last season with 82 (60 solo), along with 6 ½ quarterback sacks. Senior cornerback Mike Holmes who was second in tackles with 77 (56 solo), had three interceptions along with a forced fumble, a recovered fumble, and a pass breakup.
“It will be a great challenge for us” Ianello said. “This will be a very good measuring stick for our players and our program this early in the season.”
With Ianello and the players anxious to send a message throughout campus and the community that Akron Zips football will be competitive and exciting, the first opportunity to demonstrate those qualities comes Saturday.
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